Skip to primary content

Skip to secondary content

Valerie Block

Search

Main menu

Home
Bio
The Books
Essays

Category Archives: TV

Post navigation

← Older posts

Word of Mouth: Spring

Featured

Posted on April 5, 2023 by Valerie Block

Reply

Novel: Take What You Need — Idra Novey

Novel: Vera Kelly: Lost and Found — Rosalie Knecht

Novel: The Talented Miss Farwell — Emily Gray Tedrowe

Middle Grade: Cuba in My Pocket — Adrianna Cuevas

Middle Grade, in Spanish: Con Cuba el bolsillo — Adrianna Cuevas, traducción por Alexis Romay

Illumination: Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World — Maryanne Wolf

Podcast: “The Great Vaccinator” — RadioLab

Movie: The Bad Guys — Pierre Perifel

TV: Not Dead Yet — David Windsor and Casey Johnson

Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
More

Click to print (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Posted in Books, Fiction, Movies, Non-fiction, Race, TV | Tagged Adrianna Cuevas, Alexis Romay, Casey Johnson, David Windsor, Emily Gray Tedrowe, Idra Novey, Maryanne Wolf, Pierre Perifel, RadioLab, Rosalie Knecht | Leave a reply

Word of Mouth: Early Spring

Featured

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Valerie Block

Reply

Movie: The Swimmers — Sally El Hosaini

TV: Bad Sisters — Brett Baer, Dave Finkel, Sharon Horgan

TV: Gut Job — Sebastian Clovis

Change: White Women: Everything You Already Know About Your Own Racism and How to Do Better — Regina Jackson and Saira Rao

Novel: Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance — Alison Espach

Novel: City Under One Roof — Iris Yamashita

Novel: Follow Me — Kathleen Barber

Novel: The Great Man Theory — Teddy Wayne

Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
More

Click to print (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Posted in Books, Fiction, Movies, Non-fiction, Race, TV | Tagged Alison Espach, Brett Baer, Dave Finkel, Iris Yamashita, Kathleen Barber, Regina Jackson, Saira Rao, Sally El Hosaini, Sebastian Clovis, Sharon Horgan, Teddy Wayne | Leave a reply

WORD OF MOUTH: Early Winter Edition

Featured

Posted on December 7, 2022 by Valerie Block

Reply

Novel: Take My Hand — Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Novel: The Work Wife — Alison B. Hart

History: Polio: An American Story — David M. Oshinsky

Middle Grade Novel: Merci Suarez Changes Gears— Meg Medina

Podcast: Ask a Librarian, With Julie Chavez: Translating Ways of Being, with Meg Medina and Alexis Romay.

Anthology: Home in Florida: Latinx Writers and the Literature of Uprootedness — Anjanette Delgado

TV: My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend — Rachel Bloom, Aline Brosh McKenna

Movie: Vengeance — B.J. Novak

Music: Tinta y Tiempo — Jorge Drexler

Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
More

Click to print (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Posted in Ancient, Fiction, History, Movies, Music, Non-fiction, Not ancient, Podcasts, Race, Recommendations, Science, TV, Women | Tagged Alexis Romay, Aline Brosh McKenna, Alison B. Hart, Anjanette Delgado, B.J. Novak, David M. Oshinsky, Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Jorge Drexler, Julie Chavez, Meg Medina, Rachel Bloom | Leave a reply

WORD OF MOUTH — FALL

Posted on October 13, 2022 by Valerie Block

Reply

Novel: DEATH UNDER THE PERSEIDS — Teresa Dovalpage

Non-fiction: THE SCIENTIST AND THE SPY: A TRUE STORY OF CHINA, THE FBI AND INDUSTRIAL ESPIONAGE — Mara Hvistendahl

Resource: Ask the Trace: Are Militias Legal? — Jennifer Mascia, THE TRACE

Essay: Elizabeth McCracken Traces the Life of a First Edition: Her Own — Elizabeth McCracken, LITHUB

Opinion: Oh how the powerful wail and whine — Robin Givhan, THE WASHINGTON POST

Opinion: Trump should fill Christians with rage. How come he doesn’t? — Michael Gerson, THE WASHINGTON POST

TV: PAPER GIRLS – Stephany Folsom

TV: A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN – Will Graham, Abbi Jacobson

Podcast: Migrant relocations echo a dark past: Reverse Freedom Rides, CODE SWITCH

