Story Talk: Noteworthy Nonfiction

Readers frequently ask me how they can support my work, whether I have a Patreon or some other way to accept donations. I don’t have anything like that. What I have, instead, are these books, which I can’t seem to stop writing. The best way to thank me for my work is to buy the books, in any (or every) format. Selling books benefits a whole community of people who are important to my work, including my publishers and agents, and also all the people who work on publishing, fulfillment and production with me. These people don’t just work on my projects, of course: they have many partners of their own.
Cory Doctorow

Succeed and Soar seeks to lift hearts and spirits, awareness and humanity. Because books help fulfill that mission, this post offers four, enlightening, non-fiction books.

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Sandra Gould Ford
Presenting art to encourage, refresh, enrich creative thing and inspire.

Books I’ve Read

Everything All at Once 

This book’s subtitle is, How to Unleash Your Inner Nerd, Tap Into Radical Curiosity and Solve Any Problem. In this New York Times bestseller, the former Boeing mechanical engineer best known for his Bill Nye the Science Guy television show, makes logical cases for why:

• Everyone on Earth could [and should] eat well
• The wealthiest will benefit if all Earth’s inhabitants live comfortably
• Some five-thousand-year-old beliefs no longer make scientific sense

Other Nye statements affirm,

“The process of science and natural laws don’t care about our politics or preconceptions. They merely set the boundaries of what is possible, defining the outer limits of what we can achieve.”

“We do not have to accept things the way they are. We can nudge, adapt, revise, evolve, improve … and change the world.”

For creating a better planet, Everything All at Once is an encouraging, motivating roadmap.

 Audio Sample   [5 minutes]
Review:  Kirkus

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?

By day, best-selling author Caitlin Doughty works as a mortician and funeral director. “In a brisk, informative, and morbidly funny style, Doughty explores everything from ancient Egyptian death rituals and the science of skeletons to flesh-eating insects and the proper depth at which to bury your pet if you want Fluffy to become a mummy.”

In Will My Cat, Doughty answers children’s questions. The answers entertain and enlighten adults, too.

Audio Sample  [4 minutes]
Review: Beyond The Wall
Review:  Huntley Area Public Library

I Plan to Read

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity

These days, Dr. Peter Attia accepts up to 75 patients. Many tend to be billionaires. Fortunately, accessing this physician’s plan for ending life as healthy and pleasantly as possible doesn’t require millions.

Dr. Attia earned his MD from Stanford University. He then received a Surgical Oncology Fellowship at the National Cancer Institute.

As shown in this Sunday, October 26, 2025 CBS 60 Minutes interview,  Dr. Attia has, “declared war on what he calls ‘the marginal decade,’ the final years of life that are plagued by sickness and immobility.”

In addition, he,

• Founded the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI), that researches aging and nutrition.
• Hosts the popular podcast “The Drive,” where health, wellness, and longevity experts are interviewed.
• Developed the “Pillars of Longevity” a framework for improving healthspan.
• Established the Peter Attia Medical Clinic that focuses on longevity.

These videos also present Dr. Attia’s strategies:

• Testing Your Fitness Levels [5 Minutes, 52 seconds]
• The Longevity Toolkit  [15 Minutes, 41 seconds]

“Ensh*tification:” Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It

This book shows when platforms like Facebook, Google, Amazon, X [once Twitter], etc. go bad and why. Better yet, view Doctorow’s Amanpour and Company  interview.

The SLATE Review opened, “This year, it became apparent to more shoppers that Prime Day is less a showcase of Amazon deals than a brutish exhibition of the platform’s unmatched power.”

The NPR review opened, “A few years ago, Cory Doctorow coined a word that took the internet by storm. It appeared everywhere, including in our newsletter that analyzed why dating apps are breaking the hearts of their users. The American Dialect Society named it its word of the year in 2023. Merriam-Webster even added it to its dictionary — despite it having a swear word in it.”

With this book, forewarned is forearmed.

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