In what order should the books of the (Protestant) Bible be read? The Bible is probably one of the most historically significant books for the Western civilization, so it should be a worthwhile read for many a literature geek.

In which order should it be read, then? Cover-to-cover is hardly a good order, as the New Testament is more significant for western culture and Christianity than the Old Testament (which comes first). I'm looking for the preferred order for a first-time reader.

For reference, the books of the Bible are listed on Wikipedia. Answerers may assume a Protestant Bible, but ones based on others with two testaments are welcome, too.
Reading the Bible as a story is a good way to get a lot out of it and broaden your understanding. 

The narrative books in order are:


Genesis
Exodus
Numbers
Joshua
Judges
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
Ezra
Nehemiah
1 Maccabees
Luke
Acts 


This is what T3 Bible timeline uses (which we used in our parish Religious Ed. teacher formation), and it was the first time I ever saw the bible as a cohesive story.  Everything else is still good for teaching, refutation etc... but  those 14 books have the story.

Genesis is the story of the Primordial History and the Patriarchs, Exodus - Judges is the beginning of the Mosaic law and the cohesive part of Israel.  1 Samuel - 2 Kings is Saul, David, Solomon and their awful (and occasionally good) descendents. 

Ezra and Nehemiah chronicle the exile and return. 

Maccabees is the story of the further persecution of the Jews a few hundred years before Christ. 

Luke and Acts are the two volume set Chronicling Jesus's life and ministry and the early church.

One thing to point out which struck me as very interesting is to see the folks who show up in Luke's and Matthew's genealogies pop out at you as you work through the story of the Bible.  It makes seemingly unimportant people, like Rahab and Ruth, seem much, much more important when you get to thinking about it.