The Book Pile

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,

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

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&

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

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

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 a

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 ev

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

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 a

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

How to Read 100 Books This Year

SUMMARY: Whether you want to read 100 books this year, or even just 87, Kellen has some tips for how to succeed--and he's strategically waited 3 weeks into January s

Everybody Lies, by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

SUMMARY: To celebrate this book about dishonesty, we’re gonna test how well you know Kellen and Dave with a game of two truths and a lie. You ready? See if you know us we

Our Favorite Books of 2024!

SUMMARY: Our best books this year had everything: Murder! Therapy! Lyndon B. Johnson! The three elements of good literature. Come join us as we review our favorite books

Re-Issue: A Christmas Carol (with an EVEN NEWER introduction for 2024!)

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 l

Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke

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,

Kellen Crams to Get His 100 Books Read by The End of The Year!

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 r

A 2nd LOOK AT: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets!

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 Har

Re-Issue: The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury

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 collec

THE ROAST OF: The Spy Who Loved Me, by Ian Fleming

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,

Yes Please, by Amy Poehler

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 an