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November is a busy month for a lot of people and the holidays get depressing! So I’m going with a short, easy to read novel about suicide and depression. This is the Jeselnik Book Club way! This month we’ve got The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. This is a wonderful novel that I picked up a few years ago after it got all the hype and I read it in a day. The novel deals with unfathomable darkness in a thoughtful and beautiful way. Plus it will make you want to own a giant dog, even if you live in a tiny apartment. I’m not saying this dog made me go out and get a Rummy. But it didn’t hurt. This one should be readily available wherever you get your books. But it’s guaranteed to be available for purchase at bookshop.org just like every Jeselnik Book Club pick.

I’m looking forward to your questions. Email me at JeselnikBookClub@gmail.com by November 24th and I will record my next recap video when I get back into town after Thanksgiving. These recap videos have been dropping at the end of the month, but this one will probably hit December 1st. Deal with it!  

I hope you’re enjoying the expanded version of Jeselnik Book Club at The Ringer. If you haven’t watched the latest episode with Isaac Fitzgerald, you need to get on that. If only to see me laugh harder than I’ve ever laughed on camera. It’s a fun, thoughtful episode and I hope we get to make more just like it.

And remember to go to Tour page for tickets to my newly announced dates in 2027. They’re selling out fast, and I want those seats to go to members of the Book Club!

This month Jeselnik Book Club is taking on Halloween with The Trees by Percival Everett. You might know Percival Everett from his award winning novel, James, from a few years ago. But I am a fan of all the books of his I've read and The Trees is my favorite. It's about two detectives investigating a series of murders. The main suspect is the zombified corpse of Medgar Evers and the victims are scores of racist white people. It's 320 pages, it fucking rules, and it's very, very funny.

I'm very excited for your questions and comments on The Trees! Email me at JeselnikBookClub@gmail.com by October 26th and I'll answer them in my recap video at the end of the month.  

I'm also having a great time on my WRATH OF MAN Tour. Seattle, Portland, Port Chester and Philadelphia were incredible shows and I'm looking forward to finishing out the year strong. We'll be announcing new dates for next year in a few weeks. In the meantime, check out the Tour page for tickets.

This month Jeselnik Book Club is getting hardcore with The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel. This book was released in 2020 and instantly became one of my favorite novels. Emily St. John Mandel is one of the best writers working today. Her new novel, Exit Party, is being released on September 15th and I highly recommend it. You may also know her from the incredible Station Eleven, but The Glass Hotel is my favorite. It comes in at 301 pages but I promise you will devour it in a couple of sittings.  

And I look forward to your questions! I could talk about this book forever. Email me at  JeselnikBookClub@gmail.com and I'll discuss them in my recap at the end of September.

This month Jeselnik Book Club is reading Samantha Schewblin's Little Eyes, translated by Megan McDowell. I don't want to give anything away. This book is crazy unsettling and all over the place. It is 241 pages and was longlisted for The Booker Prize in 2020. It's great. I love it. You WILL HAVE QUESTIONS and I'll do my best to guess at the answers. Email JeselnikBookClub@gmail.com by August 22nd and I'll answer them at the end of the month. Enjoy your reading.

Jeselnik Book Club is excited to present our pick for July: Savages by Don Winslow. It's summer blockbuster season and we wanted to give you a kick-ass beach read that will get your blood pumping. This action/adventure novel is about a group of childhood best friends who grow up to build a marijuana empire and then have to protect it from a violent cartel takeover. It's got sex, violence, drugs, kidnapping and torture. Basically, a Jeselnik beach read! Don Winslow has written some amazing novels and short stories, but this one's my favorite. Get your questions in to JeselnikBookClub@gmail.com by July 24th and I'll answer them in my recap video at the end of the month. Savages and all my other Jeselnik Book Club picks are guaranteed to be available at Bookshop.org and you can sign up for Jeselnik Book Club emails on my website above.

And while you're here, check out my new fall tour dates. More shows are being added on the regular.

Enjoy your reading.

Jeselnik Book Club is proud to present our pick for June: A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet. This novel is about the younger generation being, frankly, disgusted with the older generation. It's about climate change and the different ways in which our world is falling apart, based largely on materialism and consumerism. It is an apocalyptic novel and people die. It's great. I love it. Get your questions in by June 25th to JeselnikBookClub@gmail.com and we will have another recap video for you at the end of the month. You can order A Children's Bible and all the Jeselnik Book Club picks through our Bookshop.org shop. Enjoy your reading.

Jeselnik Book Club is coming in hot for May with John Williams' Stoner. This is a book I loved and is probably my most consistently successful recommendation of all time. I also believe it is the Great American Novel. Find out why at the end of the month. Email me your questions at JeselnikBookClub@gmail.com by May 23rd. Enjoy your reading.

Thrilled to announce my April pick for Jeselnik Book Club. This month, I'm going with The Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill. It's a beautiful, 177-page book that is begging to be read in one or two sittings. Offill is one of my favorite writers working today. Her writing is intelligent, sparse and easy to read. I honestly don't remember how this one ends, but will never forget that it coined the term "art monster", and it's worth reading for that definition alone. Finish the book and send me your questions by April 24th so I can answer them in my video at the end of the month.

Also, I know these Jeselnik Book Club picks have been hard to come by for a lot of you, so I'm proud to be partnering with BookShop.org moving forward. They are a great organization and are stockpiling copies just for the Jeselnik Book Club. And don't forget to submit your email address above. I'll be sending out bi-monthly announcements, as well as my descriptions and reviews about all the other books I'm reading this year. Enjoy!

I was so excited to announce my Jeselnik Book Club pick for March that I woke up super early in the morning and turned my ring light on as high as it could go! This month we've got Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. Vonnegut is one of the greatest writers of all time. He's also a very easy and pleasant read. This short novel builds to an unforgettable, haunting, and beautiful ending. This book was published in 1962, and I read it 20 years ago, but it is one of my favorite Vonnegut novels and EXTREMELY relevant today. Just think of the main character as your favorite podcaster who got too into politics. Enjoy! Submit your questions to JeselnikBookClub@gmail.com by March 24th. And don't forget to join Jeselnik Book Club by going entering your email address above. Thanks!

February is the shortest month of the year and Jeselnik Book Club feels your pain. This month I've chosen Paradais by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes, for two reasons: it's only 112 pages and the ending will tear your stomach out through your mouth. Fernanda Melchor is a Mexican author, famous for her debut novel, Hurricane Season, which won a whole bunch of shit, but I liked Paradais even more. It is a tour de force. The novel builds dread straight through the climax and then does not stop building that dread until the last page. This is the kind of book you finish and then stare off into space for a while. It's a banger. They're all bangers at Jeselnik Book Club. Enjoy your reading and then email me: JeselnikBookClub@gmail.com with any questions or comments and I'll see you at the end of the month. 

Kicking off Jeselnik Book Club this January with The Getaway by Jim Thompson. Thompson was a prolific author, known as "the dime-store Dostoevsky" for bringing brilliant, but simple writing to the crime genre and I believe this is his best work. The Getaway has been made into a film twice: once with Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw in 1972, and again with Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger in 1994. Both films did not even attempt to tackle the insanely dark ending of the novel. This is the kind of book you finish and then immediately go back and reread the final chapter. The Getaway is a brisk 205 pages. I advise you to skip the forward to avoid spoilers. Please email me with any questions or comments at JeselnikBookClub@gmail.com once you have finished this fantastic novel. See you at the end of the month.

My top ten books of 2025