It is considered by some that engaging in reading is always a beneficial practice while others claim that it depends on which books a person is reading. From my perspective, reading books in general is a favorable activity to broaden outlook and language capabilities while certain skills can be developed mainly from reading particular books.
One the one hand, people consider reading to be one of the activities that broaden intellectual horizons and expand speaking potential. In other words, by engaging in reading books from various genres, one can dive deeper into different stories, learn about cultures and professions, which at the end of the day will provide insights to various topics. Moreover, reading enables a person to grasp hundreds of new words every day and thus adds new collocations to his/her speaking vocabulary.
On the other hand, reading particular books is believed to challenge and therefore develop cognitive capabilities as well as critical thinking skills. Namely, study by Harward University researchers found that people reading detective novels tend to have better problem-solving skills than people reading fairy tales. Furthermore, they claim that reading classical novels allows humans to have a better understanding of the meaning of life and human behavior.
Finally, in my opinion, reading books in general is as important as reading particular books. While reading always enhances language capacity and expands outlook, reading particular books such as detective or classical novels will foster the development of problem-solving skills as well as input to cognitive thought making.
In conclusion, developing the habit of reading is always a favorable thing to do which will enable general development, with specific genres providing unique skills. People should make sure which skills they want to enhance and choose books accordingly.