I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading the Bible cover-to-cover, but I also wouldn't be the first too cheer-lead such a decision. Yes, I believe everyone should do it once in their life, but if you're a new Christian or an older Christian, you should probably choose a more manageable approach. Sure, the order the books are laid out give a great understanding of the framework of human history and God at work in and amongst His people, but some of the books are really hard slogs.
For example, the Pentateuch (first five books of the OT) are very important, but vary greatly in both interest and readability. Genesis is an easy read, as is most of Exodus. The last third of Exodus to Deuteronomy will test most people's patience and may prevent/slow down people from reading any further. I know it did for me, when I was a child and even now as an adult (where I've been reading several OT books, then a NT book and so on). It's true though, that I understand more of the books now and why they were included. As for things like the lengthy genealogies that include lots of strange names and nations, they become really interesting if you do a little research (especially Genesis 5 and 11).