The Book Pile

By Kellen Erskine and David Vance

A podcast where comedians tell you about books so you never have to read! (Now including fiction!) Kellen does standup; Dave writes ads; together they highlight lessons from the world’s best books--an... more

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FAQs about The Book Pile:

How many episodes does The Book Pile have?

The podcast currently has 228 episodes available.

The Book Pile episodes:

June 04, 2025 Kellen's Favorite Books of 2025 So Far! (And three dumb ones)
SUMMARY: I pretty much summarized it with the title. I've read/listened to 50+ books since January 1 and I'M DONE. No, but I am done with two authors for sure, listen to find out who!
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
BOOKS LISTED IN THIS EPISODE:
I actually hope you listen to this episode before reading this list, I hate spoilers and giving them, but I also wanted to provide convenient links to all the books I mention. So listen first, I promise it's more fun than finding out this way. Are you done? Great, here you go:
Self Compassion: https://amzn.to/3SC5dyW
100 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think: https://amzn.to/3Zi5niG
What I'd Say to the Martians, by Jack Handey: https://amzn.to/4jxikw0
Means of Ascent (LBJ book #2): https://amzn.to/4kp295g
Sinbad by Kurt Vonnegut: https://amzn.to/43XuLwG
Big Magic: https://amzn.to/4dMCVLP
All About Me, by Mel Brooks: https://amzn.to/3Hlysn1
...more
21min
April 25, 2025 Permission to Feel, by Marc Brackett
SUMMARY: If you like James Bond, Hunger Games, Star Wars, or Lord of the Rings, you will LOVE this spy thriller! We know the cover looks like a therapy book, but it’s not! It has action and comedy and romance, not therapy that is good for you. Come listen to this gripping caper, which is not a therapy book. You don’t have to worry about your feelings in this fun popcorn book. It’s not a therapy book. Hit play.
WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237s
KELLEN ERSKINE IS IN ON TOUR!
APR 25-26 Indiana
MAY 9-10 Dallas
MAY 17 St Charles, IL
For tickets go to KellenErskine.com
-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
-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.
...more
34min
April 18, 2025 Chesterton's Gateway, by Ethan Nicolle WITH GUEST Ethan Nicolle!
Have you heard of GK Chesterton? (No he's not that cheese-puff cat).
WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237s
KELLEN ERSKINE IS IN ON TOUR!
APR 25-26 Indiana
MAY 9-10 Dallas
MAY 17 St Charles, IL
For tickets go to KellenErskine.com
-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
...more
34min
March 27, 2025 A SECOND LOOK AT: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
SUMMARY: This episode has everything you could hope for. Conspiracy theories. Hermione exoneration. And a rat who turns out to be a murderer. (Who knew Harry Potter was a sequel to 1300s Europe?) (It’s funny because the most devastating event imaginable happened many years ago.) (Your subconscious sense of humor deems the past to be intrinsically less worthy of empathy.) We hope you enjoy!
WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237s
KELLEN ERSKINE IS IN ON TOUR!
MAR 28 Bakersfield, CA
APR 2-4 St Pete, Clearwater, & Delray Beach, FL
APR 25-26 Indiana
MAY 9-10 Dallas
MAY 17 St Charles, IL
For tickets go to KellenErskine.com
-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
-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.
...more
31min
March 13, 2025 Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
SUMMARY: Fight Club is a story with one of the most famous twist endings in book and movie history (they find out violence is good...) But before it was a hit movie, did you know it was also a disgusting book? Join Kellen and Dave as they complain about this well-written book they both kind of hate.
WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237s
KELLEN ERSKINE IS IN ON TOUR!
MAR 16 New Bremen, OH
MAR 20 Pittsburgh
MAR 28 Bakersfield, CA
APR 2-4 St Pete, Clearwater, & Delray Beach, FL
APR 25-26 Indiana
MAY 9-10 Dallas
MAY 17 St Charles, IL
For tickets go to KellenErskine.com
-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
-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.
...more
28min
March 10, 2025 THE ROAST OF Star Wars: The Force Awakens (the novelization of the movie), by Alan Dean Foster
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 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 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.
...more
31min
February 24, 2025 The Body, by Bill Bryson
SUMMARY: (A Dave and Kellen episode!) This book is full of incredible trivia about the human body, beautifully and hilariously written. For instance, did you know that every one of your organs is being played by a tiny little Phantom of the Opera? When your stomach is rumbling, that’s him telling Christine to “Sing, angel!” If you release gas as you sleep, that’s simply the music of the night! Fun.

WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237s
KELLEN ERSKINE IS IN ON TOUR!
MAR 16 New Bremen, OH
MAR 20 Pittsburgh
MAR 28 Bakersfield, C
APR 2-4 St Pete, Clearwater, & Delray Beach, FL
APR 25-26 Indiana
MAY 9-10 Dallas
MAY 17 St Charles, IL
For tickets go to KellenErskine.com
-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
-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.
...more
25min
February 19, 2025 Re-Issue: Excellent Advice for Living, by Kevin Kelly
SUMMARY: Enjoy a digitally-remastered edit of one of our favorite episodes, where the author shares exactly what the book is called. Plus, Dave tells a story about being accidentally cool at a wedding, and Dave disagrees with a brilliant plan that Kellen has for safe combat with burglars...

WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237s
KELLEN ERSKINE IS IN ON TOUR!
MAR 16 New Bremen, OH
MAR 20 Pittsburgh
MAR 28 Bakersfield, C
APR 4 Delray Beach, FL
APR 25-26 Indiana
MAY 9-10 Dallas
MAY 17 St Charles, IL
For tickets go to KellenErskine.com
-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
-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.
...more
31min
February 10, 2025 Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
SUMMARY: What if Pride and Prejudice were spooky? What if Mr. Darcy were less handsome, but also more abominable? What if instead of four sisters, Lizzie had no parents and a best friend who dies of tuberculosis? If you love Jane Austen, you’ll love this book, assuming you can get on board with some stuff. Today’s novel is the incomparable Jane Eyre. Though I guess it can be comparable to Pride and Prejudice.

WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237s
KELLEN ERSKINE IS IN ON TOUR!
MAR 16 New Bremen, OH
MAR 20 Pittsburgh
MAR 28 Bakersfield, CA
APR 4 Delray Beach, FL
APR 25-26 Indiana
MAY 9-10 Dallas
MAY 17 St Charles, IL
For tickets go to KellenErskine.com
-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
-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.
...more
34min
January 28, 2025 Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
SUMMARY: The typical human lifespan is in the neighborhood of 4,000 weeks. That is an extremely precious, finite, and dwindling amount of life. It gives all of us urgent reason to (while we still can) take advantage of the Taco Bell 5 Dollar Taco Discovery Box deal. How would you live differently if you knew this was your last day to spend time with loved ones, work on a passion project, or eat a Doritos Locos Taco with a medium fountain drink (including the Baja Blast)?
On this episode hear Dave's beautiful cigarette analogy, plus Kellen wishes that we had more inventions but fewer expectations...

WATCH KELLEN'S NEW COMEDY SPECIAL ON YOUTUBE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBt0W1zrDU&t=1237s
KELLEN ERSKINE IS IN ON TOUR!
FEB 1 Milwaukee
FEB 7-8 Youngstown, OH
MAR 16 New Bremen, OH
MAR 20 Pittsburgh
MAR 28 Bakersfield, CA
APR 4 Delray Beach, FL
APR 25-26 Indiana
MAY 9-10 Dallas
MAY 17 St Charles, IL
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.
...more
27min

FAQs about The Book Pile:

How many episodes does The Book Pile have?

The podcast currently has 228 episodes available.

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