An informative and entertaining travel book of the afterlife. As someone who adores both Dante's Inferno and The Good Place, it honestly felt like this book was written for me. I loved it!

Jennings' writing is engaging and informative, and he does a great job of capturing the beauty and wonder of the places he visits. He also provides helpful tips for travelers, such as how to get there, where to stay, and what to see and do.

100 Places to See Before You Die is a fascinating and inspiring book that will appeal to anyone who loves to travel or who is interested in learning more about the world. It is a must-read for anyone who dreams of visiting the world's most amazing places.

A really fun and unique take on travel guides and the history of various afterlives! I love Jeopardy, and I love Ken Jennings, and I was so excited t get approved for this book. I can’t say I understood what the whole point of it as, but I feel like I know so much more now about literature and pop culture, just by reading it. Also I’m better prepared for a turn on Jeopardy, with everything I accidentally learned from this really fun read.

Very interesting

This covers the idea of what happens to us after death from many points of view. I am most interested in religious beliefs, especially where the followers of the particular religion are expected to believe what the religion preaches. Some are quite creative. My spouse also read this. He, the smartest person I know, said that he struggled because he didn't know a lot of the words. But he reads like he expects to remember every name. I don't. I am not planning on going on Jeopardy, so I read this to get concepts, not to remember every detail. I found it very interesting. And it made me think that a lot of people used the idea of heaven and hell to control a whole lot of other people.

I found this book entertaining in the way it was presented and the different things it covered in afterlife "travels". I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

I would like to thank Scribner and Net Galley for the chance to read this book as an ARC. This is an interesting premise for a book. It is a travelogue of sorts, a compendium of descriptions of the afterlife in Religions, Books, Myths, Plays, Movies and Televison.It is well researched and well written.It has a lot of chapters and is the kind of book you can dip in and out of, reading whatever section fits your mood or interest. It is probably not for everyone, but it is an interesting if quirky read.

I was interested in this book because. I love Ken Jennings on Jeopardy. I wasn't crazy about this book because it wasn't what I expected it to be. That's on me though because the description is clear that it was going to describe what various peoples believed and have written about what happens to you after you die. After reading about half of the book, I just could not go on.

Not really my cup of tea. Some of it was tedious to me and other parts amusing (especially the afterlife in movies and television). Still, I'd like to read other books by Ken Jennings - he really should be the main Jeapardy host!

I’ll admit to doing a little fast reading as I plowed through this very clever and intellectual travel guide to all the wondrous places a person can go, once they are dead.

This is the opposite of the proverbial bucket list or things you must experience while on this side… 100 movies, 100 graphic novels, 100 beers, 100 national parks, 100 pez dispensers, ok you get it.

This guide has been penned by current host and legendary champion of the show Jeopardy, Ken Jennings. His guide draws upon fiction, religions, philosophies and other thoughts about life after death.

The book is broken into sections: religions, mythologies, fiction books, movies, and more. You start this journey under the sea in Adlivun, where the bad souls go. Limbo, Nirvana and the Bardo are discussed and there is of course the Inferno, The Null from Stephen King. What?!?

The book is humorous and if you can stick with it, a good overview of the idea of afterlife and where people think they might end up. Ken has done much research and his is definitely a writer.

While this book was not for this reader, I think there will be plenty of fans who will find this novel quite adventurous and quirky

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Ken Jennings.

Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of this book. I hoping to love it but I didn't. It seemed to ramble.

Not for me.

A fun guide to all the different takes on the afterlife. It felt very full of short tidbits spanning so many religions, practices, movies and books. I definitely wished the whole time I could retain all the little tidbits that I’m sure the author is able to hold on to. Fun, funny and very enjoyable.

Thanks to NetGalley and Scribner for an eARC

Ken's mix of humor and a stunning depth of knowledge shines brightly in his new travel guide, though these destinations can only be visited once your time on Earth is up. He did a great job balancing giving thorough descriptions without bogging down the book at any point with overly lengthy entries. I appreciated that there was no attempt to paint any single afterlife possibility as more likely than the rest. It's broken down into segments based on where the idea of that afterlife is drawn from, and if you're looking for one specific idea or concept, the lengthy index at the back serves as a simple guide to all the ideas contained within.

