JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES!https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile*Look, we’re going to level with you. If we describe this episode's book right here, you’ll leave. The description sounds boring. Your feeble attention span has been weakened by the internet age. So just trust us and try this one. Some parts are about love. Is that enough of a dopamine hit for you? You sad sack of TikTok-addled chemicals?*If you want to read/listen to this book and support the podcast in a fun way, click h...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES!https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile*Rediscover this gem of a Book Pile episode (episode #99) that we dug up and polished from 2022!The Inner Game of Tennis describes an innovative approach to better, easier mastery of tennis and other activities. Plus, Kellen tries to never praise his kids, and Dave gets better at sports by focusing REALLY hard on relaxing, and yelling at himself when he doesn't do it right.*If you want to read/listen to this book and...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES! https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile * We look at the first Harry Potter book again now that Kellen has read it a second time and Dave has continuously been listening to it since he was born. Also, we are trying to violate Harry Potter copyright as much as possible in the hopes Rowling will angrily tweet about us and send her massive audience to our podcast. So check out our 17-hour YouTube video where Kellen recreates all 8 movies by doing that trick where...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile * Kellen and comedian Chad Daniels talk about each others favorite poems. Also, Chad recalls an incredible moment during a Foo Fighters concert; and both of them admit to some of the things that they purchase for themselves as adults because they never got them when they were kids. * Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp * Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan,...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES and to submit the name of your favorite poem for us to discuss on a very-near-future episode with Chad Daniels! https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile * The Three-Body Problem proves that you can take a mathematical equation and turn it into a thrilling, murder-filled story. Much like another book, And Then There Were None. Join us as we discuss science and whether or not you are smart! Plus, Dave talks more about Lord of the Rings than the actual book and...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES and to submit the name of your favorite poem for us to discuss on a very-near-future episode with Chad Daniels! https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile * Rediscover Lateral Thinking, a book ahead of its time as far as developing the human mind but not ahead of its time in terms of entertainment value...  Also rediscover this gem of a Book Pile episode (episode #99)  that we dug up and polished from 2022 (now with a new intro!). * If you want to read/listen to...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EpiSoDEs! https://patreon.com/TheBookPile * The king returns. Alan Dean is back, and he’s more Alan Dean than ever. Break out the thesauruses as we do a live roast of his novelization of The Force Awakens. Plus, Kellen teaches you some vocab words and Dave has a guessing game. * To buy the book and support the podcast, click HERE! https://amzn.to/3IJIhsx * Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp * Kellen...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EpiSoDEs! https://patreon.com/TheBookPile * To buy the book and support the podcast, click HERE! https://amzn.to/43ejtlH * This book (for reals) was George Lucas's plan B just in case Star Wars: A New Hope bombed. The idea was to use the story of this novel as a template for a very cheap follow-up movie in case A New Hope didn't make him enough money to produce Empire Strikes Back. So thank you to everyone in 1977 who bought so many movie tickets that this...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EpiSoDEs! https://patreon.com/TheBookPile * To buy the book and support the podcast, click HERE! https://amzn.to/3P5Gy4c * Nothing could summarize this book better than this Amazon review we found: “This book provides many useful hints that will have you agreeing.” Indeed, we were agreeing! Join us as we go through many nuggets of sound advice. Plus, Dave has career advice for young listeners and Kellen wants to tell you about his cutlery. * Kellen Erskine has...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EpiSoDEs! https://patreon.com/TheBookPile * To buy the book and support the podcast, click HERE for The Body https://amzn.to/49pRTV1 * Have you ever laughed while reading a book about the human anatomy (and not just with giggles and pointing)? Bill Bryson writes in an almost magical style about the wonders of what we do and do not understand about our insides. * Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EpiSoDEs! https://patreon.com/TheBookPile * To buy the book and support the podcast, click HERE for Watchmen https://amzn.to/3uCrELW * “Who watches the watchmen?” That is the central question of this book, asked over and over. And yet they never answer it! So what was the point of asking?! It’s like when Christopher Nolan forgot to show if the top stops spinning. Just basic storytelling mistakes. Plus, Kellen discusses his love of 1990s calendars and Dave explains...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EpiSoDEs! https://patreon.com/TheBookPile * To buy the books and support the podcast, click HERE for The 4-Hour Workweek! https://amzn.to/3uFGSj7 * We would've written an intro to this episode, but we didn't have time now that I guess we're only working 4 hours a week... * Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon Original Series Inside Jokes. He has garnered over 100 million views with his...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EpiSoDEs! https://patreon.com/TheBookPile * To buy the books and support the podcast, click HERE for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! https://amzn.to/3HPkXZX or HERE for Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator! https://amzn.to/3UtoNiN * Wonka is available to stream this week, and in honor of it, today we're praising Roald Dahl’s most famous book, and roasting his most infamous book. That’s right! We’re covering the Charlie books, a series with a bigger sophomore...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES! https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile * Today's book: Dopamine Detox: A Short Guide to Remove Distractions and Get Your Brain to Do Hard Things Ever done a detox? Did it work? Will we ever know? This book contains about 20% very useful information on how to deal with the dopamine that wants you to keep scrolling. (The other 80% of the book reads like it’s been poorly copy-pasted from better books, so just let Kellen do the job of sifting through the...

