Reading without understanding is not wisdom. The Bible is not one book. It's history, law, poetry, prophesy... Each book has a unique purpose and must be read in light of that purpose to understand it. I tell people who have never read the Bible before to start with the first five books of the new testament. They're easy to read, can be taken literally without symbolic interpretation, and honestly if you don't understand the teachings in these books and apply them to your life then the rest has no real value.