Years ago, a friend of mine had given me Life Application Study Bible NIV and I absolutely love that Bible! It was the nicest version I ever had and I really liked the format and how easy it is to read and understand it. This year, I started becoming more and more interested in studying the Bible. My church uses the New International Version (NIV) most of the time but some people I know also use the New Living Translation (NLT) so I decided to get the Life Application Study Bible in the NLT version. For this Bible, you can choose the paperback, personal size, large print and hardcover versions and I opted to buy the hardcover version since that's what my NIV Bible is and I love how that one looks.The New Living Translation (NLT) version of the Holy Bible is a version that is popular with many readers of the Bible. According to my research and what I've been told of this version, it's a very easy version to understand while still maintaining the meaning of the original text, as accurately as possible.The Life Application Study Bible is more than a regular Bible. This version is published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc and this particular edition was published in 2004. It contains notes, maps, important information about each particular book (such as the purpose, author, approximate date written, setting, etc.), and themes. From beginning to end, it contains family information for you to fill in (marriages, births, deaths, etc.), contents, a list of the books of the Bible, an introduction to the NLT version, the names of those who helped translate this version, contributors, in-depth descriptions of the features of this version as well as the books of the Bible, of course!At the beginning of each book of the Bible, there is important information about the book that's great to read before you start reading so you have some ideas about it. Nearly all of the pages contains a lot of notes for many of the verses that help you understand what you've read better. In the New Testament, anything spoken by Jesus is written in red which I love because that stands out very easily. At the end are some resources, reading plans, indexes, concordance, and colorful maps. This version contains about 2,415 pages, is printed on onionskin paper, and is bound in a nice hard cover. The cover is green (the NIV version is red) and it measures 6 7/8 inches by 9 1/2 inches by 2 inches. This Bible is printed in South Korea.I already knew when I ordered this version what kind of Bible I would be getting since I had the NIV version of it. I love this Study Bible just as much as my NIV Bible although I use that one more. I love the translation and find it very easy to use. The notes are extremely helpful and I find that I learn a lot more by using a Study Bible. This is a bigger Bible but I think it's worth it to get one with more notes, especially if you are interested in studying the Bible. I used both versions in a Bible study I was in this summer and it was fun to see the differences!Some of the resources I like to use with my Bibles are Bible tabs, covers, and highlighters. The size of this Bible needs a large cover such as Pink "Love" Large Bible / Book Cover - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. I use tabs such as Majestic Traditional Gold-Edged Bible Tabs and the highlighters I use are Accu-Gel Bible Highlighter Study Kit (Pack of 6). I've found all of these items work well with this Bible.I love this Bible and am happy I purchased this one! I now have both the NIV and NLT versions of the Life Application Study Bible and I love comparing what they say. The NLT version is great if you want one that's easy to read yet still is close in translation to the original text. I recently purchased another one of this same Bible for a close friend of mine who prefers the NLT version. She loves it and says it has become her favorite Bible! If you are looking for a Bible for yourself or for a gift, I highly recommend this Bible!