Holy Beards, Batman

Religion is such a tricky debate (personally my very articulate position would be of the "STOP SHOUTING! All of you, geez" sort). So I was a little apprehensive when I received 'A Year of Living Biblically' for Christmas... was my soul going to be saved with wit? Or will this be a biblical bashing good time? Both prospects didn't hold my interest. Extreme belief, either way, makes for a long and repetitive 400 pages.

Thankfully, A.J Jacobs (an agnostic New York Times liberal with a Jewish background, I love how this book requires reviewers to state their spiritual preferences) is able to keep an open mind while probing all areas of the Judeo-Christian tradition (Evangelicals, Snake Handlers, Orthodox Rabbis, Atheist support groups as well as more moderate religious academics). The twist? His explorations are framed by his insistence on being literal... he would follow all, even the strangest, rules laid out in both testaments (hence the beard). He even pelts or 'stones' a mean old man with pebbles!

Honest in everything from his shifting spiritual mindset, opinions of dogma and even the events in his life during this strange year (the struggle to conceive and the birth of his second son is another major theme), Jacob's narration is a very human record of our struggle with some of the bigger questions. In a strange way, I think its a book both sides of the debate would enjoy.