Puritan Richard Baxter offers a few simple questions to guide us in evaluating the value of any book:

While reading ask oneself:

1. Could I spend this time any better?
2. Are there better books that would edify me more?
3. Are the lovers of this book the greatest lovers of the Book of God – the Bible – and of a holy life?
4. Does this book increase my love for the Word of God, kill my sin, and prepare me for the life to come?