Where in The Bible can I find some good life lessons?

OK, as many people undoubtedly know I am a big time atheist – this doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate wisdom, even wisdom found in religious texts. My problem though is I’ve never read anything other than the first 10 pages of Genesis – any Christians care to point me to certain sections that might be interesting to me? I’m in the dark on where to start, and reading it from start to finish seems a bit daunting.