There's a great way around this. From the "Manage Friends" option, select "Edit Custom Friends Groups". Create a new custom friends group called "Default View". Add only those friends whose journals you wish to read.

Everyone else still gets to be on your friends list, and can read your friends-only posts, but when you go to your Friends page, it won't show you their posts.

This has been wonderfully useful for keeping as "friends" some people whose journals I found boring and long-winded.

I also created a pared-down filter (custom group), for when I am short on time and can only keep up on those journals that are personally important. It is simple to switch between these with the drop-down menu at the top of the Friends page.