The two facts you provide, 1. life is short and 2. books are time-consuming lead to the conclusion you should be extremely judicious about which ones you read, and not hesitant in ditching any you believe are unworthy of your time.

I'm also a slow reader; lucky to finish 10 books/year. I notice I'm a much faster reader on topics I'm familiar with.

Also, exercise aforementioned judiciousness with Sapiens; it's 400 pages of conjecture masquerading as fact.