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Liza Achilles - Literary/Autobiographical Author. The Blog for the Discerning Reader.

Literary / Autobiographical Author

❤ Books to make you laugh, hope & ponder ❤


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News & Events•Tales

The Inquisitive One Gets Laid Off

March 10, 2025 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments
The inquisitive one, having taken some vacation time off work, ran to Nashville, hung around in honky-tonks for a couple days, and then ran back home to the DC area. Now, at 11am on the last day of the mini vacation, the i.o. relaxed into a bouncy red movie theatre seat, in a venue just outside DC. The i.o. tapped...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Passes Someone

September 1, 2023 by Liza Achilles No Comments
The inquisitive one was running. Up ahead, moving in the same direction as the i.o., was a woman with a baby carriage and six dogs. The i.o. imagined the worst-case scenario, which was in fact quite likely: getting tangled up in all six of the leashes, flailing about and knocking the baby carriage over, and all the chaos which would...
man talking on phone in living room
Book Previews

A Response From the Author

June 19, 2023 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Michael Chorost, author of Rebuilt, left a comment on my previous blog post about his book. I would like to reprint it here, in case you missed it: “Liza, thank you for your insightful comments! I can add a little bit of context now that I’ve used cochlear implants for 22 years; when I wrote that I was just beginning....
man in sunglasses talking on cell phone outside
Book Previews

Talking on the Phone as a Cyborg

June 16, 2023 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
When Michael Chorost’s cochlear implant is first turned on—as he describes in his memoir Rebuilt—he can understand little of the inputs the device gives him. He can hear noises, to be sure; but they sound electronic and unfathomable. But as time passes, he begins to identify more and more of the sounds around him, including human speech. One moment of...
woman holding a phone
Incidental Musings

A Bad Habit Sneaking Up

June 12, 2023 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
A bad habit has been sneaking up on me lately. I have noticed that, while reading, I have been checking my phone every page or so. Sometimes I’ll check it after each paragraph. That’s a bad habit that didn’t haunt me for a long time. Especially during the dark days of my post-concussion syndrome, when I had trouble reading more...
notifications on a phone
Incidental Musings

Intentionally Broken

June 5, 2023 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Have you noticed that notifications, by and large, don’t work properly? Social media notifications will continue popping up after you have cleared them, or they show irrelevant information that aren’t actual notifications. Phone notifications don’t appear when they should. My dating app only notifies me about a new message half the time. Is it really possible that this technology is...
two women in fantasy world
Book Previews

The Future Is Now!!!!!!!!

July 12, 2021 by Liza Achilles No Comments
It’s the year 2021. . . . It’s THE FUTURE!!!! Imagine. . . . Humans have created fake humans with machine parts so sophisticated that they are all but indistinguishable from real humans. . . . Imagine. . . . It’s 2021, and yet gender roles in America have, for some unknown reason, not progressed beyond the mid-1960s. . ....
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Calls You

January 25, 2021 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
Your phone rang. You looked down at the screen. It said, “The Inquisitive One.” “Hi, how are you?” you said, with a smile. “I’M IN PRISON!!!!” the inquisitive one shouted. “YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!!!!” “I’m sorry to hear that,” you said, with a frown. “WILL YOU COME POST TWO MILLION DOLLARS FOR MY BAIL????” “Your bail is two million...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Takes Off Running

October 9, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
In a panic, the inquisitive one grabbed the mangled reporter’s notepad and took off running. The inquisitive one is a very good runner. The inquisitive one has finished 574 ultramarathons. In fact, the inquisitive one finished in second place, in every single one of these 574 ultramarathons. So the inquisitive one is a very fast runner. But the inquisitive one...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Blunders Into a News Cycle

October 5, 2020 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
For fun, the inquisitive one strapped on a mask and took the Metro into the heart of Washington, DC. The inquisitive one strolled past the White House. The inquisitive one ambled around the Washington Monument. The inquisitive one shimmied along the Reflecting Pool. The inquisitive one labored up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Having gazed in reverence at the...
underwater deep blue sea
Book Previews

Pressure on Me, Pressure on You (Part 1)

September 9, 2020 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
As a person who suffers from anxiety, I understand the feeling of pressure. It hovers in the background of my days and dreams. Sometimes I’m aware of its presence; often I’m not. Often it’s just this invisible thing propelling me forward, or rather, away from the agony of the pressure, which doesn’t necessarily lead to anyplace that can be called...
crosswalk white stripes on dark pavement
Book Previews

