The Book Pile

This is an apology for not getting an episode out on time this week due to Kellen's being ill (with half the country). New episode will come out Wednesday, Jan 18th. Dave and Kellen also share quick stories about what's crawling in their walls.

Today we cover a book written by Dave! (You can currently buy it by searching Kickstarter for “The Starlings Adventure Box”, starting January 10! Or if you’re not the reading type, you can just come to Dave’s house and kill him. Either one solves his career problems.) Plus, Kellen reads the book to his two sons, who immediately outsmart Dave. Check it out! * TheBookPilePodcast@gmail.com * Kellen E...

Welcome to a new year! We launch 2023 with a book about making good decisions! You should make the good decision to listen to it. Or we will make the good decision to cry. Also, Kellen has beef with Canada and Dave poses his favorite story problem. * To buy the book, Thinking in Bets , or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here! https://amzn.to/3QgS2n6 * TheBookPilePodcast...

Join us as we review our Top 10 books/episodes of 2022! (Plus a few more!) We also answer some frequently asked questions about the podcast (dare we pull back the curtain?!) Thank you so much for listening to us this year! We’re truly so grateful. We can’t wait to come at you with more books in 2023. * TheBookPilePodcast@gmail.com * Kellen Erskine has appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, Jimmy Kimme...

Do you think Scrooge ever gets annoyed that, even though this is a book about repentance and change, calling someone a “Scrooge” is still only an insult? Like, culturally, we act like he just stayed evil. It’d be like if you called someone an Oskar Schindler, and what you meant was “Nazi." Plus, Dave reads this book’s PG-13 passages and Kellen wants you to watch video of yourself and suffer....

This book looks at morality through the lens of evolutionary psychology. Which sounds boring, but we promise, there’s murder and cannibalism! Plus, Kellen sings the REAL Lion King, and Dave is such a Gemini. * To buy the book, The Righteous Mind , or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here! https://amzn.to/3rLcYZ8 * TheBookPilePodcast@gmail.com * Kellen Erskine has appeare...

What if you could swallow certain metals and they gave you POWERS? (Well I guess they do in real life, but only boring powers, like how iron just gives you regular blood.) Anyway, this is our discussion of the high fantasy epic that begins the Mistborn trilogy! Plus, Dave talks about the Soviets again and Kellen wants you to get a night job at a motel. * To buy the book, Mistborn , or listen to it...

Imagine your favorite spy movie! Okay, now take out the spying, the fighting, the hot people, and the hope. That’s basically this book, which is one of Time’s Top 100 Novels. Plus, Kellen plans his perfect crime and Dave tells you too much about torture. * To buy the book, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold , or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here! https://amzn.to/3OtIa...

It's a surprise. * To buy the book, The Oxford Book of Aphorisms , click here! https://amzn.to/3OzaztC * TheBookPilePodcast@gmail.com * 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 75 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to per...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Today we cover the most classic of the Sherlock Holmes books, complete with fire-breathing dog! (Fun fact: England DID produce entertainment before the BBC was invented!) Plus, Dave finds a truly wonderful blog and Kellen touts his Reader’s Digest credentials. * To buy the book, The Hound of the Baskervilles , or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here! ht...

Want to become more charming and charismatic so you can achieve your boundless and ruthless ambitions? Us too! Today’s book is a step-by-step guide to charisma. Plus, Kellen discourages you from acting like a gorilla, and Dave uses mantras, but he still believes in vaccines! * To buy the book, The Charisma Myth , or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here! https://amzn.to/...

At age 18, Mary Shelley began writing Frankenstein, the groundbreaking, genre-defining sci-fi book, because she needed more extracurriculars on her college application. Today we cover her seminal masterpiece. Also, Dave begs English teachers to teach something fun and Kellen uses any book as an excuse to talk about Inception. * To buy the book, Frankenstein , or listen to it free on Audible AND su...

If you like this excellent book about personal finance, then you will love our much more criminal book, I Will Teach You To Inherit an Immense Fortune. Plus, Kellen can’t stop bragging about all his credit cards and Dave's first car has a series of unfortunate events. * To buy the book, I Will Teach You to Be Rich , or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here! https://...

