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 free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/43Ky2fr*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 50 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Quebec. Kellen was named one of TBS's Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2017. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

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 heroines deciding to get married in their teens, and Kellen finds a new definition for the word “boomer."*To buy the book, Decisive, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/47bNwfo*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 50 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Quebec. Kellen was named one of TBS's Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2017. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

Listen, I bet Stephen King saved a lot of money on family trips once he convinced his kids that hotels are incredibly horrifying. (Like how he wrote Cujo to avoid buying them a dog.) Today we review the horror classic The Shining. Also, Kellen discusses this book with his years of boiler-repair experience and Dave owes his brother Josh an apology.*To buy the book, The Shining, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/3rT87oR*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 50 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Quebec. Kellen was named one of TBS's Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2017. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

You know those guys who wear wedding rings made out of rubber so they don’t accidentally get a fracture? I can’t help thinking if Frodo wore one of those he would still have all his fingers. Today’s book concludes the epic Lord of the Rings saga. (It also concludes our running joke of never actually finishing a book series.) Plus, Dave thinks the ring would reveal troubling things about his personal character, and Kellen probably tells his kids Gollum is alive enjoying a happy life somewhere.*To buy the book, The Return of the King, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/3KkRA3g*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 50 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Quebec. Kellen was named one of TBS's Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2017. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

Here at The Book Pile, we get a lot of fan mail asking, “Hey, when are you going to do more books about dictators? We, your fans, all love dictators.” Well today you’re in luck! Persepolis is a memoir about life under an oppressive government, for all our hardcore dictator fans (tator-tots, they call themselves). Plus, Dave wishes he had learned history better and Kellen gets called fat by some people in Brazil.*To buy the book, Persepolis, AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/3Ohd428*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 50 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Quebec. Kellen was named one of TBS's Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2017. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

If you have some kind of product you want to spread to the world, check out this podcast, unless your product is Nazis. In Contagious, Jonah Berger gives great tips for improving word-of-mouth. Plus, Kellen name drops the Today Show many times, and Dave has great news about Baby Shark.*To buy the book, Contagious, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/3OA7b1u*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 50 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Quebec. Kellen was named one of TBS's Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2017. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

A live podcast! In which we make fun of the 3rd Twilight book! In a mean-spirited way! Come for the laughs, the drama, the sexism, the dull-eyed vapid characters. Stay for all the imprinting. Plus, Kellen tells a personal story about doing comedy in a cave, and Dave wants the fans to know that, like Edward, his lips are also “marble hard."*To buy the book, Eclipse, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/43Jx0jW*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 50 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Quebec. Kellen was named one of TBS's Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2017. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

Want to get better at sports, music, dance, romance, or anything that involves the use of your body? (Except miming. You freak mimes, get out of here.) 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.*To buy the book, The Inner Game of Tennis, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/3DCEfPX*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 50 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Quebec. Kellen was named one of TBS's Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2017. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

When you hear a story, do you lose interest after like 5 minutes? Then you will LOVE short stories, a new thing we invented. Today’s book is a short story collection by Ray Bradbury, who realized that anything counts as scifi if you take a normal story and just put it on Mars. Plus, Kellen has planned out a WILD last day on Earth, and Dave wants you to think more about death.*To buy the book, The illustrated Man, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/44Uyjhy*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 50 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Quebec. Kellen was named one of TBS's Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2017. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.

When you think of the future, what do you imagine? Flying cars? Uh, swimming planes? Boats that go on land? Well Ray Kurzweil is here to tell you how wrong you are. The Singularity is Near is full of stunning predictions about the future, made with absolute confidence even when they turn out to not be that accurate. (Kinda like when people predict “for better or for worse, in sickness and in health.") It was written in 2004, so some of the book has to be read with a grain of the-iPod-was-barely-a-thing-yet salt. Speaking of which, Kellen dunks on Google Glass; also Dave has worrisome news about nanobots.*To buy the book, The Singularity is Near, or listen to it free on Audible AND support the podcast, click here!https://amzn.to/3KhZk6b*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 50 million views with his clips on Dry Bar Comedy. In 2018 he was selected to perform on the “New Faces” showcase at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Quebec. Kellen was named one of TBS's Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2017. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com*David Vance's videos have garnered over 1 billion views. He has written viral ads for companies like Squatty Potty, Chatbooks, and Lumē, and sketches for the comedy show Studio C. His work has received two Webby Awards, and appeared on Conan. He currently works as a writer on the sitcom Freelancers.