So, I read a few stinkers in 2020 also. Here’s the worst of the worse…

The Soul of an Octopus, Sy Montgomery. I’m not sure what genre to put this in. Nature? Romance? The author somehow combines scientific and experiential narrative regarding octopuses with uncomfortable erotic imagery. So weird. What cool things I learned about octopuses (yes, that’s the correct plural, which is one tidbit I learned in this book), I could have learned more quickly and more enjoyably from YouTube or Netflix. I may never read a book recommended by this friend again.

Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, Brian Zahnd. My goodreads review: This is, honestly, the worst book I’ve read in years. The problem isn’t so much that I disagree with the conclusions of the author. I read books often that I disagree with and still profit from. The problem with this book is that the reasoning is so bad I am forced to conclude that the author is either an idiot or being disingenuous. I don’t think he’s an idiot, so I am angered by his intentional use of straw men, cherry-picking texts while ignoring others (ie. the whole Pauline corpus), making patently false historical claims and more. He will win over those easily manipulated and they will have a lesser Jesus because of it, not a greater Jesus. If I could give negative stars, I would. Also, a friend asked me to read this one (though he hated it too).

No bad. Only two duds this year. Thought: I need friends with better taste in books.