A Story About Connection and Perseverance

May 8, 2020 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments
Oren Jay Sofer, an expert in mindful communication, tells the following story in his book Say What You Mean. It’s a true story about a friend of his who displayed mindful perseverance in connecting with a stranger: “One afternoon in Boston, he met an attractive young woman while waiting at a crosswalk. They had a short but warm connection, and...
hand rising from dark ocean under cloudy sky
Incidental Musings

Managing My Anxiety During a Time of Mass Anxiety

March 23, 2020 by Liza Achilles 21 Comments
I’ve been battling my old anxiety demons continuously since my concussion setback. That was seven weeks ago. The concussion symptoms themselves were sorta kinda back to okay within two weeks, though some of the symptoms persisted a few weeks longer. But the anxiety and panic ballooned and ballooned until they once again started afflicting me with physical symptoms that prevented...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Misses Monday

March 10, 2020 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
The inquisitive one went to sleep on SUNDAY night, as usual. The inquisitive one woke with the morning light, per usual. The inquisitive one stretched and yawned, as per usual. The inquisitive one located the mobile phone, as per always and usual. The mobile phone’s screen said TUESDAY, which was an event not very per, nor as, usual. The inquisitive...
illuminated Christmas lights at night
Book Previews

A Christmas Rant . . . Er, Monologue

December 25, 2019 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments
I present to you the first two sentences of the short story “The Monologue,” by Simone de Beauvoir: “The silly bastards! I drew the curtains they keep the stupid colored lanterns and the fairy lights on the Christmas trees out of the apartment but the noises come in through the walls.” So this, the reader warmly thinks, is a Christmas...
close-up of the eye of a donkey
Book Previews

How to Text a Girl, Woman, Boy, Man, or Other Divine Spirit

August 19, 2019 by Liza Achilles 7 Comments
I recently met, through a dating app, a man with an interesting philosophy about text messaging. In his view—if I may presume to attempt to state it correctly here—texting should be purely transactional. The purpose of texts is to set up a time and place to meet in person. To try to convey emotion or wit through a text is...
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Hi! I’m Liza

selfie of Liza Achilles literary and autobiographical author writer blogger

About this blog

THE BLOG FOR THE DISCERNING READER: This blog will feed your mind and soul, plus the soles of your feet, if you're ticklish there. Read previews of intellectually and artistically great books, as well as insights on living life well, always with sprinkles of humor.

Categories of posts

  • Author Interviews (4)
  • Book Previews (334)
  • Guest Posts (5)
  • Incidental Musings (156)
  • News & Events (66)
  • Tales (78)

Featured books


candlestick with lit candle on round table with books in living roomNote that the link for the most recently added book(s) will not work until I have published the corresponding blog post.

