From Booklist: Yancey follows The Jesus I Never Knew (1995) and What’s So Amazing about Grace? (1997) with a more modest and personal book on the Old Testament, which he concedes is a hard sell to many Christians. After all, the Hebrew Scriptures constitute a dauntingly large book, seem contradictory and cranky, and are really addressed to Jews, so why read them? Rather than dunning us with the obvious, if ahistorical, “They are the Bible Jesus read,” Yancey discusses five Old Testament writings and why they are his favorites. He loves Job for its affirmation of faith, Deuteronomy for its portrayal of spiritual heroism in the figure of the aged Moses, the Psalms for their presentation of the intimacy of God’s relationship with humanity, Ecclesiastes for its realism about life, and the prophetic books for the hope in God’s providence that they inculcate. As usual for Yancey, the discussion draws tellingly from literature and experience as well as the biblical text to make its points. All in all, a gracious, appealing window on the Old Testament. –Ray Olson, Booklis