Bonded, Journals and Notebooks, Single Column, Tan, TNIV, ZondervanJ. MARK BERTRAND21 Comments

TNIV Noteworthy New Testament

Bonded, Journals and Notebooks, Single Column, Tan, TNIV, ZondervanJ. MARK BERTRAND21 Comments

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Forgive the tint on the first photo -- a testament to what happens when you don't check your white balance. This little TNIV New Testament is from Zondervan's NoteWorthy collection. It represents a clever combination of design features. Like the ESV Journaling Bible, it owes a debt to the Moleskine journal, from whence the elastic band and back pocket are derived. It also borrows from the classic interleaved Bible concept by offering a blank page facing each printed one, so you can make an entire page worth of notes. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

By making this a New Testament instead of an entire Bible, Zondervan has kept the footprint relatively small. The tall, narrow format makes it ideal for dropping into a pocket. I'm not a fan of the elastic bands on the spine -- but hey, tastes vary. All in all, I think this is an excellent pocket NT.

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The best news, however, is that for this edition, Zondervan ditched the typeface that mars so many other editions of the TNIV in favor of a more traditional serif font. (I know some of you like the almost-but-not-quite-scripty typeface, but to me it's the visual equivalent of fingernails on a blackboard. The setting here is downright elegant, and the book's proportions show the single column off to good advantage.   








Paper quality is nothing to write home about, but this is a very inexpensive edition -- a 'beater' NT, if you will -- that's handy for jotting notes. I wouldn't bust out a fountain pen or anything, but a Pigma Micron would do all right. Has anyone out there been using one of these? I'd love to hear what you think.

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.