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Boom! This is Books & Biceps #338!

Welcome to our hundreds of new readers this week and a special shout out to everyone who grabbed the Books & Biceps Bundle last week. It’s the easiest purchase ever. The entire Meathead Media Library for less than the price of one hardcover. A simple and smart way to support the newsletter, too!

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(If you’re a new subscriber or missed my yearly book round-up, The 16 Most Memorable Books I Read in 2024, you can read it here.)

BOOKS

Sledge vs. The Labrynth by Nick Horvath

In the 330+ issues of Books & Biceps that I’ve written, this book might be the most random, the most out-of-left-field book selection I’ve ever recommended.

Why?

Because as of Monday morning, a mere five days ago, I’d never heard of the book or the author, Nick Horvath. Then the cover popped up in my Twitter feed and it intrigued me… Who is this giant dude? And is he holding a sledgehammer? And do people call him Sledge because he beats up guys with a sledgehammer? I was curious…

And then the post compared the book to Conan the Barbarian, The Punisher, Die Hard and Jack Reacher. Yeah, ALL OF ‘EM! And just like you, my fellow sophisticated meatheads, I instantly thought, “Hell, yes! I’m IN.” So I bought it and it arrived Tuesday afternoon some time.

I’d planned to put it on my shelf with the other twenty five plus “to read one day” books… But something compelled me to open it. And I read page one… and two… and soon I was thirty pages in and let me say, this book is a blast to read and it is somehow a combination of all the references above, but maybe with a little Elmore Leonard thrown in for good measure.

The dialogue is clever and quick. The fight scenes are fun and fast. Like this one:

“…He hadn’t racked his shell yet. By the time he realized his error, I was on him. I grabbed the end of the single-barrel and yanked, pitching the guy forward into my left fist. He went down and now I had the gun. I cracked it, jacked the shell he’d forgotten and tossed the gun aside. Then I unhooked the sledgehammer from it’s home on my back and rested the cold steel on his forehead.”

Yes, Sledge, all 6’10” of unstoppable force, uses a sledgehammer as his signature weapon. And the plot… It’s cool. And unique. And scary. Reminds me of one of the Saw movies but with a formidable anti-hero on the good guys’ side.

Also, and I just learned this, Nick Horvath, if the name rings a bell (it did vaguely for me, but I didn’t connect it at all), played college hoops at Duke as well. My kinda guy. Living that full Books & Biceps life haha!

Check out his book here. You’ll enjoy it.

BICEPS

I got some AWESOME NEWS on Thursday morning that I couldn’t wait to share with you.

As most of you longtime B&B readers know, I started my swimming comeback early last summer after having not been on a team for over twenty years.

My goal was to train hard. Compete again. Push myself... All that good stuff.

But truthfully, my goal wasn’t to just compete. I wanted to have an epic comeback.

I wanted to win and put up some fast times on a national level...

Specifically, I had my eye on the Masters Swimming Top 10 Cut Sheet...

This keeps track of the fastest times in the United States ALL YEAR by age group and event. If you make the list, you get a cool badge and you get to say that you’re one of the fastest 10 swimmers in the US in that event. Pretty cool.

My goal was to make one of these lists in my first year back... AND, I’m pumped to say that I just found out that my 100 Fly time at November’s 2024 Swimming HOF Invitational was fast enough. Came in at #9! 

Feels awesome... And I’m just getting started. This year I’m aiming to crack the list in the 50, 100 and maybe the 200 fly as well... See if we can get TOP 5!

But I had to take a moment to appreciate this one. Haven’t been a nationally ranked swimmer since I was about 14. This is dope. And I have a meet this weekend. Always forward…

You can check out my cool IG post with an LL Cool J soundtrack to it right here.

QUICK FLEXES

In my opinion, Fight Club is one of the best book-to-movie adaptations of all time. I’ve read the book a bunch and seen the movie a million times, like most of you. So when my buddies at the Be Kind, Let’s Rewind pod decided to tackle the film in a two-hour mega show, I was all the way in.

These dudes have been kind enough to have me on to talk about Macho Man and Generation Griffey, and they chop it up about so many of our favorite books, movies and pop culture topics.

Do yourself a favor: Watch, listen and subscribe:

A QUICK WORD FROM THIS WEEK’S SPONSOR:

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STRONG LINKS

1) My Twitter buddy Michael Girdley has one of the most unique newsletters out there (and 230k followers on X). He’s bought, scaled and sold a ton of small businesses (11) and he loves Chili’s and dad humor. I don’t always enjoy reading about business and you probably don’t either, but it’s important and one of the few dudes who makes it relatable and funny AND gives you useful advice is my guy Girdley. If you click on this link below, you’ll automatically be signed up:

2) Please check out my new venture, MIDLIFE MALE

If you’re a dude over 40 and you used to read Men’s Health or Esquire or GQ, and you’re looking for a digital magazine to get you on top of your game and keep you on top of your game, with incredible A-List interviews (Troy Aikman, Don Saladino, Gunnar Peterson and more), original columns and a curated list of weekly items second-to-none, subscribe to Midlife Male Magazine.

I’ve been helping build this publication from the ground up and it’s the magazine I used to wish existed - and now it does. We just passed 15,000 subs! Join us here.

3) This is the single most relatable newsletter about start-ups you’ll ever read. And it’s by the guy who founded Beehiiv, the platform host of this newsletter. His name’s Tyler. His newsletter’s Big Desk Energy. You’ll love it:

4) And if you golf, well, this one’s for you. Easy. Fast. Up-to-date golf news. Every day:

P.S.: Do you want to be the TITLE SPONSOR OF BOOKS & BICEPS ? I have a few spots open for March RIGHT NOW. There is no better place to reach dudes and dads who read & lift. From watches to supplements and gear & software, we’ve had a ton of successful sponsors over the years. And I write all the copy myself. If you want to put your brand/product in front of almost 23,000+ sophisticated meatheads, reply to this email and we’ll talk.

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