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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

Spring in Washington, DC, for Readers, Writers, & Thinkers

May 12, 2025 by Liza Achilles No Comments
The weather is nice, and many literary events are happening in and around the city! This blog post is for all you readers, writers, and thinkers looking to participate in bookish opportunities this spring and summer. Most of these opportunities are for people in the Washington, DC, area, but some are virtual and available to anyone with an electronic device....
Young woman and middle aged man
Book Previews

A Dating Age Gap . . . Is a 34-Year Difference Too Much?

September 1, 2024 by Liza Achilles 6 Comments
She’s 19. He’s 53. This is an acceptable dating age gap, am I right? No moral judgment here. And there is definitely no moral judgment from the author of a gut-wrenching new novel from Germany. An East German couple with a large dating age gap Kairos, by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Michael Hofmann, is set in East Germany before the...
Woman crying with a tissue
Book Previews

Oh No, I Have a Napkin

August 26, 2024 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Reaching backward in time, you discover who you are. Stumbling forward in time, you discover who you are becoming. I enjoyed the beautiful literary novel Exhibit, by R.O. Kwon. The protagonist, Jin, is a Korean American art photographer. The story of Jin’s life is interwoven with an ancient Korean tale, half legacy and half curse, that she sometimes treats reverently and...
Mysterious woman by the water
Book Previews

Mystery Like a Great Sea (LBC)

August 19, 2024 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
It’s Liza’s Book Club day! Did you read All Fours by Miranda July along with me? Like all of July’s books, this one did not disappoint. Or I should say—it did not disappoint once I got going. I found the first few chapters puzzling. I was expecting weirdness and comedy, because that’s July’s usual schtick. But this protagonist was weirder...
Two Novembers book crossed out
News & Events

Top 10 Reasons NOT to Read Two Novembers

August 12, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
You want to support my writing endeavors by reading my book. But there’s a leeetle problem. Or 2. Or 10. Here are the top 10 reasons NOT to read Two Novembers: A Memoir of Love ’n’ Sex in Sonnets! 10. Your copy of Two Novembers was stolen by a suspected criminal. A bizarre series of events led to your copy...
Photo of Constitution
Book Previews

The Constitution and You. (And This Ridiculous Guy.)

August 5, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Some people geek out over the Constitution. Not me. I think it’s a bit of a snoozer. But I do recognize its great importance in my life and many other people’s lives, and so I was delighted to learn that A.J. Jacobs had written a new book called The Year of Living Constitutionally: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the...
Author Interview with Jana Eisenstein for Ghosted
Author Interviews

Single, Dating, and Writing in DC

July 29, 2024 by Liza Achilles 4 Comments
What’s the best way to navigate dating life in modern times? Are happiness and marriage the same thing? What’s it like to be a dating memoirist when family members are interested readers? Learn the answers to these questions and more in this interview with DC-area author (as well as my friend and market booth partner) Jana Eisenstein. This post is...
rat drinking from Starbucks cup
Book Previews

Rich as Royalty

July 15, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
I’m picky about reading poetry. Novelists and nonfiction writers can sometimes get away with sloppy writing, boring passages, even entire incomprehensible pages, if their book overall has a great plot and fascinating characters (for novels) or new findings and insightfulness (for nonfiction). But in poetry, the artistry of language and meaning isn’t a cherry on top. It’s the whole deal....
“A beautifully written and accessible collection of poetry.” —DCTRENDING
News & Events

It’s Book Launch Day!!!!!!!

July 1, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
I don’t know what to say. . . . I’m officially a published author of an actual book. Look, Mom!!! It only took me, oh, 24 years from when I decided that I wanted to be a published book author to become one. But I am proud and excited. What’s 24 years of hard labor, crippling (literally) anxiety, and the...
woman relaxing at the beach with a book
Incidental Musings

Midyear Check-In & *NEW* Liza’s Book Club

June 24, 2024 by Liza Achilles 8 Comments
Hello my bookish friends! It’s that time of year again! That time of year when everybody does . . . nothing. Everyone I know has left for the beach, a theme park, or some exotic locale halfway around the world. (Great time for a book launch? Er. . . . We’ll see. But let’s talk about that in one week,...
cartoon art of the inquisitive one running through trees
Tales

The Inquisitive One Talks With Jeff Bezos

June 17, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Hey, this is Liza. Just a quick note before we get into today’s tale. My new book Two Novembers is not currently buyable from Amazon due to a mixup in Amazon’s computer system. People who order from Amazon are being shipped a different book. My publisher and I have been trying to resolve this problem for weeks. I apologize for...
truck on highway
Book Previews

The Way Things Are

January 15, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
From Brazil comes a slim novel told in a unique writing style. The style evokes a dreamlike, wistful state. As if it were possible to distill life’s complexities into the simplicity of the way things are, when you are who you are. As, of course, it is. The protagonist, Raimundo, is forced to escape from his home in rural Brazil....
planner with pencil and phone and glass of water in bright home office
Incidental Musings

2024 Resolutions

January 1, 2024 by Liza Achilles No Comments
I had an epiphany a few weeks ago. It was one of those epiphanies rooted in ugliness and despair. I had made some bad decisions and landed myself in misery for several days. From this came the understanding that I can prevent a similar situation in the future by implementing better rules for myself and boundaries with others. I started...
old books and old light
Incidental Musings

Most Memorable Books of 2023

December 27, 2023 by Liza Achilles No Comments
2023 was a standout reading year for me. I almost made it to my annual goal of reading 50 books per year. For me, anything in the 40s counts as great. This year, I’m on track to make it to 48. So many of the books I read this year were fabulous. Instead of making a “best of” list that...
woman reading a book
Incidental Musings

Fewer American Adults Are Reading

November 1, 2023 by Liza Achilles 5 Comments
A recent report on participation in the arts, by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), says that the percentage of U.S. readers has dropped over the past five years. In 2017, 52.7 percent of U.S. adults were book readers. But in 2022, this figure was only 48.5 percent. In 2017, 44.2 percent of U.S. adults were readers of novels,...
This banned books week, read a banned book. ala.org
Incidental Musings

Let’s Fight Censorship Together

October 16, 2023 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Whenever I hear that a book has been banned, it makes me wonder what’s in that book. What don’t they want me to read? What don’t they want me to learn? Don’t they trust me to make up my own mind about what’s good information and what’s bogus? Check out this infographic created by the American Library Association (ALA). Look...
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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 (5)
  • Book Previews (337)
  • Guest Posts (6)
  • Incidental Musings (157)
  • News & Events (66)
  • Tales (79)

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.

Dreaming Reality Steven Jay Lynn & Vladimir Miskovic
Audition Katie Kitamura
Free Amanda Knox
The Pleasure Plan Laura Zam
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