Resources for Folks New to the Bible...

...I'm looking for resources that would help a beginner understand the Bible within the context of Western Literature as a whole, basically to put it into perspective and highlight its influences on Western poetry, prose and possibly even music to a certain extent. Resources that would put it into sociohistorical perspective might also be helpful but I'm looking for something that addresses its influence on literature specifically. I looked at the Cambridge Companion to the Bible and it looks more like an intellectual history of how the Bible has been interpreted by scholars throughout the ages. While I'm not necessarily trying to avoid this I'd prefer something that would suffice for the non-believer/beginner that would deepen my understanding of how meaning is expressed in the Bible through its literary aspects.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated as I'm deployed overseas and don't exactly have access to any resources that would allow me to browse through various titles. Thanks so much.