It is now day 7 of 12 Days of Christmas and today you are with Ivy who brings you CBPC’s St. Joseph Bible Handbook.
I think this can be enjoyed by a wide range of people. It is a good place to start for those who are only beginning to get into the faith or the Bible. There is a run down of every book as well as answers to frequently asked questions which makes the Bible more approachable and easier to comprehend. The setting and history is also explained for some of the books. It would be a good introduction to the Bible, and there are also focus questions to do just that – keep you focused. Even for someone more familiar with the Bible, you may discover new things or notice something you hadn’t noticed before since there is a “Look Out For” section for every book.
This handbook is quite consistent throughout. There are headings that are easy to understand, and are repeated throughout the books of the Bible. I think the repetition adds to how comprehensible this book is for a beginner. The fonts also change depending on what the contents of the text are and if it’s a heading or not, and even then, they’re only variations of what looks like Times New Roman and Calibri. Both are easy to read. The “Times New Roman – esque” font is used for history, or summaries – anything that explains what you read in the Bible, and the “Calibri – esque” font is used for anything that will help you maintain focus, like outlines and study questions.
The cover is like a soft cover – hard cover hybrid. It’s thicker than the average paperback, but is not a hard cover by any means. The back cover has a quick summary of the contents which I think sums everything up really well. Just looking at the front cover, my first thought was, “What is this gonna do for me?” so the back was much appreciated. If I were to give critique, I would maybe make the front cover more informative somehow. I think that would draw people in sooner because the average person scanning the shelves of a store or scrolling through a web page might not consider flipping to the back side.
The print quality was really good. The colours are vibrant and all the detailing is crisp. The paper used is thicker with a gloss finish, which surprised me because I’m used to seeing that in hard cover books. The pictures used, other than being really well printed, are useful and relevant. They help me visualize the setting.
That’s all I really have to say. I think it is a nice place to start if you wish to learn more about the Bible. If you are interested, you can check it out here.
I hope to catch you tomorrow for Day 6 of 12 Days of Christmas!
The Catholic Man Reviews 