Tag: book

How 99 Ways to Die Might Save Your Life-a book review

In this post I review “99 Ways to Die and How to Avoid Them.” Dr. Ashely Alker, an emergency physician, humorously outlines various health risks and preventive measures. Combining personal anecdotes with medical insights, she emphasizes the importance of awareness in avoiding fatal incidents and advises readers to prioritize health habits over misinformation, and seeking medical care as soon as possible.

99 Ways to Die

And How to Avoid Them

by Ashely Alker, M.D.

Published January 2026 by St. Martin’s Press

Thank you, NetGalley and publisher, for sending this book for review consideration.

Why would a medical doctor write about ways to die? Aren’t they supposed to keep people alive?

Yes, and that’s why Dr. Ashely Alker, a “death escapologist”, wrote 99 Ways to Die. As an emergency medicine specialist, she says this book is bad for business. Reading it, and following her advice, may keep you out of her emergency room. Better yet, it may save your life.

Dr. Adler briefly shares her pre-medical life and education, including overseas study for a master’s degree in public health. She relates personal experiences with illness and the healthcare system, which led her to medical school and residency.

The table of contents reads like a textbook of emergency medicine, in that it includes both illnesses and situations that can lead to illness. Some of them you have no doubt heard of.

  • Heart Attacks
  • Cancer
  • Ebola virus
  • Nuclear blast radiation

But have you heard of

  • Schistosomiasis,
  • Mad Cow disease,
  • Venomous agent X,
  • Takotsubo cardiomyopathy

And you’ve heard of but may not believe can be deadly.

  • Influenza,
  • Measles,
  • High Blood Pressure,
  • Pregnancy,
  • Health Influencers (yes, she really wrote this)

She devotes ample discussion to infections, both bacteria, viral, fungi, and even parasites. One whole chapter is on vaccine-preventable infections (obviously, she advocates vaccination)

One of the top five frequent causes of death is accidental trauma, which is often overlooked in discussions of preventive medicine. Not Dr. Adler. She details the ways things like drugs, animals, vehicle crashes, crime, sports, weather, and war can harm and kill us. And don’t forget the dangers of food and water!

You may be thinking this book must be highly technical. She does use scientific names and terms, which she explains in simple language. Her tone is engaging and conversational. She is blunt, sometimes humorous, but always perfectly serious.

She shares stories of her own patients with these conditions; details changed for privacy. Is some of it gory or scary? Maybe, depending on your comfort level and how much you want to know about the human body and how it can be misused and abused.

Disease and death affect all of life and history, as she points out in discussing the impact of the influenza epidemic of 1918 and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. I found her discussion of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in World War II particularly poignant.

The initial blasts killed over 200,000 civilians, with many more dying later from radiation illness. In her review of biological and chemical warfare, she suggests we consider carefully who we put into power.

 From this book, you will learn that health is more than knowing your blood pressure and cholesterol. Our risk of disease is more due to where and how we live, and our socioeconomic status. The most important number for your health may be your zip code in the United States.

None of us expect to die from an automobile collision, hypothermia, homicide, drowning, tornado, poisoning, insect bite, or war, but we might and she explains how to avoid it. Common sense things-wear a seat belt, dress for the weather, apply insect repellent, don’t believe medical misinformation you read online. Learn CPR and save someone else’s life.

I’m a physician and worked in ERs, but I still learned from her book. So, I believe you will also. Her main takeaway is to value and care for your body, you only have one. As she wrote in her dedication

May we all be alive this time next year.

Dr. Ashely Alker

Read an excerpt

Note: She does not intend this book to replace advice from your own personal physician. References to CDC recommendations are to those issued before January 1, 2025.

The Author

Ashely Alker, M.D., M.Sc., is an emergency medicine physician on a mission to improve public health. While completing her master’s degree, Dr. Alker studied at Harvard School of Public Health’s multinational institute in Cyprus. She lived near the United Nations Green Zone and worked in humanitarian affairs at the Unit for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture.

After graduating from the George Washington University School of Medicine, Dr. Alker served as a healthcare advisor for a member of the US Congress. During her residency in emergency medicine at the University of California, San Diego, Dr. Alker became a technical consultant and medical screenwriter, improving medical accuracy on over twenty shows, including TV and film for Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Disney.

Her nonprofit, Meaningful Media, connects writers, artists, and reporters with certified public health experts to develop scientifically accurate messaging.

Images in this Post

The book image and Dr. Alker’s photo are from her website.

What do you think?

What do you think about a physician writing a book about dying?

What is the most unusual, bizarre, or unexpected cause of death that you know about?

How will reading this review and/or the book impact your idea of what will cause your own death?

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Still TRUMPED by SOVEREIGNTY: a family update

You’ve met my friend Sara Stophel here before when I reviewed her book and when I told you she completed her college degree. Now she has more exciting news- a wedding.