Here’s a tip for any high schoolers writing essays for English. If a teacher asks you about the symbolism in a classic novel, you are never wrong to say the book is about repressed sexual desire. The classics LOVE repressed sexual desire. Try it, you’ll get an A, I promise. Plus, in this episode Dave shares too much about his high school love life, and Kellen has never finished Oh, the Places You’...

Want to learn how to write movies? This book is about writing movies! We’re joined by Danny Mac, who also writes movies. Normally these descriptions have clever jokes, but it’s late on a Sunday night, and I’m beginning to suspect you don’t read these descriptions, do you? I could probably write whatever I want here, couldn’t I? I could probably confess something real dark here, right? Hahahaha. Bu...

Today three grown men, who as children presumably dreamed of doing something meaningful with their lives, give 40 minutes of analysis on a 2-minute book. Special guest Chad Daniels returns to break down this massive children’s book bestseller, and to give Dave candid thoughts on what counts as “reading”. Plus, Kellen has an excellent children’s toy idea, and Dave gives the gritty backstory of Good...

Whether war is your profession or just your hobby, this book is for you! It doesn’t matter if you’re an expert warlord with decades of killing, or a green-behind-the-ears dictator trying to make your mark on the world. This book teaches you how to do the violence! Plus, Kellen successfully surprises Dave and Dave finds remedies for his own cowardice. * To buy the book, The Art of War , or listen t...

This book says, if you want to be creative, treat your creativity a little more like a job! (Sadly wait for a machine to take your place. See your expectations dashed as the steady economic progress since WWII stagnates and you become the first family member in generations not to surpass their parents. It’s confusing advice.) Plus, Kellen decides whether or not to summon bears and Dave thanks this...

100 episodes of The Book Pile!! Thank you so much for listening! Our goal is to make a world where no one else ever has to read! (The way Fahrenheit 451 wanted it.) With your continued support (and horcruxes), we'll be able to keep making this podcast FOREVER. Today we cover the 7th Harry Potter, the conclusion to a series so popular that J.K. Rowling probably said to herself, “Surely nothing...

Okay, we’ll be honest. Last week’s murder mystery episode did really well. And we wanna keep riding that “whodunit” wave. So even though this is a book about creativity, not killing, we’re just gonna go ahead and say that when the author Edward de Bono died last year at age 88, he was murdered. Now are you interested? Please stay with us. Plus, Dave writes jokes the way he dates and Kellen tries t...

If you like murder mysteries AND Costco, then you will love these 10 murders for the price of one. Today we cover Agatha Christie at her best. Plus, Kellen hates a snack mentioned in this book and Dave makes fun of Thomas Jefferson (too soon?). * To buy the book, And Then There Were None , or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here! https://amzn.to/3rU824k * TheBookPilePod...

If you are someone who thinks following dreams is bad, prepare to spit out your drink. The Alchemist is a book about following your own personal legend. It’s based on the alchemists of old who successfully turned lead into nerve damage. Plus, Dave apologizes for being a cynic and Kellen showboats by speaking 2 seconds of Portuguese. * To buy the book, The Alchemist , or listen to it free on Audibl...

Want to do as much good in the world as possible, but you don’t have a comedy podcast? Today’s book is about how to use data to make the biggest positive impact on the world. Plus, Dave wants you to know his net worth in Jet Skis and Kellen goes hard after the pogo sticking crowd. * To buy the book, Doing Good Better , or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here! https://am...

There are two ways to make it as a children’s author: tell kids the world is magical (Rowling, E.B. White), or tell kids the world is horrifying (Roald Dahl, The Brothers Grimm). Shel Silverstein tells kids the world is both magical and horrifying. Plus, Kellen wants people to stop copying Picasso and Dave gets philosophical about chaos. * To buy the book, Where the Sidewalk Ends, or listen to it...

As humans, we all sometimes struggle with bad decision-making: confirmation bias; overconfidence; marrying and settling down in the suburbs with a spouse and family and corporate job and the white picket fence and slowly wondering over 40 years… “Is this it? Is this all there is?” Well in today’s book, Chip Heath and Dan Heath help you make better choices! Plus, Dave has some advice for literary h...