A Year of Obedience by Joselena Cordero Canas

A.J. Jacobs, a non religious man, in A Year of Living Biblically, decides to embark on a year-long mission strictly following and obeying the rules and commands of the Bible. His purpose is to find out whether the rules and morals apply to modern society. He later finds out whether his journey was beneficial or the complete opposite. As the year progresses, his life begins to change. He will realize at the end of his journey how much his life has changed and how it has affected the people around him such as family, friends and society. After reading this book, I rate it a 9 out of 10 because the daily details make it far more interesting. It turned out to be better than I expected. I recommend this book specifically to non-religious people, the reason being, they are able to relate to Jacobs, a non-religious man.  

What Would Jesus Do? by Berenice Guzman

Living a “correct” life can be hard to distinguish because everyone believes something different, and it’s hard to categorize a lifestyle as good or bad. Yet A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible, decides to write a humorous documentary on his experience of trying to change his lifestyle to be complimentary to the Bible and try to figure why people have involved certain morals from the Bible into their own personal life and in today’s society. His journey doesn’t come easy though because everything that was written in the times before Christ is difficult and rare to obey in today’s society. Although he had no experience with any religion, he still researched and experienced what the Bible commands man to do.

I would rate this book a 4 out of 5. Not only because is it surprising on how someone living in New York drops his everyday routine to strictly follow every saying in the Bible and apply it in his personal life and out in the open, but it’s easy to follow and understand his journey. This book is not always serious but it contains a lot of astonishing stories that the author goes through to obtain his goal of living according to the Bible for a year which makes it more interesting to read. Therefore I believe that this book is directed to people that are curious on how someone can fully devote themselves to live by a “history book,” or interested in what the Bible actually orders people to live like.

Living the Biblical life, Really? by Daniella Maldonado

            Trying to live a year by the Bible might seem hard to accomplish, but A.J. Jacobs, happens to be right the person to take on the challenge.  The Year of Living Biblically, written by A.J. Jacobs is a book about following the Bible as literally as possible through the course of a year. He accomplishes this task by following the Ten Commandments and playing the part as well, which included dressing up and blowing a trumpet each month. Jacob hopes that by following the Bible he will gain something out of it, and learn the true meaning behind it, as well as discover how it impacts people.

            On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate this book a 10 because it’s an easy, humorous, informative, and honest book. The author is very straightforward with his opinions, and he expresses his mind fairly well, which is something that I really admired because not many authors express what they really think. This book also provided an easier translation to the Bible, keeping all its facts, while making it funny at the same time. What I also liked about the book was that the author had a bibliography and notes at the back of the book, which provided an easy access in case I needed to look something up. I would most definitely recommend this book to students that are interested in learning more about the Bible because this book is a quick and easy read and it doesn’t require people to actually read the Bible in full. This book is a must read!

Biblical Living in the 21st Century by Sarah E. Gaucin

In the course of a year, A.J. Jacobs’s life drastically changed in every way imaginable. From shaving his head to not sitting where a woman was that is on her menstrual cycle, he dived into every law and decree from the Bible and plunged it into his 21^st century lifestyle. A Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs is a book that shows us the relevance and irrelevance of what a life entirely lived out by the Bible would look like. Prior to embarking on this journey, Jacobs spent numerous weeks studying the Bible and other biblical resources. Though it had a rough start, his journey was one that taught him many core values and brought a sense of divine inspiration to many of his unanswered questions of life. This book is a rating of 4 and a half stars; it’s very easy to read with simple diction and quite funny in some places, but in other places it is somewhat lengthy and a little confusing. I would suggest this book to teen and adult readers who take an interest in religion and concepts in the Bible.