Boom! This is Books & Biceps #403!

Thanks to everyone who has shared this newsletter with a buddy or fellow sophisticated meathead. We’re now 30,000+ strong! In fact, if an awesome B&B reader shared this with you, add your e-mail with the subscribe button below:

Over 1,000,000 men have made Particle part of their routine. One product. Multiple premium anti-aging ingredients. Clinically researched and engineered for men's skin. Reduces eye bags, dark spots, and wrinkles without adding complexity to your morning. Easy, effective, worth it. Get 20% off now with the code BH20.

Get 20% Off Today

The Story of Birds: A New History from Their Dinosaur Origins to the Present by Steve Brusatte

We interrupt our regularly scheduled recommendations of historical non-fiction, biographies, thrillers, action novels, detective stories, sci-fi epics and more to share a book with you this week on a topic we’ve never recommended before: birds.

Yes, birds.

But not just one bird. ALL of them. This is a book about every single bird that has ever existed on this planet, how they evolved from dinosaurs and why they exist as they do today. It’s a sprawling, awesome read by my buddy Steve Brusatte, who also wrote the excellent books, The Rise and Fall of Dinosaurs (which I read with my son) and The Rise and Reign of Mammals, which had some cool research elements in it that I used to write about black bears for the most anticipated thriller of 2026, my novel Bear Brawl (which you can pre-order here - pub day: Nov. 10th).

Brusatte does an amazing job of turning research, fossils, historical records, past papers and journals from paleontologists and scientists into engaging, fun stories. You feel like you’re on a journey through time, rather than just reading about the history and evolution of birds.

Personally, I didn’t care about birds or take a special interest in them until we moved to South Florida with a lake behind our house. Suddenly, every morning I’d sit on the back patio and have my coffee and I’d see a dozen different birds wading and hunting and swimming the lake. I didn’t know what any of them were, so I bought a bird watching book (everyone in the house made fun of me).

Pretty soon, I’d start to recognize the birds and the species and their behaviors. We’ve got great blue herons and sandhill cranes and egrets and ibis’s and hawks and so many cool birds. So maybe I’m a little predisposed to enjoying this book, but I loved it.

My favorite thing is to learn insane facts about certain species, like this one:

Did you know that once a Common Swift gets airborne, they stay in the air continuously for months a time? They almost never land. They swoop down to grab food and swoop back up. GPS flight trackers have clocked them going several thousand miles at a clip without touching the ground. How do they rest and sleep? The soar a half-mile up into the air and glide, while letting different parts of their brains rest at different times. Kind of like dolphins in the water. Crazy, right?

This book has a million facts and stories like that and you don’t have to be an ornithologist to dig it. If you’re curious or into this stuff, check it out here.

I do a ton of pull-ups every week. I rotate between four different grips (pull-ups, chin-ups, wide and pistol) and I rotate heavy days with lower reps (weight a rucksack) and lighter days with just body weight but more reps.

They’re a perfect strength builder for swimming (butterfly in particular) and they help fix my posture. You also work your biceps, triceps, back, core and grip strength.

The thing is, if your form isn’t right, the leverage and crappy angles on your joints and bones compounds and you can get injured or sore. Every few weeks I check in with this video to make sure my form is on point. You really have to visualize the muscles you use in this last step on the video, but once you do, you’ll notice a huge difference in horsepower and ease of reps. It’s all about external rotation:

Fellas! If you’re a guy over 40 and you’ve been looking for a new digital magazine that’s written for midlife men, by midlife men, on the topics that actually matter to us: family, fitness, fashion, finance, food & fun, then join us at Midlife Male.

I’m the Editor-in-Chief and I write a column every Tuesday called The Manologue. This week, I wrote about a subject near and dear to my heart: sucking at golf. And more importantly, how I plan to stop. If this sounds like you, read on, my bogey-getting, ball-losing, slice-driving, fellow golf losers.

Try One of Our Most Popular B&B Challenges:

The ‘Read More, Lift More’ 30-Day Brain & Body Endurance Challenge

The Flex Factory Garage Gym Muscle Manual: 90 Days to Meathead Nirvana

P.S. WE’RE 200 DAYS OUT FROM THE RELEASE OF BEAR BRAWL!!!

SOME EARLY PRAISE:

"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"

Pre-order your book right now! We have a TON of cool giveaways coming, so just screenshot your order and you’ll be able to take advantage of every single one:

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.

→ DO YOU READ BOOKS & BICEPS MOST WEEKS?

→ DO YOU WORK FOR A BRAND OR COMPANY OR SELL A PRODUCT?

Want to get in front of 29,000 awesome readers who focus on being smart, wellness, fitness, nutrition, entertainment, sports and more?

You could be our next title sponsor! Previous sponsors include Nike, Random House, Netflix, Huel, HubSpot, SFH Nutrition, La Touraine Watches and more…

Download our media kit here:

→ Reply to this email for rates and availability.