Rediscover this gem of a Book Pile episode (#114)  that we dug up from 2022 (now with an even newer intro full of public-domain Christmas music!) Listen to Dave whisper laugh! Hear Kellen disagree with Dave's habit of walking out of movies! Notice how Kellen tries to defend himself against what appears to be a an unequal luggage-packing relationship with his wife...

JOIN OUR PATREON to get in free to any of Kellen's comedy shows in 2025!
https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile
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Dave’s graphic novel escape room: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp
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If you want to read/listen to this book and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy the book! Free on Audible to first-time subscribers, and check out any or all of these fun British narrators!

Tim Curry:
https://amzn.to/41NI823

Patrick Stewart:
https://amzn.to/3VNQfYj

Hugh Grant:
https://amzn.to/41NIqWH

SUMMARY: We live in a society inundated by endless sources of entertainment and cheap dopamine. In today’s book, Anna Lembke discusses how we can respond to such dangers, like, for instance, a pool table. Friend, either you're closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge, or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated by the presence of a pool table in your community.

Well, ya got trouble, my friend, right here
I say, trouble right here in River City
Why, sure, I'm a billiard player
Certainly mighty proud I say
I'm always mighty proud to say it
I consider that the hours I spend
With a cue in my hand are golden
Help you cultivate horse sense
And a cool hеad and a keen eye
J'evеr take and try to find
An iron-clad leave for yourself
From a three-rail billiard shot?
But just as I say
It takes judgment, brains, and maturity to score
In a balkline game
I say that any boob can takeAnd shove a ball in a pocket
And I call that sloth
The first big step on the road
To the depths of deg-ra-day--
I say, first, medicinal wine from a teaspoon
Then beer from a bottle!
An' the next thing ya know
Your son is playin' for money
In a pinch-back suit
And list'nin to some big out-a-town jasper
Hearin' him tell about horse-race gamblin'
Not a wholesome trottin' race, no!
But a race where they set down right on the horse!
Like to see some stuck-up jockey boy
Settin' on Dan Patch? Make your blood boil?
Well, I should say
Now, friends, lemme tell you what I mean
Ya got one, two, three, four, five, six pockets in a table
Pockets that mark the diff'rence
Between a gentlemen and a bum
With a capital "B,"
And that rhymes with "P" and that stands for pool!

WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237s

-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2024-2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:
https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile

-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp

THE HOSTS!
-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 200 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. 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.

SUMMARY: Kellen is behind on his reading, and he needs your help! (Sounds like a Saturday morning PBS cartoon...). Kellen gives a rundown of most of the books he's read so far this year; also he has an idea for a very classy author name; and at around the 15-minute mark he quits recording for a full day to recover from starting to lose his voice in real time (and--if you catch when it happens--it sounds like a miracle), and through the magic of editing, he picks it up right where he left off and you don't have to hear his vocal chords slowly die after that.

WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237s

-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:
https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile

LINKS TO BUY THE BOOKS MENTIONED ON THIS EPISODE (listed in the order they came in the podcast discussion):

11-22-63, by Stephen King
https://amzn.to/3ZQVkBL

Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide, John Cleese
https://amzn.to/3ZEKTzM

Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky
https://amzn.to/3OXq25O

A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson
https://amzn.to/3VGohOh

A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson
https://amzn.to/3Drchd5

They Body, Bill Bryson
https://amzn.to/4fmOVme

To Hold Up the Sky, Cixin Liu
https://amzn.to/3Bpx5RP

The Wandering Earth, Cixin Liu
https://amzn.to/4gSMnh9

East of Eden, John Steinbeck
https://amzn.to/3ZAlpn9

Mad at the World (Steinbeck biography), William Souder
https://amzn.to/41AMN7g

My Man Jeeves, P.G. Wodehouse
https://amzn.to/4iyzs5s

Dead Men Scare Me Stupid, John Swartzwelder
https://amzn.to/4fhwsrl

James Acaster's Guide to Quitting Social Media
https://amzn.to/3ZDT8wc

The Anxious Generation, Jonathon Haidt
https://amzn.to/3OZSqEk

A Heart That Works, Rob Delaney
https://amzn.to/4iCCJRd

Permission to Feel, Marc Brackett
https://amzn.to/49yRRuZ

The Creative Act, Rick Rubin
https://amzn.to/3ZRx1U5


-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 200 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. He currently tours the country www.KellenErskine.com

