I read a review of this book in some magazine and it sounded absolutely hilarious... and i was until 3/4 through, then I'm not sure what happened but the whole thing just got dry and super boring. Overall it was a good experiment and an interesting read.

This is a really interesting take on the pursuit of religion and finding a true calling. The attempt to live from the bible is noble, but, when taken this literally, seems a bit ridiculous. There are parts of the book that are laugh-out-loud funny, but there are also parts of the book that are just plain annoying, although that may be due to the quirkiness of the author, who fully admits to having plenty of social problems. This book is not for someone who is seeking inspiration for a spiritual journey, rather it is for the reader who is tolerant of most aspects of the bible, both old and new testaments, without being too attached to any of it.

This book was pretty good. I found it alittle boring at times, mainly because I am not a religious person, so reading parts from the bible weren't that exciting to me. However, the fact that someone actually took the bible to the most literal sense and tried to live their life that way is pretty fascinating and courageous I would think, especially in this day and age!!!! It also had some humorous parts to it.
Overall not a bad book to read.

This book was a great read! I am not a very religious person, so I have very little knowledge of the Bible. It was very enlightening while being humourous as well. It was an adventure following A.J. Jacobs through his journey.

The Year of Living Biblically is the second experimental memoir by Jacobs. Even though the idea behind the book is very similar to his encyclopedia quest - to conduct a study and record the observations - the final result is absolutely different. It does carry Jacobs's quirky humor and sarcasm, but the monologue behind those is much more serious and personal. Maybe it is so because of the subject matter, but I found The Year of Living Biblically to be more deep.

Jacobs is doing it again. He throws random trivia from the Bible at the reader. I've never known a rule about cheeseburgers, or the mixed fibers, or the age of fruit trees. I've never known about the existence of religious snake-handlers, or gay christians' group, or people that would sacrifice a chicken for you. It is fascinating to learn about all kinds of believers, from literalists to Cafeteria Christians, or about different ways to interpret the same line in the Scripture.

Again, there are crazy, wacky, colorful and absolutely lovable characters that can happen only in real life. There is aunt Marti, a feminist vegetarian, ex-uncle Gil, who is a self-proclaimed guru, and Nancy, an eccentric neighbour and a friend of the late Jimi Hendrix. They are all very wonderful and memorable.

Throughout the book, Jacobs discusses the morality of his actions and sincerity of his deeds. He tries to be a better person, then stops and wonders, if he does it for his project or out of good intentions. He wants to find the clue in the ancient book that would finally lead him to understanding the enigmatic faith and his religious ancestry.

Over all I should say I enjoyed the book very much. It was easy to read and follow, but it still made me think. Jacobs owes two more books to Simon & Schuster, so I am looking forward to more crazy experiments and thoughtful memoirs.

A.J. Jacobs set out to follow the Bible's words, as literally as possible, for an entire year. As ambitious of a task as this seems, it is not entirely uncharacteristic of Jacobs, given his previous book, "The Know-It-All", which documents his reading of the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z. With the guidance of Rabbis, Priests, professors and friends, Jacobs sets out on his quest and ends up learning a lot about himself along the way. He explores a number of religious sects and groups, including Chassidic Jews, Red Letter Christians, the Amish and even a trip to Israel to visit the Samaritans.

When I started reading this book, I wasn't sure what to expect but I was intrigued by the concept and I had to find out more. From the start, I found this book incredibly interesting and really easy to read, despite it being a work of non-fiction. Jacobs has a witty and fun way with words which kept me amused and informed at the same time. His anecdotes are always humorous and in keeping with important themes that he discusses in the book.

Jacobs does a great job of addressing misconceptions found in the Bible and lending explanations to the seemingly bizarre commandments that are seldom understood or even contemplated. While it is difficult to remain completely objective when exploring topics like religion, Jacobs approaches each experience with an open mind and an open heart with just the right amount of inevitable skepticism.

"The Year of Living Biblically" is very funny and yet simultaneously insightful. Because Jacobs gained a great deal from this quest, readers will too. I really appreciated the respectful way he addressed the laws of the Bible and tried to show their greater purpose and meaning.
This book is required reading for anyone, no matter what your beliefs, there is something each and every person can learn from this thought-provoking book.

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I bought this book for a friend and ended up reading it myself. I thought it was great--I'm not a super religious person, more of a believer but don't like all the 'our church is better than your's' This book talks about the origins of both the Old and New Testaments. AJ is a really funny writer but also informative. The situations he found himself in were amusing. I was sad to finish reading it.

This book is a must read if you really wnat to know some of the more obscure parts of the Bible like not wearing mixed fibres. He might have driven his wife crazy at times, but it does give a lot of understanding as to how someone should live if they truly want to follow the Bible.

I highly enjoyed this book. Couldn't put it down and finished it in under a week. Good humour, insight and makes you think (rather you're a believer or not). Agreed, he should have delved more into Catholicism, etc. I got it from my library, but I'm going to buy it to add it to my collection.