Having a hard time deciding just which afterlife to choose? Ken Jennings has just what you need. It’s a handy guide to one hundred different afterlife destinations. And boy are they different – some good, some awful and a few Meh. All display plenty of imagination whether representing thoughts from culture, religion, literature or tv. Nothing deep or lengthy, but a good idea of what to expect. It’s armchair traveling at it’s best.

After watching him everyday on Jeopardy, I decided I needed to finally read a Ken Jennings book. The title, 100 Places to See After You Die, is self-explanatory, the faux travel guide offers 100 brief vignettes about the afterlife, from mythology to religion to pop culture. This book is well researched and Ken Jennings has a fun sense of humor. I do feel the book would have benefitted from having longer, more in depth passages instead of so many quick entries. I felt the information would have stuck a little more and it would have been more impactful. The format does lend itself to skipping around as opposed to reading straight through. While not perfect, this did make me excited to read more of Ken Jennings’ books.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

A fun conceit, but ultimately it feels better as a reference book than one you read all the way through, which doesn't actually work for what it's giving you. Jennings is fun and writes well, but the nature of the book makes it feel pretty repetitive after you hit your fourth or fifth place to see.

You just have to love Ken Jennings! The man has the unique ability to take really esoteric and complicated information and turn it into a enjoyable and entertaining read. He's done it again with this book. What a great way to explore and learn about other cultures and their beliefs! Bravo! I look forward to his next book!

Either not the right time - or just not my type of book. Too many deaths recently - this just seemed wrong!

Some people feel that the afterlife is a very serious matter about which we should not venture to speculate, much less laugh. Those people won't like this book. Everyone else probably will. The King of Trivia presents satirical "tour guide" writeups of dozens of visions of reincarnation and resurrection, Good Places and Bad Places, metaphors for reward and punishment. If you believe they're all just metaphors for things the mortal mind cannot imagine, you're free to laugh at the inconsistencies, lack of logic, and quirky personal associations in other peple's metaphors...while also being reminded of whatever it is that you do seriously believe you should be doing to prepare for whatever you believe lies ahead. 4.5 stars. Blogspot review scheduled for 5 June, 9 AM (NYC time).

★ ★ ★ ★ 1/2 (rounded up)
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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WHAT'S 100 PLACES TO SEE AFTER YOU DIE ABOUT?
Ken Jennings provides a handy tour guide through one hundred visions of the afterlife for the modern reader. Complete with tips on places to see, areas to avoid, local lingo, bits of trivia, dining tips, and so on, it's just the kind of thing you're going to want to peruse before you shuffle off this mortal coil, so you know where to go.

The book is broken down into: Mythology, Religion, Books, Movies, Music and Theater, and Miscellaneous. Then (alphabetically) Jennings looks at a variety of afterlife locales in each category.

For example, the Books section covers:

Aslan’s Country • The Bridge • The Cemetery • The Empyrean • The Five Lessons • Half-Life • The Inbetween • Inferno • The Kingdom • King’s Cross • Mansoul • The Null • Pandemonium • Paradiso • The Parish • Purgatorio • Riverworld • The Third Sphere • The Time Bubble • The Undying Lands • The Valley of the Shadow of Life*


* From Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia and The Great Divorce; O'Connor's story "Revelation"; Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo; Milton's Paradise Lost; Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven; Dick's Ubik; Sebold's The Lovely Bones; Dante's The Divine Comedy; Twain's "Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven"; Rowling's Harry Potter; Moore's Jerusalem; King's Revival; O'Brien/O'Nolan's The Third Policeman; Farmer's Riverworld; Matheson's What Dreams May Come; Oliver's The Time Bubble; and Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Jennings describes each place with wit, humor, Dad Jokes, puns, irreverence, and plenty of facts.

DANCING THROUGH A MINEFIELD
It's one thing to talk about places like Valhalla, Hades, The Bad Place, Bill & Ted's Bogus destination, or Futurama's Robot Hell in a light-hearted or flippant fashion. It's an entirely different can of worms to discuss the LDS Three Kingdoms of Glory, Jannah, Jahannam, Ariel Toll Houses/Telonia, and so on—in the same tone.

