Controversial Books

This page shows your 100 most controversial books, as measured by the standard deviation of members star ratings. (This is also the source of the Zeitgeist category "25 Books People Can't Agree on.") To be included, a book must have been rated at least 20 times. Work titles are given.

Standard Deviation	Rating	Title
1.131	3.58	The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand
1.13	3.61	Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
1.113	3.99	Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind
1.111	3.42	The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels
1.092	3.77	Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels
1.09	3.56	The Shelters of Stone by Jean M. Auel
1.081	3.87	The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
1.067	3.62	A Separate Peace by John Knowles
1.062	3.58	The Plains of Passage by Jean M. Auel
1.058	3.85	Perelandra by C. S. Lewis
1.055	3.55	Timeline by Michael Crichton
1.047	3.67	The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
1.045	3.92	The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis
1.044	3.98	The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
1.029	3.8	That Hideous Strength by C. S. Lewis
1.026	3.85	Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
1.02	3.84	The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
1.018	3.91	The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
1.015	3.76	Lord of the Flies by William Golding
1.01	3.67	In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
1.004	3.73	Blood of the Fold by Terry Goodkind
1.004	3.9	Stone of Tears by Terry Goodkind
1.001	3.81	The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel
0.998	3.92	Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
0.994	3.87	The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
0.981	3.65	Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
0.98	3.09	Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine
0.98	3.7	The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M. Auel
0.98	3.98	The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
0.975	3.85	Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis
0.973	3.74	The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
0.965	3.89	The Horse and His Boy by C. S. Lewis
0.963	4.12	Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
0.959	3.91	Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
0.956	4.03	The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
0.954	3.93	Dubliners by James Joyce
0.953	3.92	Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
0.947	3.94	The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis
0.942	4.08	The Folk of the Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
0.94	3.59	The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood
0.934	3.91	The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis
0.934	3.75	The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time by Douglas Adams
0.934	3.82	The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell
0.933	3.59	The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus by Margaret Atwood
0.932	4.11	The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis
0.932	4.09	All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
0.93	3.63	Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders by James D. Scurlock
0.93	3.98	The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
0.923	4.1	The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
0.919	3.83	The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood
0.917	3.89	Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis
0.917	3.96	Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
0.917	3.29	Antic Hay by Aldous Huxley
0.915	4.17	Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
0.915	3.96	The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
0.907	4.29	The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
0.904	3.43	A Clergyman's Daughter by George Orwell
0.904	3.92	The Girls by Lori Lansens
0.902	4.07	The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis
0.902	4.02	The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
0.901	3.9	Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
0.898	3.97	Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
0.898	3.86	The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams
0.894	3.88	Keep the Aspidistra Flying by George Orwell
0.893	4.29	War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
0.887	3.64	The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds
0.882	4.01	The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker
0.882	3.93	The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
0.868	4.12	Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
0.862	3.77	Burmese Days by George Orwell
0.854	3.83	The Stuff of Thought by Steven Pinker
0.852	4.08	The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
0.85	3.75	A Gracious Plenty: A Novel by Sheri Reynolds
0.839	3.94	The Maze Runner by James Dashner
0.836	4.26	1984 by George Orwell
0.833	4.15	The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
0.832	3.8	Wilderness Tips by Margaret Atwood
0.826	4.42	To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
0.819	3.7	Coming Up for Air by George Orwell
0.814	3.67	The Wife's Tale by Lori Lansens
0.81	4.35	A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
0.803	4.05	Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
0.799	4.41	A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
0.797	4.06	Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
0.786	4.28	Erak's Ransom by John Flanagan
0.783	4.01	Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
0.78	4.15	The Golem's Eye by Jonathan Stroud
0.761	4.19	The Ruins of Gorlan by John Flanagan
0.76	4.17	The Icebound Land by John Flanagan
0.752	4.07	NurtureShock by Po Bronson
0.74	4.48	Complete stories by Flannery O'Connor
0.735	4.23	The Siege of Macindaw by John Flanagan
0.728	4.15	Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods by Suzanne Collins
0.728	4.32	Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud
0.721	4.19	The Kings of Clonmel by John Flanagan
0.717	4.12	Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins
0.71	4.2	Gregor and the Marks of Secret by Suzanne Collins
0.708	4.24	The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan
0.694	4.31	The Battle for Skandia by John Flanagan
0.69	4.25	A Collection of Essays by George Orwell

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