Approaching the Qur'an started off strong with a brief overview of Islamic history and Belief, then provided a glossary of common Islamic concepts mentioned in the Qur'an. Sells's translations were the most interesting part of the book; they were clear and poetic. He followed each translated section by a page or so of commentary. After the translations, though, the books became a bit redundant. Sells went over the same passages again, this time looking at them from the perspective of sound. For someone who doesn't speech much Arabic, the analysis of sound patterns may be a bit dry, but I found the commentary interesting none the less. When I got towards the end of the book I started skimming because the information was so repetitive. I recommend the first half of the book, not so much the second half.