💪Books & Biceps - Issue 184

Your 5-Minute Brain and Body Flex

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BOOKS

Billy Summers by Stephen King

Nobody likes an insufferable literary snob and I have to admit that for one summer back in my early twenties I was teetering towards full-blown snobbery. I’d somehow gotten it in my head that I was only going to read Important Works (whatever the hell that meant). Classics. Novels addressing “themes”. Whatever.

Thankfully, this period didn’t last long and I owe it to one author, Stephen King, who taught me to read for enjoyment above all else. In fact, one of my most popular blog posts of all time is titled, “How Stephen King’s Books Saved Me From Being a Literary Loser” and you can read it here.

Ever since that fateful summer I’ve made it a point to read one King book every year and it was one of the best reading decisions I’ve ever made. Unforgettable stories. Ridiculously great characters. Honest-to-goodness plot twists you didn’t see coming. He’s a master and I’d say I either “really loved” or at least “really liked” 80% of what I’ve read so far.

He’s got a new book out now called Billy Summers and I couldn’t wait to get it. Just like the first words for The Gunslinger drew me in all those years ago (The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed), so too do the first words of the inside flap of Biller Summers: “Billy Summers is a man in a room with a gun.”

It’s basic. It’s simple. It grabs you.

Just started reading Summers this week and I’m enjoying the hell out of it so far. You can check it out here.

AND SINCE YOU ASKED, here are my favorite Stephen King books:

Under the Dome, Lisey’s Story, The Outsider, The Gunslinger, Dreamcatcher, Duma Key, Misery, Cujo, The Green Mile

BICEPS

In honor of The Green Mile here’s a workout I affectionately call ‘The Green Miles’ because you’ll turn green doing it (heyyyy ohhhh).

You can do it outside on your street, in a park, at your gym with a treadmill, whatever. All you need is a way to keep track of your distance (any running app will do). I do this on my street with my garage gym close by, so I do pull-ups and kettle bell swings in between the runs, but you can swap those out for air squats and mountain climbers.

The Green Miles

1/4 mile run

25 pushups

1/4 mile run

25 pull-ups

1/4 mile run

25 KB Swings

1/4 mile run

Repeat: Once (beginner) - 2x (intermediate) - 3x (meathead)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of.” - Stephen King

QUICK FLEXES

We’ve had some kick ass conversations on twitter this week, including this conversation about how brutal the old Power Bars were to eat (man, people hated these), a dad’s real thoughts when he sits down to order lunch with his family, and we caught a beautiful shot of this double rainbow on our bike ride to school this week.

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LOOKING FOR YOUR NEXT BOOK TO READ? SWEET!

I’ve written a bunch CHECK’EM OUT HERE.