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
1.451	3.33	Little Stalker by Jennifer Belle
1.152	3.09	Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris
1.138	3.36	Hannibal by Thomas Harris
1.114	2.78	Lost by Gregory Maguire
1.103	3.64	Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
1.097	3.61	Countdown by Iris Johansen
1.091	3.59	The Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn
1.082	3.39	The Last Don by Mario Puzo
1.081	3.87	The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
1.078	3.38	The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
1.071	3.5	London Bridges by James Patterson
1.062	3.69	The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
1.056	3.42	The Boys in the Trees: A Novel by Mary Swan
1.055	3.11	The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
1.053	3.34	The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer by Jennifer Lynch
1.046	3.22	Matchless by Gregory Maguire
1.044	3.31	A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
1.033	3.41	The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
1.021	3.45	Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
1.007	3.32	The Family by Mario Puzo
1.006	3.85	The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford
1.004	3.28	The Last Precinct by Patricia Cornwell
0.999	3.27	Mirror, Mirror by Gregory Maguire
0.999	3.37	The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters: A Novel by Elisabeth Robinson
0.995	3.47	The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
0.993	3.42	Poppy Shakespeare by Clare Allan
0.987	3.85	Bar Code Rebellion by Suzanne Weyn
0.984	3.65	Projection by Keith Ablow
0.983	3.83	Push by Sapphire
0.976	3.73	Pet Sematary by Stephen King
0.97	3.52	The Thief Taker by Janet Gleeson
0.968	3.51	Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
0.966	3.99	The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power by Jeff Sharlet
0.961	3.89	Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill
0.959	4.16	The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
0.959	3.66	The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
0.957	3.82	The Gates by John Connolly
0.957	3.88	White Oleander by Janet Fitch
0.956	3.32	The Appeal by John Grisham
0.955	3.83	The Pact by Jodi Picoult
0.954	3.4	Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
0.953	3.83	Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews
0.948	3.83	A Time to Kill by John Grisham
0.945	3.86	Tori Amos: Piece by Piece by Tori Amos
0.942	3.98	Envy by Sandra Brown
0.942	3.92	The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
0.942	3.43	The Street Lawyer by John Grisham
0.939	4.22	Child of the Morning by Pauline Gedge
0.939	4.09	A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
0.937	3.38	The Chamber by John Grisham
0.937	3.27	Omerta by Mario Puzo
0.936	4.04	Equus by Peter Shaffer
0.934	3.57	The Client by John Grisham
0.932	3.55	The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
0.93	3.8	Red Dragon by Thomas Harris
0.928	3.58	Killing the shadows by Val McDermid
0.927	3.42	Disordered Minds by Minette Walters
0.927	3.55	The Last Juror by John Grisham
0.925	4.03	Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
0.924	3.91	Ozma of Oz by L. Frank Baum
0.924	3.75	Psycho by Robert Bloch
0.922	4.12	The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
0.92	4.1	We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
0.918	3.27	The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World by E. L. Konigsburg
0.917	4.05	Mary Poppins Comes Back by P. L. Travers
0.916	3.35	The Brethren by John Grisham
0.914	4.11	David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
0.907	3.71	Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls by Mary Pipher
0.905	3.54	Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult
0.9	3.85	Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
0.899	4.02	The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
0.895	4.04	Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
0.894	3.96	In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje
0.891	3.8	The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum
0.891	4.09	The Shining by Stephen King
0.89	3.9	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
0.883	3.4	Watchman by Ian Rankin
0.882	4.11	Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat
0.881	3.32	The Summons by John Grisham
0.879	4.13	I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
0.879	4.22	The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
0.866	4	The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden
0.865	3.74	The Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum
0.856	3.88	Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult
0.853	3.35	The Echo by Minette Walters
0.851	4.08	Holes by Louis Sachar
0.85	4.16	The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
0.848	3.93	Glinda of Oz by L. Frank Baum
0.845	3.99	The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
0.839	3.96	Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
0.838	3.93	The Tin Woodman of Oz by L. Frank Baum
0.836	3.6	Quicksand by Iris Johansen
0.836	4.27	1984 by George Orwell
0.826	4.42	To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
0.822	3.88	Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards
0.82	4.2	Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim
0.81	4.36	A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
0.804	4.39	The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
0.798	3.71	Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name by Vendela Vida
0.796	4.21	Amadeus by Peter Shaffer

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