Shakespeare’s Sisters Ramie Targoff
Unshrunk Laura Delano
The Vegetarian Han Kang
Viable Chloe Yelena Miller
Animal Liberation Now Peter Singer
A Little Life Hanya Yanagihara
Ghost Pains Jessi Jezewska Stevens
Hope for Cynics Jamil Zaki
Midnight in Chernobyl Adam Higginbotham
Cork Dork Bianca Bosker
The Scent of Bright Light Jean K. Dudek
Rejection Tony Tulathimutte
Intermezzo Sally Rooney
Do I Know You? Sadie Dingfelder
James Percival Everett
There Is No Ethan Anna Akbari
The Other Significant Others Rhaina Cohen
Slow Productivity Cal Newport
Blue Ruin Hari Kunzru
Get the Picture Bianca Bosker
Lawn Boy Jonathan Evison
Congratulations, The Best Is Over! R. Eric Thomas
Kairos Jenny Erpenbeck
Exhibit R.O. Kwon
All Fours Miranda July
The Year of Living Constitutionally A.J. Jacobs
Ghosted Jana Eisenstein
Disease Of Kings Anders Carlson-Wee
Why We’re Polarized Ezra Klein
Molly Blake Butler
The Big Bang of Numbers Manil Suri
Truth Is the Arrow, Mercy Is the Bow Steve Almond
Doppelganger Naomi Klein
King Jonathan Eig
The Rachel Incident Caroline O’Donoghue
The End of Loneliness Benedict Wells
Poverty, by America Matthew Desmond
The Trees Percival Everett
The Great Experiment Yascha Mounk
Study for Obedience Sarah Bernstein
Some People Need Killing Patricia Evangelista
The Words That Remain Stênio Gardel
Pageboy Elliot Page
Post-Traumatic Chantal V. Johnson
Stuart: A Life Backwards Alexander Masters
The Girls / The Guest Emma Cline
Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs Kerry Howley
The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol
I’m Glad My Mom Died Jennette McCurdy
Unlearn Your Pain Howard Schubiner with Michael Betzold
The Way Out Alan Gordon with Alon Ziv
The Best Minds Jonathan Rosen
Monsters Claire Dederer
Spare Prince Harry
As I Lay Dying William Faulkner
Rebuilt Michael Chorost
Losing Music John Cotter
Kokoro Natsume Sōseki
Party Going / Living / Loving Henry Green
Chatter Ethan Kross
Tender Is the Night F. Scott Fitzgerald
Stay True Hua Hsu
The Invisible Kingdom Meghan O’Rourke
How to Be Perfect Michael Schur
Orfeo Richard Powers
Unwinding Anxiety Judson Brewer
The Confidence Men Margalit Fox
Liberation Day George Saunders
Pandora’s Jar Natalie Haynes
Night of the Living Rez Morgan Talty
The Journalist and the Murderer Janet Malcolm
Mislaid Nell Zink
Exercised Daniel E. Lieberman
Lapvona Ottessa Moshfegh
Empire of Pain Patrick Radden Keefe
Furious Hours Casey Cep
First Person Singular Haruki Murakami
Klara and the Sun Kazuo Ishiguro
Dead Souls Sam Riviere
The Pale King David Foster Wallace
Lightning Flowers Katherine E. Standefer
Beautiful World, Where Are You / Normal People / Conversations With Friends Sally Rooney
Swan Dive Georgina Pazcoguin
A Passage North Anuk Arudpragasam
Lucky Jim Kingsley Amis
Projections Karl Deisseroth
The Indian Lawyer James Welch
Atomic Habits James Clear
The History of Philosophy A. C. Grayling
Dusk, Night, Dawn Anne Lamott
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick
Nothing to See Here Kevin Wilson
Change Damon Centola
Homeland Elegies Ayad Akhtar
Becoming Attached Robert Karen
Piranesi Susanna Clarke
Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes
Solitary Albert Woodfox
Girl, Woman, Other Bernardine Evaristo
Enlightenment by Trial and Error Jay Michaelson
Death in Her Hands Ottessa Moshfegh
The Cooking Gene Michael W. Twitty
The First Bad Man Miranda July
Upheaval Jared Diamond
A Journal of the Plague Year Daniel Defoe
Creatures Crissy Van Meter
Indelicacy Amina Cain
Say What You Mean Oren Jay Sofer
Habits of a Happy Brain Loretta Graziano Breuning
Bad Behavior, This Is Pleasure Mary Gaitskill
The Brother Gardeners Andrea Wulf
Severance Ling Ma
How to Be an Antiracist Ibram X. Kendi
The Museum of Modern Love Heather Rose
Why I Write George Orwell
The Woman Destroyed Simone de Beauvoir
Educated Tara Westover
The Gift Hafiz
The Collected Schizophrenias Esmé Weijun Wang
Your Duck Is My Duck Deborah Eisenberg
Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari
Milkman Anna Burns
Under the Banner of Heaven Jon Krakauer
Waiting for Bojangles Olivier Bourdeaut
A Mind Unraveled Kurt Eichenwald
Eugénie Grandet Honoré de Balzac
The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
The Bookshop Penelope Fitzgerald
Digital Minimalism Cal Newport
The Sisters Brothers Patrick deWitt
Dare to Lead Brené Brown
My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
Almost Everything Anne Lamott
Born to Run Christopher McDougall, Bruce Springsteen
The Ladies’ Paradise Émile Zola
The World Beyond Your Head Matthew B. Crawford
All the Birds, Singing Evie Wyld
Barracoon Zora Neale Hurston
Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury
JavaScript & jQuery Jon Duckett
Home Fire Kamila Shamsie
The Weather Detective Peter Wohlleben
Play It As It Lays Joan Didion
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Mark Manson
Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata
Perfect Me Heather Widdows
Sorry to Disrupt the Peace Patty Yumi Cottrell
Why Buddhism Is True Robert Wright
What Is Real? Adam Becker
Kudos Rachel Cusk
The Days of Abandonment Elena Ferrante
F*cked Corinne Fisher & Krystyna Hutchinson
Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine Alan Lightman
Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf

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Best. Modern. Books.

Intellectually great nonfiction. Artistically great fiction and poetry. Get the inside scoop on the best 21st-century books, every Monday!
 
Your free gift: 20 Best Books in the Last 10 Years