Style Line Bibles (and a giveaway!)

I'm not the girl with a matching purse and shoes to go with every outfit. I can count on one hand the number of times I've worn makeup in my life. My hair's lucky if it gets blown dry instead of left to air dry as I go about my day. In short, I'm pretty basic.

But the things I do have, I really like. I only have one purse, but it suits me perfectly and I love it. I only have one pair of sandals, but they're comfy as anything and I wear them every day I can get away with it. On those days when it's too cold, I have one pair of boots, my time-to-be-a-responsible-adult purchase after my first child was born. No more risking frostbite by wearing sandals year-round. It took me months to settle on that single pair of boots, but I couldn't be happier with them.

You'll understand, then, when I say I'm not one to put a lot of stock in fashion. Just give me my simple but well-loved things and leave the rest to those more stylish than I.

So when I heard about Zondervan's new Style Line Bibles, I was skeptical. After all, a Bible's a Bible. How many people would be grateful just to be able to read their Bible without risking their lives? How many people would simply love to own a Bible in their native language, never mind a pretty Bible? What sort of privileged frivolousness was this?

And yet there was something really nice about the idea of a pretty Bible. I collect journals the way some people collect postage stamps. I am particular to a fault about the layout of my bookshelves. I like a book with a nice cover - and don't even hand me a book with a movie edition cover (the horror!). So the thought of curling up with a pretty Bible sounded, well, rather cozy. I agreed to take a look at a few samples of this new line.

I can't pretend I wasn't intrigued when the parcel arrived. I made myself comfortable outside and opened the box. Inside were five Style Line Bibles.

First up, a bright cherry red quilted cover and a zebra stripes cover. Umm...not so much. These are definitely for women far sassier than I am.

Next, a dark brown Bible with copper flowers on the cover and a bronze edge. Very nice! Hot pink, eh, not so much for me.

And then, wow. A wool grey cover with a cute button covering the clasp. It basically had my name written all over it. Simple but fun. It felt like my purse, my sandals, my boots - it felt very me.

It's soft wool cover feels nice in my hands. Less clunky than my large study Bibles, it fits easily in one hand - not too heavy, not too big - which means I can read it while I'm nursing the tiny one. The font size and clean, open layout make it highly readable. The clasp protects the pages when I carry it with me in my purse. And, however shallow this might be, I just really like the way it looks. As I said, it feels very me. And I like that.

Browsing through their collections, I see a few others that I would love to own or give away as gifts. The floral green cover from the Thinline collection is lovely. I love the entire Craft collection. The owl cover from the Flora and Fauna collection is sure to be popular. There's definitely something for everyone here, from the quiet to the bold to everyone in between.

More than just another pretty cover, the Style Line Bibles feature a presentation page, a ribbon marker, an extra-thin format, and the words of Jesus in red.

So much for my lofty "a Bible's a Bible" ideals. What do you think?

Giveaway!

Zondervan has generously offered to give away one copy of their cherry-red quilted Bible to a lucky reader.

The NIV Quilted Collection Bible features a stylish, stitched binding. The cover, made with colorful Italian Duo-Tone™ material, has been stitched with a quilted pattern giving it a fresh and unique look. The convenient size of this full-text Bible allows it to go just about anywhere.

To enter, leave a blog post comment sharing which of the Style Line collections is your favourite, and then mark your entry in the Rafflecopter system below. See the Rafflecopter system for bonus entries to increase your chance of winning after completing the first mandatory entry. All bonus entries are entered directly into Rafflecopter.

Giveaway open to residents of Canada and the US.

Comments will be closed on Sunday, September 23th at 11:59pm PST. The winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter and announced Monday morning. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway