Good books:

• Genesis – for its cultural relevance
• Job – why do good people suffer hardships?
• Ecclesiastes – pessimism, impermanence
• Psalms – lengthy, but one of the most celebrated texts
• John – the gospel in a nutshell; the last gospel; snappy style
• Revelations – weird as hell

Consider also:

• The Jefferson Bible. Slimmed-down reading of the Gospels (story of Jesus) without the magic and miracles.
  • Split into chapters (HTML)
  • Ebook download (PDF/EPUB/MOBI)