I love reading about world history, but I'm not anywhere close to being an expert on it. I've been wanting to learn more about Jewish history, and I wonder if the Bible is a good place to start. If it is, which version would be best? Can you recommend any other books about Jewish history that are aimed at complete beginners?
EDIT: Just to clarify, I know that the Bible has a lot of ridiculous stuff in it. I'm thinking of reading it for the same reason why someone studying Mesopotamian history would read the Epic of Gilgamesh, or someone studying Greek history would read the Iliad, just to get a sense of how people back then saw the world.
So there are a few things I typically recommend for anyone starting this journey. First, the Hebrew Bible (Known to Western Christians as the Old Testament) is a fairly complicated series of teachings and books that can be extremely complicated for anyone jumping in. That said, I normally recommend a few routes:
First, if you want to examine the Hebrew Bible, the best version I normally recommend is an Academic Bible known as The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha: New Revised Standard Version edited and translated by Michael Coogan. Also know that there are older versions that are significantly less expensive (my favorite is one from 1993 that was edited by Bruce Metzger, who was arguably one of the most important religious history scholars of the 20th century). They also have great essays and descriptions through the book and are really aimed at helping new students into understanding the history and background of the bible. (I bought mine used on half.com for less than $5)
However, I would also recommend possibly buying a textbook to go along with it. A book that I studied in undergrad was The Bible: A Historical and Literary Introduction by Bart Ehrman. Ehrman is an amazing scholar and teacher of both the New and Old Testament, and this textbook really is engaging and helpful. It's expensive, so I recommend trying to find it used, or, seeing if your local library has it. Many libraries may even be able to order it for you if you can't find it as well. Again, it's a great introduction because it provides context and understanding into all these books.
Now, if you are looking for something more subtle and less scholarly, there are plenty of "popular" history books that are likewise helpful. I typically recommend Joel Baden's books: The Historical David: The Real Life of an Invented Hero because it's well written and easy to understand. It also reflects common understandings for what we know (historically) about the figure of King David.
Good luck and if you have any questions (now or along the way) please feel free to ask here on /r/AskHistorians and tagging me in a post. I am a graduate student and teaching assistant of (primarily) New Testament history, but I hope to be a teacher one day and I love helping others gain access to these incredibly important documents.