I tend to deal with the "spreading stories over a huge swatch of time" by reading the fiction fairly quickly and only having one or two fiction books on the go at once. I find non-fiction is easier to read in small batches.

Of course, it also helps that I have a phenomenally fast reading rate. It's not uncommon for me to read a fair-sized novel in an evening. Non-fiction I take a little longer with, becasue I usually stop often to think about issues raised in the book, and perhaps discuss them with my partner if he's interested in the topic as well.