I feel you, I guess the older we become the more tangible our own mortality is and the awareness that our time here is pretty limited. What works for me against these spiralling thoughts is acceptance, there are too many books out there and no one will be able to read them all. And it doesn't matter anyways. I'd say show no mercy in weeding out the books you think are "meh" and pick those that sound like a real treat. There must be some good reads among them. I'm reading Alice in Wonderland atm and I enjoy it a lot. Probably gonna pick some classics soon, Quiet on the Western Front, Crime and Punishment, Where The Red Ferns Grow being some I can think of from the top of my head.