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The Bible
"The Bible is a whole library in one volume, and just as there are many ways to read a novel or a collection of short stories, there are countless ways to read the books of the Bible. You can start on page one and read straight through, from Genesis to Revelation. You can choose a particular author (Paul, for example) and read everything that author wrote. Or you an choose a certain book or part of a book-the book of Job perhaps, or the stories of Jesus' birth in Matthew and Luke-and start there. When you are reading the Bible on your own at home, you will want to try a variety of methods because each provides unique insights. Reading through the entire Gospel of Mark in on sitting, for example, will give you a compelling, broad-view of Jesus' ministry. Taking one of the parables Mark tells, or even a single saying of Jesus, and focusing on it-studying the meaning of the words, reading commentaries, praying the text, letting it sink in, and ruminating on it for some time-yields a different but equally fruitful understanding."

Source: Vickie K. Black and Peter W. Wenner, Welcome to the Bible (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing 2007) pp. 75,76.