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
RatingTitle
1.2173.43The Awakening by L. J. Smith
1.2153.47Nightfall by L. J. Smith
1.2082.49Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland
1.173.48The Chosen by Ricardo Pinto
1.1653.52Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice
1.1523.43Dark Angel by L. J. Smith
1.1433.06Bored of the Rings by Harvard Lampoon
1.1333.52The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
1.1263.21Shadowdale by Richard Awlinson
1.1243.39Waterdeep by Richard Awlinson
1.1183.92Anne Frank's Tales from the Secret Annex by Anne Frank
1.1123.83An Introduction to Language by Victoria Fromkin
1.1073.36Tantras by Richard Awlinson
1.1063.39Ghost Legion by Margaret Weis
1.1033.64Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
1.0733.98The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea
1.0713.83The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien
1.073.88Death Note: How to Read by Tsugumi Ohba
1.0694.04Death Note, Volume 12: Finis by Tsugumi Ohba
1.0653.43The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice
1.0523.93Confessions by Saint Augustine
1.0513.09The Big U by Neal Stephenson
1.053.5The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
1.0493.24The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall
1.0483.87The Golden Key by Kate Elliot
1.0453.38C++: How to Program by Harvey M. Deitel
1.0444.05Witchlight by L. J. Smith
1.0443.34Prince of Lies by James Lowder
1.0433.74For Love of Evil by Piers Anthony
1.0433.68A History of Wales by John Davies
1.0423.33Java in a Nutshell by David Flanagan
1.0423.64Blood and Gold by Anne Rice
1.043.17The Rivan Codex: Ancient Texts of the Belgariad and the Malloreon by David Eddings
1.0393.74The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
1.0354.03Remembering the Kanji, Vol. 1: A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Japanese Characters by James W. Heisig
1.0343.67The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice
1.0333.56The Vampire Armand by Anne Rice
1.0323.7Chapterhouse: Dune by Frank Herbert
1.0313.56Discourse on Method / Meditations on First Philosophy by René Descartes
1.033.85The Republic by Plato
1.0283.61The Talismans of Shannara by Terry Brooks
1.0283.76The Gap into Vision: Forbidden Knowledge by Stephen R. Donaldson
1.0273.56Dragons of Summer Flame by Margaret Weis
1.0273.47Well of Darkness by Margaret Weis
1.0253.99The Phoenix Guards by Steven Brust
1.0233.67Learning the vi Editor (6th Edition) by Linda Lamb
1.0233.63The 10th Kingdom (Hallmark Entertainment Books) by Kathryn Wesley
1.0223.81Spellbinder by L. J. Smith
1.023.6SQL in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference by Kevin Kline
1.0173.52Wielding a Red Sword by Piers Anthony
1.0174.14Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature by Erich Auerbach
1.0123.78Belgarath the Sorcerer by David Eddings
1.0114.1The Chosen by L. J. Smith
1.0113.52Conflict, Action and Suspense (Elements of Fiction Writing) by William Noble
1.014.17Splendid Soups: Recipes and Master Techniques for Making the World's Best Soups by James Peterson
1.0073.95Freedom and Necessity by Steven Brust
1.0073.96Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
1.0063.78Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice
1.0063.43Learning Java by Patrick Niemeyer
1.0053.66The Dreaming Tree by C. J. Cherryh
1.0043.8Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface by David A. Patterson
1.0043.55Bearing an Hourglass by Piers Anthony
1.0033.57CSS Pocket Reference by Eric A. Meyer
13.5And Eternity by Piers Anthony
13.91City of Golden Shadow by Tad Williams
13.78The Seventh Gate by Margaret Weis
13.59The Writer's Digest Sourcebook for Building Believable Characters by Marc McCutcheon
0.9993.57Lisp (3rd Edition) by Patrick Henry Winston
0.9973.66Final Fantasy X-2 Official Strategy Guide by Dan Birlew
0.9964.06Daughters of Darkness by L. J. Smith
0.9963.65Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
0.9923.59The Druid of Shannara by Terry Brooks
0.9913.64Final Fantasy XII Signature Series Guide by BradyGames
0.9913.64Crystal Line by Anne McCaffrey
0.9913.83Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
0.9913.38The Weekend Novelist by Robert J. Ray
0.993.2Triumph of the Darksword by Margaret Weis
0.9873.58Being a Green Mother by Piers Anthony
0.9873.41A Princess of Landover by Terry Brooks
0.9863.98Neuromancer by William Gibson
0.9863.97Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris
0.9863.85God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist by Victor J. Stenger
0.9853.35Calculus: Early Transcendentals by James Stewart
0.9853.14The Magic of Krynn by Margaret Weis
0.9843.69Dark Reunion by L. J. Smith
0.9833.93Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
0.9823.3Japanese Phrasebook by Yoshi Abe
0.9822.98The Dragons of Krynn by Margaret Weis
0.9823.72A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
0.9823.65Plot by Ansen Dibell
0.9813.75User Interface Design for Programmers by Joel Spolsky
0.9813.58Lyon's Pride by Anne McCaffrey
0.9783.69The City Who Fought by Anne McCaffrey
0.9773.99The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay
0.9763.72To Reign in Hell by Steven Brust
0.9764.08The Secret Circle: The Initiation and The Captive Part I by L. J. Smith
0.9753.78Vampire: The Masquerade: A Storytelling Game of Personal Horror (3rd Edition) by Justin Achilli
0.9753.85The End of Faith by Sam Harris
0.9743.94Ways of Seeing by John Berger
0.9743.97Black Sun Rising by C. S. Friedman
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