Atlantic Ave June 2023

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entertainment | gotta read By lisa marie
You Could Make This
Place Beautiful: A
Memoir
by MAGGIe Smith
ife, like a poem, is a series of choices.”
“L In her memoir You Could Make This
Place Beautiful, poet Maggie Smith explores
the disintegration of her marriage and her
renewed commitment to herself in lyrical vignettes
that shine, hard and clear as jewels.
The book begins with one woman’s personal,
particular heartbreak, but its circles widen
into a reckoning with contemporary womanhood,
traditional gender roles, and the power
dynamics that persist even in many progressive
homes. With the spirit of self-inquiry
and empathy she’s known for, Smith interweaves
snapshots of a life with meditations
on secrets, anger, forgiveness, and narrative
itself. The power of these pieces is cumulative:
page after page, they build into a larger
interrogation of family, work, and patriarchy.
You Could Make This Place Beautiful, like the
work of Deborah Levy, Rachel Cusk, and Gina
Frangello, is an unflinching look at what it
means to live and write our own lives. It is
a story about a mother’s fierce and constant
love for her children, and a woman’s love and
regard for herself. Above all, this memoir is
an argument for possibility.
100 Places to See
After You Die: A Travel
Guide to the Afterlife
by Ken Jennings
Ever wonder which circles of Dante’s Inferno
have the nicest accommodations?
Where’s the best place to grab a bite to eat
in the ancient Egyptian underworld? How
does one dress like a local in the heavenly
palace of Hinduism’s Lord Vishnu, or avoid
the flesh-eating river serpents in the Klingon
afterlife? What hidden treasures can be
found off the beaten path in Hades, Valhalla,
or NBC’s The Good Place? Find answers
to all those questions and more about the
world(s) to come in this eternally entertaining
book from Ken Jennings.
100 Places to See After You Die is written
in the style of iconic bestselling travel
46 | june 2023 | www.AtlanticAveMagazine.com
guides—but instead of recommending mustsee
destinations in Mexico, Thailand, or
Rome, Jennings outlines journeys through
the afterlife, as dreamed up over 5,000 years
of human history by our greatest prophets,
poets, mystics, artists, and TV showrunners.
This comprehensive index of 100 different
afterlife destinations was meticulously researched
from sources ranging from the Epic
of Gilgamesh to modern-day pop songs, video
games, and Simpsons episodes. Get ready for
whatever post-mortal destiny awaits you,
whether it’s an astral plane, a Hieronymus
Bosch hellscape, or the baseball diamond
from Field of Dreams.
Fascinating, funny, and irreverent, this
light-hearted memento mori will help you create
your very own bucket list—for after you’ve
kicked the bucket.
Hotel Laguna
by Nicola Harrison
In 1942, Hazel Francis left Wichita, Kansas
for California, determined to do her part
for the war effort. At Douglas Aircraft, she became
one of many “Rosie the Riveters,” helping
construct bombers for the U. S. military.
But now the war is over, men have returned to
their factory jobs, and women like Hazel have
been dismissed, expected to return home to
become wives and mothers.
Unwilling to be forced into a traditional
woman’s role in the Midwest, Hazel remains
on the west coast, and finds herself in the bohemian
town of Laguna Beach. Desperate for
work, she accepts a job as an assistant to famous
artist Hanson Radcliff. Beloved by the
locals for his contributions to the art scene
and respected by the critics, Radcliff lives
under the shadow of a decades old scandal
that haunts him.
Working hard to stay on her cantankerous
employer’s good side, Hazel becomes a
valued member of the community. She never
expected to fall in love with the rhythms of life
in Laguna, nor did she expect to find a kindred
spirit in Jimmy, the hotel bartender whose
friendship promises something more. But Hazel
still wants to work with airplanes―maybe
even learn to fly one someday. Torn between
pursuing her dream and the dream life she has
been granted, she is unsure if giving herself
over to Laguna is what her heart truly wants.
You Can’t Joke
About That
by KAT Timpf
In a 2019 study, 40% of people reported
censoring themselves out of fear that voicing
their views would alienate them from the people
they care about most. Those people should
probably not read this book in public.
In You Can’t Joke About That, Kat Timpf
shows why much of the way we talk about sensitive
subjects is wrong. We’ve created all the
wrong rules. We push ourselves into unnecessary
conflicts when we should feel like we’re all
in this together. When someone says “you can’t
joke about that,” what they really mean is “this
is a subject that makes people sad or angry.”
Hilariously and movingly, Timpf argues that
those subjects are actually the most important
to joke about. She shows us we can find
healing through humor regarding things you
probably don’t want to bring up in polite conversation,
like traumatic break-ups, cancer,
being broke, Dave Chappelle, rape jokes, aging,
ostomy bags, religion, body image, dead
moms, religion, the lab leak theory, transgender
swimmers, gushing wounds, campus censorship,
and bad Christmas presents.
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