I’m nearly done (just finishing up 2 Esdras) and am very
glad that I put this on my reading list.

One thing I’ve learned is that a lot of these books are
extensions to or variations on OT books; many times I’ve had
to page back to the OT to understand some context. Here are
the OT books I’d recommend reading as part of the Apocrypha:

• Esther
• Ezra
• Daniel
• Nehemiah

Also, I hadn’t realized that different churches have
different books that are considered Apocryphal; this time
around I’ve read the “standard” Apocrypha, but perhaps after
reading the OT I’ll come back and read them too.