Podcast: Putin’s Nukes (with Julia Ioffe), STAY TUNED WITH PREET

Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
More

Click to print (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Posted in Books, Fiction, Guns, History, Non-fiction, Not ancient, Podcasts, Race, Recommendations, Religion, Science, TV | Tagged Abbi Jacobson, Elizabeth McCracken, Jennifer Mascia, Julia Ioffe, Mara Hvistendahl, Michael Gerson, Robin Givhan, Stay Tuned with Preet, Stephany Folsom, Teresa Dovalpage, The Trace, The Washington Post, Will Graham | Leave a reply

BEST OF 2021

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Valerie Block

Reply

NON-FICTION: The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together — Heather McGhee

FICTION: Gold Diggers — Sanjena Sathian

FICTION: Impostor Syndrome — Kathy Wang

MEMOIR: Beautiful Country — Xian Julie Wang

ESSAYS: People Love Dead Jews — Dara Horn

DOCUMENTARY: A Thousand Cuts — Ramona S. Diaz

MOVIE: Plus One —Jeff Chan, Andrew Rhymer

MOVIE: Rocks — Sarah Gavron

MUSIC: An Evening with Silk Sonic — Bruno Mars, Anderson.Paak

TV: Taste the Nation — Padma Lakshmi

PODCAST: The Story of America’s Founding You Weren’t Taught in School: Jamelle Bouie interviews Woody Holton on The Ezra Klein Show

Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
More

Click to print (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Posted in Books, Fiction, History, Movies, Music, Non-fiction, Not ancient, Race, Recommendations, Religion, TV | Tagged A Thousand Cuts, Anderson.Paak, Andrew Rhymer, Beautiful Country, Bruno Mars, Dara Horn, Gold Diggers, Heather McGhee, Impostor Syndrome, Jamelle Bouie, Jeff Chan, Kathy Wang, Padma Lakshmi, People Love Dead Jews, Plus One, Ramona S. Diza, Rocks, Sanjena Sathian, Sarah Gavron, Silk Sonic, Taste the Nation, The Ezra Klein Show, The Sum of Us, Woody Holton, Xian Julie Wang | Leave a reply

Late September Word of Mouth

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Valerie Block

Reply

Song: Turntables [Emotion Picture] — Janelle Monáe

Documentary: All in: The Fight for Democracy — Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortes

Memoir: My Time Among the Whites — Jennine Capót Crucet

Mystery: Who Is Vera Kelly? — Rosalie Knecht

TV Series: Taste the Nation — Padma Lakshmi

Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
More

Click to print (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Posted in Fiction, Food, History, Movies, Music, Not ancient, Race, Recommendations, TV | Tagged Janelle Monáe, Jennine Capót Crucet, Lisa Cortes, Liz Garbus, Padma Lakshmi, Rosalie Knecht | Leave a reply

Post navigation

← Older posts

Lord Macaulay once said that Seneca the Younger was easily quotable, but reading him straight through would be like “dining on nothing but anchovy sauce.”

I agree! Thus I present some of the condensed wit and wisdom of Seneca, occasionally, on Saturdays. Click here.

Subscribe!

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts.

Email Address:

Categories

Categories

View @vblock12’s profile on Twitter

Archives

Archives

DON'T MAKE A SCENE

"A funny, smart and beautifully written homage to movies, New York, love and all the other things that make life tolerable."
-- Gary Shteyngart, author of The Russian Debutante's Handbook and Absurdistan

Valerie Block uses tart humor in this fiercely intelligent look at how the movies shape and haunt us, and what happens when the eternal allure of classic movies collides with the daily indignities of contemporary life. DON'T MAKE A SCENE is a refreshing comedy about finding fascination, irritation and joy in unexpected places.

amazon.com
barnesandnoble.com
indiebound.org
booksamillion.com

NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS

“Not only is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS a terrific mystery story; it'll also be the funniest book you've read all year.”
-- David Montgomery, Chicago Sun Times

From the living rooms of Park Avenue to the Pastrami King on Queens Boulevard, Valerie Block turns a sharp eye on New York in this sophisticated cocktail of bad manners and criminal behavior. NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS has something for everyone: high-tech embezzlement, petty office politics, emotionally demanding strangers, overworked cops, identity theft and bad attitude.

amazon.com
barnesandnoble.com
indiebound.org
booksamillion.com

WAS IT SOMETHING I SAID?

“A true comedy of bad manners. . . an infectious celebration of neurotic love. Hands down, irresistible.”
— Sonja Kindley, ELLE

A comic love story about attraction, resistance and the absurdities of finding peace with another human being. It's not that they're made for each other, but perhaps they really do deserve each other.

amazon.com
barnesandnoble.com
indiebound.org
booksamillion.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Follow Following
- Valerie Block
- Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.

Loading Comments...

Write a Comment...

Email (Required)

Name (Required)

Website

%d bloggers like this: