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
1.3693.18The Science of God by Gerald L. Schroeder
1.2753.88Mother Theresa: Come Be My Light - the private writings of the saint of Calcutta by Mother Teresa
1.2544.21The Idea of a University by John Henry Newman
1.2383.97The Holy Bible: New American Bible, 2nd Edition by New American Bible
1.2173.84Who Needs God by Harold Kushner
1.2163.89Conversations with God: an Uncommon Dialogue by Neale Donald Walsch
1.1923.78On Being a Christian by Hans Küng
1.1813.64A Letter Concerning Toleration: Humbly Submitted by John Locke
1.1783.53The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
1.1723.19Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine by Harold Bloom
1.1653.52Memnoch the Devil by Anne Rice
1.1653.49The Different Drum: Community Making and Peace by M. Scott Peck
1.163.91The Art of Pilgrimage: The Seeker's Guide to Making Travel Sacred by Phil Cousineau
1.163.36On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers by Friedrich Schleiermacher
1.1593.38Beyond Freedom & Dignity by B. F. Skinner
1.1533.5Father Joe by Tony Hendra
1.153.4A Book of Angels by Sophy Burnham
1.1423.83Triumph: The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church: A 2,000-Year History by H. W. Crocker III
1.1324.21Catechism of the Catholic Church by Catholic Church
1.1293.74Al-Qur'an: A Contemporary Translation (Ahmed Ali, 1984) by Ahmed Ali
1.1073.93Dynamics of Faith by Paul Tillich
1.1063.81Becoming Human by Jean Vanier
1.1053.71In the Beginning: A New Interpretation of Genesis by Karen Armstrong
1.1033.55The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English by L. C. L. Brenton
1.1023.62The Book Nobody Read: Chasing the Revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus by Owen Gingerich
1.1023.46Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice
1.1013.46The Maytrees by Annie Dillard
1.0923.92Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach
1.0913.37The Pilgrimage: A Contemporary Quest for Ancient Wisdom by Paulo Coelho
1.0863.45Killing the Buddha: A Heretic's Bible by Peter Manseau
1.0833.58The Penguin Dictionary of Saints by Donald Attwater
1.084.18The Catholic Study Bible, First Edition: New American Bible by Donald Senior
1.0773.76The Courage to Create by Rollo May
1.0633.72In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development by Carol Gilligan
1.063.85Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom
1.0593.61Mary, Called Magdalene by Margaret George
1.0564.08The Courage to Heal - Third Edition - Revised and Expanded: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse by Ellen Bass
1.0553.49Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life by Stephen Jay Gould
1.0523.93Confessions by Saint Augustine
1.053.65Being and Nothingness by Jean-Paul Sartre
1.0483.92A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation by Gustavo Gutierrez
1.0483.63People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil by M. Scott Peck
1.0453.92The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis
1.0423.71The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra
1.0393.83The Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos
1.0313.56Discourse on Method / Meditations on First Philosophy by René Descartes
1.033.3Pooh and the Philosophers : In Which It Is Shown That All of Western Philosophy Is Merely a Preamble to Winnie-The-Pooh by John Tyerman Williams
1.0293.9A Simple Path by Mother Teresa
1.0264.05Earth Prayers From around the World: 365 Prayers, Poems, and Invocations for Honoring the Earth by Elizabeth Roberts
1.0253.94New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition by D. A. Carson
1.0233.95Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture by Jaroslav Pelikan
1.0213.82God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley, Jr.
1.023.89The case for God by Karen Armstrong
1.0193.72The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain by Maria Rosa Menocal
1.0123.94The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
1.0113.48Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit by Garry Wills
1.013.83The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
1.0093.85Care of the Soul : A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life by Thomas Moore
1.0084.04Anatomy of the Spirit: The Seven Stages of Power and Healing by Caroline Myss
1.0074.02Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel by Thomas Keating
1.0074To Have or to Be? by Erich Fromm
1.0044.04The Cloud of Unknowing by Cloud of Unknowing author
1.0023.96Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery by Don Richard Riso
1.0023.41The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror by Bernard Lewis
1.0013.8The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett
0.9993.61The Dead Sea Scrolls in English by Géza Vermes
0.9923.86Beowulf by Anonymous
0.9894.05The Courage to Be by Paul Tillich
0.9813.73How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
0.9813.98Crossing the Threshold of Hope by Pope John Paul II
0.9773.98Saint Thomas Aquinas: The Dumb Ox by G. K. Chesterton
0.9764.22The Treasury of David by C. H. Spurgeon
0.9743.79The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
0.9713.82Love, Medicine and Miracles by Bernie S. Siegel
0.973.71The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli
0.9693.9The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck
0.9683.52Circling My Mother: A Memoir by Mary Gordon
0.9683.96A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt
0.9673.48The Ancient Near East, Volume 1: An Anthology of Texts and Pictures by James B. Pritchard
0.9643.75Rule of Saint Benedict by Saint Benedict
0.9644.07Love and Will by Rollo May
0.9643.57Final Payments by Mary Gordon
0.9594.01The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
0.9594.04The Cloister Walk by Kathleen Norris
0.9583.69Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture by Douglas Coupland
0.9573.79The Real Jesus by Luke Timothy Johnson
0.9563.8The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Francis S. Collins
0.9553.44Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession by Anne Rice
0.9514.08The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis
0.9493.68The Pilgrim's Regress: An Allegorical Apology for Christianity Reason and Romanticism by C. S. Lewis
0.9493.83C. S. Lewis' Letters to Children by C. S. Lewis
0.9443.65Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love by Dava Sobel
0.944.05Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth by Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi
0.944.14Heretics by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
0.9394.26The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller
0.9353.77The Analects by Confucius
0.9353.83What Jesus Meant by Garry Wills
0.9353.89Mythology by Edith Hamilton
0.9343.91The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis
0.9343.72The Age of the Cathedrals: Art and Society, 980-1420 by Georges Duby
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