Noteworthy Collection TNIV New Testament
When the Journaling Bible came out with its Moleskine-inspired look, I figured it wouldn't be long before others appeared. Yesterday, David Swain tipped me off to the "Noteworthy Collection," a new edition of the TNIV New Testament coming out in August. It's a Moleskine-style format (6.63 x 3.13) complete with elastic strap and accordion pocket in back, featuring a single column text setting on one side of the spread, and a black page for notes on the other. They'll be available in bonded leather -- black, burgundy and tan. I've pre-ordered a tan one and will review it when they come out.This strikes me as a particularly clever approach, combining the "blank Bible" concept with its interleaved pages, and the elastic strap and accordion pocket of the Moleskine. It's a shame they won't be offering a hardback, or polyurethane covers instead of bonded leather. But there's good news for TNIV readers who don't like the odd font choice featured in so many editions. The PDF page proofs reveal that a less "scripty" serif font has been chosen for the typesetting.
I don't think I've ever seen a New Testament with interleaved pages for note-taking. Whether it will work depends a great deal on the quality of paper. With a wide margin, any notes that bleed through show up in the margin on the opposite page, but with an interleaved edition, they'll mar the text itself. You probably wouldn't want to take many notes on cheap paper. But if the bleed-through is addressed, I could see this being a very clever format. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
J. Mark Bertrand is a novelist and pastor whose writing on Bible design has helped spark a publishing revolution. Mark is the author of Rethinking Worldview: Learning to Think, Live, and Speak in This World (Crossway, 2007), as well as the novels Back on Murder, Pattern of Wounds, and Nothing to Hide—described as a “series worth getting attached to” (Christianity Today) by “a major crime fiction talent” (Weekly Standard) in the vein of Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, and Henning Mankell.
Mark has a BA in English Literature from Union University, an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston, and an M.Div. from Heidelberg Theological Seminary. Through his influential Bible Design Blog, Mark has championed a new generation of readable Bibles. He is a founding member of the steering committee of the Society of Bible Craftsmanship, and chairs the Society’s Award Committee. His work was featured in the November 2021 issue of FaithLife’s Bible Study Magazine.
Mark also serves on the board of Worldview Academy, where he has been a member of the faculty of theology since 2003. Since 2017, he has been an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He and his wife Laurie life in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.