One of the most frequent questions I got asked when I started Bible Summary was what was I going to do with all the lists of names.

Well, here I am right in the middle of them, and yes they are some of the trickiest chapters I've done. (Which is only partly due to the fact that my own genealogy has recently gained a generation and I'm consequently a little sleep-deprived.)

The first challenge is actually reading the chapter! It's amazing how easy it is to switch off when trying to read all the begetting. I frequently find that my mind has wandered and I'm thinking about something completely different.

The second challenge is in understanding what's going on. You'd think it would be pretty straightforward - some guy, his son, his son, his son - but these chapters are full of family branches. It can be incredibly hard to follow all the relations. I've spent more time in commentaries as I've read these chapters than almost any so far.

Then finally there's the business of summarising. I've obviously got to miss people out and it's a lot harder with these chapters to decide what to emphasise. I've been trying to understand the point of each genealogy and highlight that. (For example: 1 Chronicles 1 takes us from Adam to Israel; 1 Chronicles 2 shows us Judah's line to David.)

These are never going to be anyone's favourite chapters (Jabez and his best-selling prayer notwithstanding) but this has always been an exercise in engaging more deeply and deliberately with what's there in the Bible. The commitment to write a summary probably pays off most with difficult and unpopular chapters.

1 and 2 Kings have been hard work!

Elijah and Elisha have provided some fireworks, but for the most part the last few weeks have just been long chapters and evil kings.

Most people seem to think that Leviticus is the hardest book in the Old Testament but I'd take Leviticus over 2 Kings pretty much every time.

I'd be looking forward to moving on in a week or so but I'll only be moving on to 1 and 2 Chronicles. This must be the toughest stretch!

I've had another spree of Bible Summary milestones recently: in the last week I've completed my tenth book, passed 7000 words and passed 40000 characters. Today I'm a quarter of the way through the project!

When I started out I couldn't think about finishing the project - it seemed dizzyingly far away. I know I've still got three times as much left to do, but completing the project is beginning to be comprehensible.

It's still just a chapter a day, the same as when I started, but I have a strong sense now of each summary contributing to the greater whole.

That wraps up 1 and 2 Samuel. I've enjoyed these books!

For all the extraordinary events along the way, David's life is a very human drama. It's challenging and also hopeful to see this 'man after God's own heart' get so many things wrong. Perhaps that's the reason why the stories of 1 and 2 Samuel are among the most famous in the Bible.

But I'm getting a bit previous. Although we've had David's 'last words' in 2 Samuel 23, he's actually still with us for another two chapters.

So, on to 1 and 2 Kings...

That brings us to the end of 1 Samuel.

The book has already had its share of Hollywood plotlines (see 1 Sam 19 just for starters!) and now it ends at this awful moment of cliffhanger - our hero is exiled, Saul is dead, the Philistines have invaded, all seems lost for Israel. Can there really be any hope?

Part 2 is on its way...

250 chapters in and Bible Summary is very much part of normal life in the Juby household. The summaries take about 15-30 mins first thing each morning and are published with very little fanfare these days.

The routine continues even on special occasions. I've now published summaries on Christmas Day, New Year's Day, my wedding anniversary, my wife's birthday and my own birthday.

My wife and I have been on holiday recently, staying in various locations in France and Spain. (Yes, I'm showing off!)

Before we left I thought it was going to be a challenge posting summaries each day overseas, but it was almost disappointingly straightforward. I had a wifi connection almost every day and the data roaming charges for my phone were surprisingly reasonable.

The whole experience made me reflect on how inconceivable this project would have been only a few years ago. Both the technology and the medium are utterly 21st Century.

Anyway...

Tomorrow is a significant day for Bible Summary. David is about to make his first appearance!

I'm one fifth of the way through the Bible! I've completed 8 books. There may be a long way still to go but it's going surprisingly quickly.

Reaching Ruth is a relief after those last chapters of Judges! Ruth is set in the same period as Judges and both books anticipate the time of the kings, but they could hardly be more different in tone. Ruth is a beautiful tale of loyalty and God's provision.

I want to be particularly careful with shorter books that the chapter summaries work as a whole, so I've already planned the summaries for the next four days. It will be interesting to see whether that makes a difference.

One happy thing about Bible Summary is that I'm never very far away from a milestone.

I've just passed 30000 characters for the project. In the last two weeks I've also passed 5000 words, 18000 followers and finished the book of Joshua.

It's surpising how much these kinds of things encourage me.

I still feel a bit daunted when I think about the fact that I won't reach the New Testament until 2013, but the small milestones make the project very concrete for the next couple of weeks.