I will not say that Jennings was able to fully succeed in discussing the afterlives described in some major religions in an unoffensive manner. Primarily because I'm not an adherent of any of the religions he discussed, so my tolerance for that is really high. Had he tackled something I believe in, I very well could've been at risk of insult.

That said, I think he did okay. Yes, he walks close to irreverent. But he maintains a decent degree of respect. The humor largely comes from the way he describes the beliefs not at the expense of an article of faith.

Still, some people might want to skip over a chapter or two if they're worried about getting their toes stepped on. (but those people probably aren't going to be reading this book in the first place)

A FEW HIGHLIGHTS
Ohhh, there are just so many.

The Books section was my favorite—followed closely by Movies and Television—this is the kind of thing I blog about, think about, and so on, so it makes sense that those sections resonated with me most. The Books section, in particular, discussed portions of those works in ways I could really sink my teeth into.

But there were multiple highlights in each section—I learned a lot about D&D, I couldn't help singing "Ghost Riders in the Sky" during that chapter, I think he pointed out a good plot hole in It's a Wonderful Life (I don't know, maybe he's not the first), I loved the discussion of Bosch's paintings, and so on.

The chapter on The Good Life was fantastic—a great systemization of the series' take on the afterlife (and several characters). The chapter on Nirvana was sublime.

Books, movies, mythologies, songs, etc. that I've never heard of, much less, read/watched/listened to/studied were described in enough detail that I could appreciate those chapters and maybe even develop an interest in following up on.

PROBLEMS/QUIBBLES/THINGS THAT DIDN'T WORK FOR ME
Um. Hold on, I'll think of something.

...

...

oh! Here's a problem: the eARC came with the typical "don't quote from this version until verified by the published edition" warning—but it was more pronounced than usual. I really want to use samples throughout this post, but I can't. (and I wouldn't have even without this warning, because I know things get tweaked in the final stages).

Actually, I do have a legitimate gripe. There are no footnotes—or even endnotes*—for anything that Jennings says. Most of what the book contains could fall into the category of "General Knowledge" (at least for people who know anything about The Good Place, Dante, or the religion of the Maori). But I wouldn't have minded a point in the right direction to learn some more details, context, or background on many, many, many things Jennings wrote about.

* It's been decades since I haven't asked why a book uses endnotes when footnotes exist, and yet I'd have liked to have them in this book more than the nothing we got. That's how much this bothers me.

I CAN'T HELP PONDERING...
Given the argument of Planet Funny: How Comedy Took Over Our Culture by Ken Jennings, I wonder about his approach to the subject of the afterlife. Sure, even Planet Funny was frequently funny as it critiqued the overuse of humor in our culture, but for his next book to take this tone, seems to undercut the work.

Or maybe it just shows that even as he can look with clear eyes at some of the weaknesses of our culture, he's part of it and is subject to the influences. It's almost like he's human.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT 100 PLACES TO SEE AFTER YOU DIE?
This section is going to be shorter than usual because I think I've pretty much answered the question already.

From the "throwaway lines" to the big ideas, this was a delight from start to finish. I thoroughly enjoyed this approach to the subjects—quick hits that tell you the essentials and make you smile while telling them.

Jennings' style is one I aspire to, and can't say enough good things about.

I can't think of a reason not to give this 5 Stars, but my gut tells me not to. So I'll knock it down to 4 1/2 (which isn't a big deal since Goodreads, NetGalley, etc. won't let me use 1/2 stars, I'll round up). It's educational, it's entertaining, and it's thought-provoking. You can't go wrong with this.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Scribner via NetGalley in exchange for this post and my honest opinion—thanks to both for this.

Very interesting premise to this quirky book!

Ken Jennings gives details of 100 different versions of the afterlife - drawing on information from world religions, TV shows, Movies, music and myths. All are described with a an offbeat sense of humor - that made the descriptions very enjoyable.

I did skip around past a few sections, and I found that I was losing interest in the second half of the book as it was a little repetitive.