Last year, Kellen and Dave both broke their personal record for number of books read, and in this episode they list their top ten picks. Plus, Kellen comes into 2024 on a mission to roast some Berenstain Bears, and Dave battles his demons (and angels) on a train. Click below to buy any or all of our favorite books from 2023 AND support the podcast at the same time! Enlightenment Now https://amzn.to/3S55Lwt Misfit: Growing Up Awkward in the 80's https://amzn.to/49lzecH A Room of One's...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES and to purchase a CAMEO-STYLE video greeting from Dave and Kellen! (Gift to a friend or family member!) https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile * Want to purchase On Writing  and support the podcast? (Or just that first one?) Click here! Free on Audible to first-time subscribers! https://amzn.to/48L68D8 * Today Kellen covers the first half of Stephen King's On Writing, which is a memoir. It's slickly written, it's funny, it's got some strong language...so...

Buy Gary’s book, Misfit: Growing Up Awkward in the '80s: https://www.amazon.com/Misfit-Growing-Up-Awkward-80s/dp/1250777062 Gary’s standup special, Born on Third Base: ​​https://www.max.com/movies/gary-gulman-born-on-3rd-base/3c80efb5-7891-463e-87b9-9e8ca7d8e6c7 Gary’s standup special, The Great Depresh: https://www.max.com/movies/gary-gulman-the-great-depresh/6b6e6992-a485-42f7-b41e-ff11441da6ab Dave’s book / game, The Starlings: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp We...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES and to purchase a CAMEO-STYLE video greeting from Dave and Kellen! (Gift to a friend or family member!) https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile * Dave’s graphic novel escape room: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp * Rediscover A Christmas Carol with the wonderful Tim Curry narrating! Also rediscover this gem of a Book Pile episode (episode #114)  that we dug up from 2022 (now with a new intro!). Listen to Dave whisper laugh! Hear Kellen...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES and to purchase a CAMEO-STYLE video greeting from Dave and Kellen! (Gift to a friend or family member!) https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile * Dave’s graphic novel escape room: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp * Would you like to read the Grinch? Would you read it in a cinch? Listen to our podcastinch! Rhyming is so easyinch! Plus, Dave and Kellen come up with new holiday characters that you can use to make new traditions in your...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES and to purchase a CAMEO-STYLE video greeting from Dave and Kellen! (Gift to a friend or family member!) https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile * So there's this book called A Christmas Carol which is about a guy trying to save money when a bunch of ghosts guilt-trip him into burning through his 401K just for a party. The book for today's episode, however, is about Charles Dickens writing that book. * If you want to read/listen to this book and support the...

JOIN OUR PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES and to purchase a CAMEO-STYLE video greeting from Dave and Kellen! (Gift to a friend or family member!) https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile * Dave’s graphic novel escape room: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp * Imagine if Indiana Jones were less sexy, more wrong, and way more condescending. If that’s your cup of tea, you’ll love Robert Langdon, who’s back again with way more Catholics and way less fact-checking! Enjoy our live roast of...

Happy belated Thanksgiving (to whom it may apply...)! Here's  a mini-episode courtesy of Dave, where he covers his Top 5 book recommendations of books he loves that no one else ends up liking at all (do you agree?) We'll be back next week with a SUPER EPISODE, one of two recent live recordings, it will be The Roast of Angels and Demons (the prequel to The Da Vinci Code). * Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, NBC's America's Got Talent, and the Amazon...

JOIN OUR NEW PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES! https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile * Dave’s graphic novel escape room: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp * The Year of Magical Thinking covers the heaviest of subjects: really big hippopotamuses.  No, it's grief, and do you already see how hard it is to cover a serious book on a comedy podcast? Well we tried. But it really is a beautiful and tragic volume written by the wonderful Joan Didion, who crafts this book with heart, humor,...

JOIN OUR NEW PATREON FOR BoNuS EPISODES! https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile * This week Kellen discusses (with himself) an autobiography by Roald Dahl, who of course wrote Matilda, The BFG, The Twits, The Witches, and one novel that actually wasn't terrifying for children about a chocolate factory (the 1971 film took care of that...). * If this book sounds interesting to you AND you want to support the podcast, click here to purchase it in paperback, Kindle, or listen to it on Audible for...

FOR TICKETS TO OUR LIVE SHOWS ON NOVEMBER 11th! For FREE tickets use promo code "LETSIMPROV" Tickets for 7pm show: The Roast of the novelization of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, by Alan Dean Foster https://www.improvbroadway.com/events/7-pm-improv-comedy-special-live-taping-at-the-hive-collaborative-not-the-improvbroadway-theater-2-4 Tickets for 9:30pm show: The Roast of Angels and Demons, by Dan...