Reddit mentions of NIV Study Bible, Personal Size, Paperback, Red Letter Edition

I'd recommend a good study Bible, something like http://www.amazon.com/HarperCollins-Study-Bible-Student-Revised/dp/0060786841/ or http://www.amazon.com/NIV-Study-Bible-Zondervan/dp/0310437334
The notes, introductions and explanations will go a long way towards helping you understand what you're reading, especially the Old Testament, which can be quite daunting!

I like John as the first gospel to read. It's the most theological of the gospels, but gives a good overview Christianity. Each of the gospels tell the story of Jesus from a different perspective and with a difference emphasis.

Don't feel overwhelmed or like you have to absorb it all at once. It's a long journey and the joys are often found on the way rather than in reaching an end.

I'm in a Biblical Christianity class for my bachelor's as is required by my university. I was raised in an ELCA Lutheran church but never connected that much with it either. I discovered while taking this class that it was because I didn't really understand it. I never really READ the Bible. I'd pick it up here and there, try to read it, but never understood fully what the actual messages were behind the stories.

Here's the thing. If you're not used to reading the Bible, it's like reading Shakespeare. I still feel this way about the NKJV I bought after going through confirmation. However, this class required me to buy a NIV study Bible and I'm totally in love with it. Everything makes so much SENSE. It's worlds easier to read, has tons of pictures, as well as provides notes underneath about almost every verse explaining it further. I'm actually excited to get done with the class so I can just read the rest of it on my own. Embarrassingly enough, I feel I've learned more in the mere two weeks I've been in this class than all of my confirmation.

Honestly, it's your own path. It's really a personal relationship. You can't rely on others to forge it for you. Not to be discouraging, but most professors or pastors will tell you that you need to just read it and discover what is there yourself.

Good luck!

In addition to what others have said, use many different translations and study bibles.

Personally, I find the ESV, NIV, and NLT to be a great mix. ESV offers the closest "word for word" translation, NLT offers the best "thought for thought" translation without straying to far from the original words, and the NIV is a great middle ground between the two. Occasionally I use the NASB as well which a professor recommends as another "word for word" translation.

As for study bibles, I own many but the three I use most often are The Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, The Reformation Study Bible, and the NIV Study Bible. I have also found Audible audiobooks to be a great service. The NIV Listener's Bible is excellently performed and well paced. I was able to listen to the whole bible in a little over a month using this audio version!

Prayer will help you properly interpret scripture. Often I find picking a particular book to spend lots of time with can be very helpful. I usually recommend starting with Luke, John, or one of Paul's Letters. Go through the book with a fine tooth comb, paying close attention to the cross references and footnotes. The bible is beautifully interconnected and studying one book closely will help you learn other scriptures as well!

I read two different bibles, the NIV Study Bible which is really good for understanding the broader cultural and historic context that the biblical narrative takes place in. It's full-colour with illustrations, archaeological artifacts, maps, timeline charts, etc. and really a pleasure to read.

I also have the newer (and, in my opinion, under-represented) NET Bible for the voluminous translation notes and study notes added by the translators. It is like sitting beside the translators as they explain each of their decisions. To me, the linguistic complexity of the bible's translation is among the more fascinating parts of reading it, and this is definitely the version to have if you are the same way. But it's a big, heavy tome, no color, no diagrams, and as much (or more) focused on the art of the translation as the actual message itself--which, by the way, takes on interesting new meaning when compared side-by-side with other versions, like the NIV.

Hope this helps!