Boom! This is Books & Biceps #394!

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The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean by Susan Casey

Susan Casey is one of my all time favorite authors in general and in my opinion, when it comes to writing and chronicling the ocean, she’s the best there is.

If you aren’t familiar with her or haven’t read any of her books, start with The Devil’s Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America’s Great White Sharks.

(SIDE NOTE: I compete in 3-4 ocean races every year and I think about the shark surfacing scenes in this book every time I get in deep water, so don’t read this one within 24 hours of heading into the ocean, haha.)

Moving on, Casey’s book The Wave, about big wave surfers following and searching the globe for enormous rogue waves and white rhinos (unique, absurdly giant waves) is incredible, and her book Voices in the Ocean about the secret world of dolphins, their families and their underwater societies is also mesmerizing.

But today, I’m writing about her newest book, The Underworld, because my son had a science project for school about the depths of the ocean and instead of searching a bunch of Internet links I gave him this book and it was all he needed.

The best way to describe this read is that it’s like you’re on an adventure exploring outer space and you’re on an adventure exploring an alien planet - except you’re actually just exploring volcanoes, mountains and trenches deeper than Mt. Everest’s height on our own sea floor.

What we don’t know about the deepest parts of the ocean could fill a book and that’s exactly what Casey did here (my son didn’t like that joke, but I know you will). She filled it with wonder and awe and science, but she also runs through the history of deep sea exploration, legendary milestones, and the most famous myths and mysteries about the deep: shiny creatures the length of a football field… 400 year old sharks… giant squid… And as always, she does a great job creating the characters (real people, in this case) whose job it is to get to the bottom of the ocean, including all the ins and outs of how/why they do it. It’s an awesome read. Grab it here.

And speaking of feats in the water, I’m pumped to share that I had one of the top 10 fastest times in the United States in 2025 in the 50 fly (age 45-49), officially earning a very cool US Masters Top 10 Ranking.

I made it in 2024 for the 100 fly and trained all year to make it in the 50 and 100 for 2025 but I juuuuuust missed in the hundred.

Swimming is such a crazy sport. At the top, everything is decided in the tenths and hundreds of a second. I mean, look at that list. I made the Top 10 by .14 seconds. That’s it. The fifth time through the tenth time was all within one second. That’s nothing.

It’s a flip turn a few inches too low. A breath too early. A touch at the finish not timed right. It could be one stroke not getting full extension. I missed the Top 10 100 fly time by .19. That’s it. Crazy.

Either way, I’m pumped that I made it. I can’t stress how much I’ve enjoyed training and competing again in an official capacity instead of just “staying in shape”. Being able to say I’m one of the ten fastest flyers over 45 in the entire US is also pretty cool too haha!

Already training to make Top 10 for 2026. Let’s gooooo!

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I write a column every Tuesday called The Manologue. This week, I talked about rewatching The Sopranos. It’s been two full decades and I decided to watch the show again for a bunch of reasons. Call it nostalgia or most new shows don’t interest me or that I’ve been hankering for a peek back into my Jersey childhood, whatever… I’ve been thinking about it for a while and I was curious to see if it was as good as I remembered. Here’s what I discovered:

The Sopranos is an entirely new show for me because now I have a teenage son and daughter. Now I have the responsibilities that Tony had (minus the mob boss and goomah issues). You have to read this. You’ll see:

I’m a longtime Randy Orton wrestling fan and I had to share these photos he posted from his daddy-daughter dance. I loved the daddy-daughter dances I went to with my daughter and I cherish the photos we took, but there’s something very cool about The Viper, the Apex Predator, Mr. RKO himself, dressing up and taking his daughter to the same dance. Can’t imagine looking up as you dance the electric slide and wondering if you’re gonna get an RKO out of nowhere in the middle school gym, haha. Being a dad rules:

Last week I wrote you all about an amazing offer my publisher and I came up with… a chance to actually have YOUR NAME appear IN the hardcover of the Bear Brawl book when it comes out. Like our own Books & Biceps section in the acknowledgements!

And a TON of you responded instantly:

So we’re extending the chance for Books & Biceps readers who want to be in Bear Brawl! But you have to get in before we lock the manuscript and go to layout.

This is all you have to do:

1) PRE-ORDER your book below.

2) Reply to this email with a screenshot and your name.

3) You’ll be a part of a blockbuster hit book forever!

Here’s a SNEAK PEAK at a few NEW BLURBS for Bear Brawl:

"Jon Finkel's gifts as a rollicking storyteller are on full display in his thriller Bear Brawl, along with his deep expertise in what happens when we're pushed to our physical and mental limits. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll buy an extra can of bear spray next time you head into the woods."

-- "Alex Hutchinson, New York Times bestselling author of Endure and The Explorer's Gene "

"Jon Finkel's ingeniously conceived Bear Brawl is the most fun you'll have reading a novel this year. Set in my home state of Arkansas, this high-octane thriller bleeds raw authenticity. From the expertly plotted action scenes, to its heart-wrenching themes--Finkel's debut novel arrives on the scene loaded for bear."

-- "Eli Cranor, Edgar Award-winning author of Mississippi Blue 42, Ozark Dogs, and Don't Know Tough"

Reserve your spot to have your name in the Bear Brawl hardcover forever!

Jon Finkel is the award-winning author of Macho Man: The Untamed, Unbelievable Life of Randy Savage, 1996: A Biography, Hoops Heist, The Life of Dad, Jocks In Chief, The Athlete, Heart Over Height, “Mean” Joe Greene and more. His books have been endorsed by everyone from Mark Cuban, John Cena and Tony Dungy to Spike Lee, Kevin Durant and Chef Robert Irvine. He has written for GQ, Men’s Health, Yahoo! Sports, The New York Times and has appeared on CBS: This Morning, Good Morning Texas, Good Morning Chicago, and hundreds of radio shows, podcasts and streams. Jon was recently profiled in The New Yorker about the awesome community he’s built around his Books & Biceps newsletter. They describe him as “a gym rat’s Reese Witherspoon”. Reply to this email for any media requests.

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