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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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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...
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...
American Flag jigsaw puzzle piece
Book Previews

Political Puzzles

July 8, 2024 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
A puzzle in my brain for a long time has been, how was Abraham Lincoln in the Republican Party? He led the North against the South in the Civil War and proclaimed emancipation as a . . . Republican? How and when did the two American political parties flip? Another puzzle in my brain for a long time has been,...
Apache helicopter Afghanistan
Book Previews

Independence

July 10, 2023 by Liza Achilles 3 Comments
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were recently called “grifters” by a Spotify executive, as you probably heard. If you pay attention to that sort of thing. Whether that’s an accurate or fair descriptor for them is not a question I’m qualified to answer. But Prince Harry brings up a valid point in his memoir, Spare. “Sponge, the papers called me....
woman in colorful dress hugging herself
Incidental Musings

Just Be Yourself

May 26, 2023 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Have you ever been told to “Just be yourself” when you are nervous about an upcoming social situation? I have—I clearly remember this occurring when I was in high school. And I recently heard this advice given on the TV show Ted Lasso. But what does it mean to be yourself? According to Buddhists, there is no self. I believe...
labrador retriever near forest path with daffodils
Book Previews

Hog-Wild

December 1, 2020 by Liza Achilles 3 Comments
I debated for days about whether to feature this novel on the blog. Usually, by the time I’m a quarter of the way through a book, I know whether I’m going to feature it or not. My requirements are (1) it must impart wisdom of some sort, and (2) I must deem it worthy of my enthusiastic recommendation to others....
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Book Previews

How to Cure a Psychosomatic Disorder

November 9, 2020 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Life feels incredibly hard. You have unexplained physical symptoms. You feel bad much of the time: fearful, ashamed, resigned, exhausted. Your unexplained physical symptoms are often debilitating, causing you to miss work and social events. You try to think positively, but your physical symptoms subtly and irrepressibly worsen your mood. You frantically try to get yourself back on track. Maybe...
blue Honda Civic car
Book Previews

2020 Comedic Intervention

November 2, 2020 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
When the entire world seems horrid, inexplicable, and insane; when winter is descending, as viral counts are ascending; when you’re anxious as can be about what tomorrow might bring—there’s always Miranda July to remind us that everybody and everything is ridiculous, . . . not to mention ridiculously funny. With no ado at all, may I present the first four...
white art museum
Book Previews

Performance Art: the Beauty, the Pain, the Reality

January 17, 2020 by Liza Achilles No Comments
Performance Art, Life as Performance I want to tell you about one of the most unique and powerful books I have ever read. Paradoxically, its uniqueness and power arise not from something exotic, but from what’s literally everywhere, all around us. A lot of books lift you out of your ordinary, blah life and drop you into a fantastical or...
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Book Previews

A Woman With a Diary

December 23, 2019 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
The short story “The Woman Destroyed” has quite the breathtaking title, don’t you think? I mean, destroyed is a hardcore word. This is not, apparently, a story about a woman annoyed, a woman thwarted, a woman in a bit of pain, or a woman having a bad day. This is about a woman destroyed. The most relevant synonyms for destroyed...
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Incidental Musings

A Young Woman With Spiky Purple Hair

December 18, 2019 by Liza Achilles 12 Comments
One A tall, paunchy man stood next to the wall. No one could see him, except for me. I was afraid of him. I tried to stuff him into a large trunk and close the lid. The lid would not completely close. I was afraid, knowing he would emerge again. Later, I was in a bedroom packed with people. The...
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Incidental Musings

A New Name: One Aspect of Transition

September 6, 2019 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Thank you for the flowers. I am feeling better than I was two days ago, so that’s progress. Today I’d like to share an article I enjoyed from a recent issue of The New Yorker. The author of the article, Cyrus Grace Dunham, describes their ongoing transition from living as a woman (named Grace) to living as a man (named...
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Book Previews

A Rock and a Hard Place. And a Broken Bone.

August 30, 2019 by Liza Achilles 2 Comments
Everyone knows that abuse is bad. The word itself has a terrible sound to it. Hearing it makes you want to run like hell. Why on earth would anyone put up with it? The trouble is, abuse feels very different from the inside than from the outside. What from an outsider’s perspective looks like abuse often feels like confusion, fear,...
house in the mountains
Book Previews

The Long Flow of Time and Tradition

August 26, 2019 by Liza Achilles 3 Comments
The memoir Educated, by Tara Westover, has been getting a lot of buzz lately. I’m here to tell you that all of the hype is rightfully bestowed. Wow, do I have a book recommendation for you! Honestly, I read the last two-thirds of the book in one day. I had planned to do other things with the day. But I...
woman and man meditating on yoga mats - eastern medicine vs western medicine - meditation 101
Book Previews

Meditation 101: Eastern Medicine vs Western Medicine

August 21, 2019 by Liza Achilles 11 Comments
Meditation really does work. It really is a game changer. The things you see and read in the news about mindfulness are not all hype. I titled this post Meditation 101 because I’d like to share some insights that get to the foundation of the practice. These insights are important for beginners to understand, and nonbeginners can benefit from reminders...
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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 (7)
  • Book Previews (347)
  • Guest Posts (8)
  • Incidental Musings (158)
  • News & Events (70)
  • Tales (82)

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.

Just Love Me for Who I Am James Styers
The Glory of Giving Everything Crystal Haryanto
Strange Houses Uketsu
On the Calculation of Volume II Solvej Balle
The Literati Susan Coll
Bring the House Down Charlotte Runcie
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain George Saunders
Intimacies Katie Kitamura
On the Calculation of Volume I Solvej Balle
Hunchback Saou Ichikawa
Pop! Mark Polanzak
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!
 
Your free gift: 20 Best Books in the Last 10 Years