There’s always that one book you see every time you go to a thrift shop — biographies of George Bush, vampire romance novels for teens, stories about dead pets. Jewel’s A Night Without Armor was mine. I’ve seen so many copies of her collection of poetry at Salvation Army that I could start my own library. Back in the day, I mocked it so much that my friends started buying copies too, giving Jewel her 15 minutes of literary fame in suburban Michigan.

Though most celebrity novels tend to be as — or more — cringe-worthy than Jewel’s, some are actually worth reading. The latest celebrity to impress the literary world is comedian B. J. Novak, whose short story collection, One More Thing, has been greeted with generally positive reviews. In honor of his ability to manage what few others can, here’s a (Jewel-free) list of novels written by celebrities that are good for more than their embarrassingly bad poetry.