The result for many pilgrims in 1998, has no doubt been closer to hell than heaven as JCBs, diggers, mechanical cranes and workmen in hard hats have made movement virtually impossible.

BBC: Seeing chaos at Christmas

Purgatory should have been a safe haven for souls that belong neither in Heaven nor Hell, but instead John finds himself in a corrupt prison, one bereft of freedom or pleasure.

FORBES: The Weekly E-Reading List

Heaven is as great a flop as Utopia though Hell, it is worth noting, occupies a respectable place in literature, and has often been described most minutely and convincingly.

NPR: Excerpt: 'All Art Is Propaganda'

Jay Bell has drafted a interesting, page-turning book that tours not only the traditional afterlife, but also the afterlives of many different religions as the protagonist, John Grey, works on behalf of Hell to unite all of the varied human pantheons in a war against Heaven to liberate the souls trapped in Purgatory.

FORBES: The Weekly E-Reading List

Nothing not the tacky plastic fun park of Canada's family heaven nor the hard-at-the-heels squalor of New York's economic hell can ruin one of the world's prime natural wonders.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Inventing Niagara'