The last page of each of the X titles should have a reading list with the correct order and what to read next. Something like:
X-Men 4
Marauders 4
>>>> X-Force 4
New Mutants 5
Hellions 2
As long as you follow those reading orders you should be fine, and feel free to skip any title you don't care for. If you don't like New Mutants, don't bother. You may miss some nuances here and there but it's not like you'll be completely lost.
Great point.
Also note that there are occasional "red issues" where the title of the book in the last page of the upcoming reading list will be in red typeface instead of black.
These indicate issues that should not be skipped as important events occur, though in some cases (children of the atom #1 comes to mind) it may not be immediately obvious what the event is.