I love reading about the flaws in religion. In saying that, I really enjoyed this book. I like how he does (almost) everything by the Bible, even going so far as to more-or-less sacrifice a chicken. I also liked the term "Cafeteria Christians" meaning they take what they like and leave what they don't, even fundementalists do it because in the Bible it says that a woman is not allowed to speak in church. There are so many obscure rules, you're not allowed to wear mixed fabrics and break the neck of an ox at the scene of a unsolved murder to name a few. This book was well written and provided laughs as well as forcing you to think. I laughed at how some people believe that there were dinosaurs on Noahs Ark and that the Earth is the center of the universe and it made me think about changing my views on abortion (still pro-choice). He also mentioned how almost no food was free of bugs, which I really did not need to know and I'm pretending I didn't read that. There are some parts of the Bible that I actually liked, some of them were very poetic, I couldn't live by it though. Anyway, I commend A.J Jacobs on a job well done, and I plan on reading his other books.

A.J. Jacobs' insights into the New Testament could have been more insightful had he delved into the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox variants of Christianity. Instead he spent too much time with fringe groups in the Deep South. Still, a funny read!

I couldn't put this book down! I recommend this book to anyone looking for both a laugh and knowledge on the diverse world of religion. I am not a religious person by any means, but I did greatly enjoy this book!

I really enjoyed this book. I only wished that he had spent about 5 years living the bible, so he could have touched on more topics. I highly recommend this book to people who are interested in the bible from a jewish perspective as well as a Christian. It aslo cleared up alot of confussion about the various traditions and holidays. And yes, I finished reading the book with the feeling that we all need faith in something, to carry us through the rough patches.

I learned a lot of interesting things from this book however it was a much better concept as a story than it ended up being in reality. The author tells us at the end the point he was trying to prove but that didn't really come across. An interesting book to read in order to discover new things about religion but not a great story.

I enjoyed this Mr. Jacobs' emersion into the Bible. It was thought provoking and quirky. I laughed out loud many times as AJ attempted to bring old traditions into his modern world. As a Catholic I can say that I found his approach to the Bible very respectful. This is a great read.

I'm not usually a non-fiction reader, but this book appealed to my religious studies background coupled with my love of popular culture! It just couldn't get any better! I laughed aloud as I read, always anxious to see where AJ would go, and what he would do in order to further his spiritual quest! It was a VERY enjoyable read! One of my faveourites!

It was an incredibly well-done book, and I found Jacob's discussions of his own experiences on religion to be both frank and respectful, something very few people writing about religion seem to be able to do properly.

And no, the book doesn't induce side-splitting laughter. Very few books do. It's a book about religion; how many jokes were you expecting?

I discovered A.J. Jacobs mostly through my colleague's exuberant endorsements, so when this book was released I was definitely interested in reading it. I was actually enlightened by the words of God, and before anyone passes judgement on that comment, what I learned from this book is this: many of the messages from the Bible are simply common decency: don't lie, don't steal, respect your elders, help each other, swearing is a g.d. waste of time, etc. I'm over-simplifying but so what. I admire A.J. for his writing talent (this is one funny book) and his determination. I'm also astounded by his wife. From her we can learn tolerance, endurance, patience and how humour conquers adversity. Some of my favourite moments are her reactions to what A.J. is working on that day.
A side note: A.J. Jacobs is a member of Community: http://community.indigo.ca/profile/A-J-Jacobs/104555.html

A.J. Jacobs spent his last book reading the entirety of the Encyclopedia Britannica in The Know It All, and spends this one trying to follow the bible as literally as possible. Jacobs is an agnostic New Yorker with a Jewish family history. His Orthodox-Jewish aunt was once married to a significantly eccentric once-cult-leader-now-fundamentalist-Jew 'uncle Gil'. This man would literally bind money to his hand with string, and ask people on the street if they were orphans or widows so he could give them cash. Inspired, Jacobs decides that it would be a novel idea to follow in his footsteps, just to see what this religion thing is really all about.

The real dilemma behind recommending this book is mostly figuring out what kind of person would like to read it. Being a controversial subject, many might pick up the book and think of it as something written to make out how strange religion can be - which it does. However this biography is about a spiritually confused man that sticks himself in the thick of a religious experience hoping for some kind of powerful personal reaction. He hopes for guidance to a spiritually and ethically accurate way of life that he can lead. It's a feel-good book for those who are actually religious (whichever religion that may be). However it will have much deeper meaning for those who - like myself - are waiting for something to call us over. He comes at the bible from the angle of someone who has never read it before, which could feel strange for those who know it well. It was written for us who think a higher power exists, but don't know what to do about it.

and it was worth it - I thoroughly enjoyed A.J.'s account of his year of his year of biblical literalism. Written with dry, self-deprecating humour, the book takes us on a journey all over the landscape of Judeo-Christian bible literalists - from shepherds in the middle eastern desert to Falwell's fundamentalist Christian mega-church. A.J.'s intense curiosity and open-mindedness keeps the story on an even keel, and I personally feel a little more spiritually enlightened (if only in a secular sense).