Monday, May 02, 2005

No Simple Bibles

I'm warning you now: I'm off on a rant.

Today I went to several bookstores and "Christian" stores looking for what should have been a very simple item to find--a hardback thinline large print NIV Bible. I needed a couple of these to display when I talk to groups in the church about a new program we are planning to use in conjunction with our church's 20th anniversary this year. The program is called Bible in 90 Days and (as you might have guessed) the idea is to read the entire Bible in 90 days, using this particular version of the Bible because that way you pace yourself by reading 12 pages a day.

Friends, there seems to be nothing for sale anymore that isn't either paperback and flimsy or bound in leather for the ages. You could have your choice of black or almost any color of the rainbow leather or blue jean and leather binding-- but no plain hardback copies.Now you can find the exact Bible I was looking for online for about $13--but you sure can't find it in a bookstore or Christian store.

"Presentation"style Bibles were all over the place. They look like the kind of book that will be displayed or left forgotten on the shelf. They are too elegant and elaborate to really read or handle much. The paperback Bibles are too large and seem to be falling apart--their bindings are not sturdy enough to keep them intact. So either you don't read them either or you treat them as "throw-aways."

Why are there so few well-bound simple Bibles available in the stores? Bah, back to amazon.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The problem you're encountering is that you seem to think the Bible is something for people to actually read . . .

Jody Harrington said...

Silly me!

rev-ed said...

I don't know. I have a couple zillion Bibles and I can think of only one plain hardback edition in my collection - that a parallel version only available in HB. My old Living Bible is basically a hardback with a wrapped cover, but it is a mess. So are most of my research books in hardback. For me, a hardback just doesn't hold up well. I'd get the paperback for less money, as I'd get about the same amount of wear out of it.

Perhaps the reason the local bookstores don't carry it is that they don't have the demand for it.

JMO.