66 Love Letters by Dr. Larry Crabb is a laymans guide to the themes of the individual books of the Bible, presented as conversations. The book addresses the issue of figuring out what the Bible means in a world too busy to dive into the volumes of commentaries. Dr. Crabb, well known psychologist and Scholar-in-Residence at Colorado Christian University, has written many other books, including Inside Out, The PAPA Prayer, and Finding God.
The conversational aspect of this book is distinctive, showing, through sixty-six chapters organized in seven parts, that the Bible is a love story. Within each chapter the conversation focuses on the main issues and purposes of the addressed book, each chapter containing a bold-faced main point.
The book, while interesting and thought-provoking, suffers from its somewhat nonchalant conversational style. For instance, some of the questions Dr. Crabb asks seem a bit too convenient and scripted, giving the text a stale predictability at times. As anyone who has ever written a piece with dialogue knows, it is very difficult to make it genuine, especially when it is a longer conversation. This book, with some chapters being entirely dialogue, does only an on par job of this.
This book is also, despite the light tone of conversation, heavy reading, challenging the mind. The required reader comprehension level is high. It is thusly, in my opinion, best if read in small chunks, perhaps one chapter at a time. I consequently would not recommend this for young readers who either utterly consume books, not able to put them down, or who put them down and forget them. For older readers with more absorbent minds, especially ones new to the faith, this book is worth picking up. Over all, the book is unique in its format, but not overly spectacular in its delivery. Matthew J. Mimnaugh, www.ChristianBookPreviews.com
