I have a long list of books I’d like to read. Unfortunately, the one I’m currently reading is proving less than impressive. Looking back, I should have known this before I bought it because it has three tell-tale signs of sketchy books.

1) Bullets. Flipping through I now see lists and lists of bullets; several per chapter. How did I miss this before?! Bullets work for political talking points, perhaps, or for giving quick and varied support for an issue that must be argued quickly, but bullets in a professional book are a bad sign. Bullets say, “I didn’t take the time to fully think this through, but here it is anyway.” Or, “I can’t really support my argument, but here it is one measly sentence.”

2) No footnotes. Sure, footnotes can be cumbersome (though always better than endnotes). But a professional book on religion, theology, and pastoral care should have footnotes. Where are your ideas coming from? Where can I go for more information? Lack of footnotes also signals lack of an editor. I don’t understand how the author of the book I’m currently reading gets away with quoting another author or work without giving a full citation. “John Doe says in her book, ________” without a footnotes, is neither scholarly nor acceptable.

3) Quote chunks. On every few pages of the book I find huge chunks, several paragraphs, taken from somebody else’s work. It feels like the author just googled then copy and pasted into his book and called it good–and didn’t even footnote! Writing a new book means presenting a new argument, supported by others’ work certainly, but not simply a bringing-together of strong paragraphs from better books. Ridiculous.

Why am I still reading the book, if it’s so bad? I’m not quite sure. I have a rule that if I don’t like a book after 50 pages I don’t have to finish it (books for class excepted, of course). There are too many good books in the world to waste one’s time with the bad. I’ve only gotten to page 41 of my current blunder. Page 50, here I come.

photo by hisks