This is something I discovered years ago to help me read the Bible better. Using secondary sources can help us discover the historical context of the biblical books. You see, the Bible is largely a record of God working in and through real historical circumstances to accomplish his purposes. And you can discover a lot about those purposes if you read his word in light of its historical context. Many of you probably do this intuitively. It has REALLY helped me in my Bible study. So when you come to a book of the Bible, always be sure to ask, "Where does this book fit historically?"
Happy Bible reading!