The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs 3 stars (Listopia)

[Rachel N.]

A.J. Jacobs decides to follow the Bible as literally as possible for a year. He spends most of the year focused on the Old Testament, as he is nominally Jewish, and the last three months on the New Testament. Along with trying to follow the Bible and it's mandates Jacobs visits many religious groups. A lot of people have classified this book as humor but it didn't come off as humorous to me. I think Jacobs was legitimately trying to follow the Bible as best he could though obviously part of his motivation was to write a book about the experience. I appreciate that Jacobs states that it's impossible to follow everything in the Bible but people should follow the best parts such as kindness, helping the poor and praying. Overall the book was a lot more respectful of religion than I thought it would be from the book jacket which was a relief to me because I really didn't want to read a about a man satirizing religion for a year.

[Amy N.]

I saw this in a Barnes and Noble once and flipped through it because the concept sounded intriguing. I thought he was going to satirize it as well, but I'm relieved to hear you say that he didn't. Maybe I'll check it out after all.