def read_file(file):
    """
    Reads a file line by line and stores them in a list.


    Parameters
    ----------
    file : The file to read. Each line in the file represents an element to be
    stored in a list.

    Returns
    -------
    content : A list with the lines of the file as elements.

    """
    content = []
    with open(file, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as reader:
        for line in reader:
            line = line.strip()  # Remove the newline char
            content.append(line)
    return content