Distributed Versus Linear Reading

Do you read more than one book at a time, or do you force yourself to first finish a title you've already begun before starting another?

My reading habits seem to have exceeded an invisible threshold this summer, when I found myself invested in seven or eight titles simultaneously. And, I do mean invested. Time is the most savored commodity I have. Between a career, family obligations, home maintenance, exercising and the like, what precious leisure time I possess is very carefully rationed.

In fact, I sometimes find myself quite anxious when I'm not doing anything, as I'm fearful I'm foolishly squandering valuable free time. It's almost as if my subconscious has developed a Puritan work ethic dedicated to maximizing the productivity and quality of my leisure activities. That makes it hard to just relax.

Which brings me to my question. Is distributed reading, in which you read multiple books at once, a bad idea? Should one focus on a single title at a time and enjoy the subtle issues short stories raise, give a novel's themes time to gel and resonate and reflect upon statements and discoveries uncovered in non-fiction works, which linear reading seems to birth? Or should one plow through multiple titles - mixing shorts, fiction, history, career topics and other subjects - as feels appropriate?

I'm not sure there's a correct answer. It may depend upon the person, the season or some other circumstance. But for me, where I find myself right now, consuming a single work at a time is working best.