You’ve met my friend Sara Stophel here before when I reviewed her book and when I told you she completed her college degree. Now she has more exciting news- a wedding.

Nik, the son of Sara and her late husband Chuck, married a beautiful young woman Alivia in a spring wedding. Sara gave me these photos to share with you.

a bride and groom posing with flowers
Mr. and Mrs. Stophel

I know how it feels to welcome a girl having raised 2 sons. Sara is thrilled to have a daughter in her family now.

In case you missed it, here is my review of Sara’s book where she explains how her life has been…

TRUMPED BY SOVEREIGNTY:

Juggling Faith, Healing, And Submission to God’s Perfect Plans

a memoir BY SARA STOPHEL

“Damen Ballard, twenty-five, left his apartment on April 19, 1995, to grab a pack of cigarettes at the convenience store. On his way back he took the shortcut…crossing I-44 on foot at rush hour. He was hit and became a John Doe while doctors tried to save his life. Even as we were watching the terrible news of the Oklahoma City bombing down the road…and fighting against all of those feelings of desperation when we discovered no hearts would be coming…Chuck’s new heart was just two floors above us in the very same hospital.”

Sovereignty is a word you may not use or even hear often; I know I don’t.  Probably the most common usage is in a political sense, like the sovereignty (authority) of a nation. Maybe that’s why Sara Stophel offers this definition on the back cover of her book;

“‘Sovereignty’ means that God, as the ruler of the universe, has the right to do whatever he wants. Further, he is in complete control over everything that happens.

In a game of cards, a trump card overrules any card previously played … But what happens when that “game” is actually life? And what happens when you realize that God’s sovereignty is the final trump card?”

Trumped by Sovereignty is two stories in one book.  One story relates the multiple medical challenges faced by Sara, her husband Chuck,  their children and extended family. The other story describes how Sara coped with these challenges, especially in relationship to her Christian faith.

I have known Sara and her family for several years and already knew much of their story although not all. I know Sara to be direct, truthful and frank. She does not mince words.

(I did not consult Sara prior to writing this review.  I paid for my copy of her book.)

This is not one of those “how we went through a horrible experience and survived by our unshakable faith” stories; rather it is “how we went through extraordinary stress which tested our faith which survived and grew anyway”.

Sara doesn’t tell you how she solved her problems; she admits that her problems caused her to change the way she looks at life, faith and God.

Sara’s book describes multiple medical conditions that afflicted her family (yes, afflicted is exactly the right word). The list reads like a medical textbook, so much so that you may need to look up some of the terms to understand what they are; she does not describe them in detailed scientific terms.  (I’ve included some links for you to use.)

Between Sara, her husband Chuck, their children and extended family they endured –

Sara and Chuck met in college, a Christian university that is known for its belief in divine healing. However, Sara’s home church did not teach miraculous healing. So it was a new concept for her, and one she found difficult to reconcile as her family’s serious health issues continued to worsen and not respond to medical treatment much less prayer.

Sara Stophel with her late husband Chuck

She does not expect you to believe that she endured these challenges and tragedies due to strong and unwavering faith; rather she freely admits otherwise. As she puts it, her “truster” frequently breaks and needs repair.

“I could not commune with a God who did not honor my bigger-than-mustard-seed faith. I was more than certain God loved people…but I was also nearly certain He just needed me as a tool of transparency. My truster was broken. Having loved God my whole life, I couldn’t think of anything better…anywhere else to turn…so I just kept on serving and assuming the love and peace of God were for everyone but me.”

Sara sense of humor never wavers, both in her writing, and  in life; she probably could not have made it  through some of the days she has lived without it.

You will laugh, cry, or both at some of her stories like-

  • Her annual physical (which was a year late) with her doctor, Dr. LionKing (an offbeat humorous pronunciation of his real name)
  • Her first CPR class after a family death

And you may get angry as she describes her shabby treatment by the IRS, the cell phone company and the local fire department first responders who refused to take her critically ill husband to the hospital.

Sara recently with her 3 sons

I encourage you to buy and read Trumped by Sovereignty. I know Sara and her sons which means I also know that their challenges are not over; in fact, they may be bigger than ever. I believe she will continue to face them with the same courage and humor that she has so far; and maybe in a few years she will write volume 2 of her story.

 

 

Trumped by Sovereignty is published by Paladin Publishing, Tulsa Oklahoma.

Sara Stophel welcomes invitations to speak; you can follow her on

Facebook  at Sara Stophel -author .

Sara at a speaking engagement

Sara’s son Nikolai Stophel is a professional writer/photographer for Samaritan’s Purse. Prior to that position, he  covered the turbulent weather we have here in Oklahoma. His photos of Oklahoma storms illustrate this previous post. You can find more of his work on Instagram. 

On the 6th anniversary of Chuck’s release from illness and pain, his wife Sara reflected on her Facebook page-

          Dr. Aletha