SUMMARY: It's been 3 years so we gave this book "another go" as they say in non-American English speaking countries, like Wizard Land.  Today we cover the second Harry Potter, which managed to improve on the original, and is also – no offense – the only book you could get rid of without changing anything important. Don’t be mad, but if the series just went straight from Sorcerer’s Stone to Prisoner of Azkaban, you basically wouldn’t know any better. You’d just have to be like, “By the way, Hagrid has a new job, and here’s Ron’s sister.” Look, don’t shoot the messenger.

WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237s

KELLEN ERSKINE IS IN DES MOINES THIS WEEK, Dec 6-7! For tickets go to:
KellenErskine.com

-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2024-2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:
https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile

-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp

THE HOSTS!
-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 200 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. 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.

SUMMARY: 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 sci-fi if you take a normal story and just put it on Mars. Plus, Kellen has planned out a very unexpected last day on Earth, and Dave uncovers a deceptive photograph.

WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237s

KELLEN ERSKINE IS IN ALASKA THIS WEEK Nov 26 - 29! Go to KellenErskine.com for tickets

-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2024-2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:
https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile

-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp

THE HOSTS!
-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 200 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. 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.

SUMMARY: This is a James Bond book without James Bond, a love story without love, and a spy story without spying. The only person who’s unaware of all this is the author, Ian Fleming, AKA the only person feminists beg to please write fewer female characters.

KELLEN ERSKINE IS IN CHICAGO THIS WEEK Nov 22-23! Go to KellenErskine.com for tickets

-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2024-2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:
https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile

-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp

-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 200 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. 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.

SUMMARY: Dave and Kellen take another dive into the great Amy Poehler's (SNL, Baby Momma, Parks and Recreation) memoir. Also Dave is terrible at comforting people and Kellen rants about actors' award speeches.

KELLEN ERSKINE IS IN PROVO & SALT LAKE CITY THIS WEEK! Nov 7th (Provo) then 8-9 (SLC) go to KellenErskine.com for tickets

-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2024-2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:
https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile

-If you want to read Yes Please and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy the book!
https://amzn.to/4e9O0oM

-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp

-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 200 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. 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.

SUMMARY: Do you ever make a books podcast, and start with your favorite books? But unfortunately, your first episodes are also when you’re the worst at podcasting? So years later you revisit those books to do a better job? That’s what this is! Today we cover a book about cultivating interests in a lot of different fields. It’s great.

-If you want to read Range and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy the book!
https://amzn.to/3Yi0V3i

-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2024-2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:
https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile

-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp

-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 200 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. 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.

SUMMARY: The events from the date of today's book title are part of a long-running joke on the podcast, so we thought it would be funny to cover this novel for our 200th episode...

-If you want to read 11/22/63 and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy the book!
https://amzn.to/47GoS7j

-Get two free tickets to any of Kellen's live shows in 2024-2025 by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:
https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile

-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp

-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 200 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. 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.

SUMMARY: Enjoy this throwback episode from September 2022 when we covered the oldest book on the podcast thus far (though the book with the oldest people is probably still Twilight...). Learn the value of surprise as Kellen startles Dave in real time, and bask in Dave's glory as he recounts winning at board games and also possibly saving someone's life (but he's still a nerd because of the board games...).

-If you want to read or listen to The Art of War and support the podcast in a fun way, click here to buy the book!
https://amzn.to/4gFuBi7

-Listen to the audio album of Kellen's new 30-minute comedy special "Negative Comments"! Available by joining The Book Pile's Patreon at:
https://www.patreon.com/TheBookPile

-OR watch Kellen's new comedy special here! Use promo code KELLENERSKINE
https://www.drybarcomedy.com/kellenerskine

-Dave’s book / game The Starlings is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMBBLGXN?ref=myi_title_dp

-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 200 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. 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.