I've had so much time to read this month due to a week's vacation with much of that time spent in the car driving from San Jose, California, to Sanger, Texas, by way of Colorado Springs. So far, I've completed 14 books this month and am likely to finish at least one more before midnight tomorrow. By genre, they break down to: Adventure (1), Fantasy (3), Mainstream (1), Mystery (3), Romance (1), and SciFi (5).
Without a doubt, the very best book that I have read this month was Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. Mr. Doctorow is giving the book away at his blog site, so feel free to grab your own free copy. Doctorow suggests that downloaders can help him financially by buying the paper copy—either for yourself or donating a copy to a classroom. I'm going to make sure that there's a copy of this book in as many nearby libraries as I can. In some cases, it's going to require me to talk with the librarians and try to convince them not to put a donated copy into the library book sale/fund raiser. As soon as the book comes out in paperback, I'm going to work with a Civics or Government teacher in the local high school to try and get the book into the curriculum—with copies for the classroom. Little Brother, along with 1984, sets the stage for discussing the abuse of power (whether sanctioned by the "government" itself or simply by officials or organizations) and the risks of losing privacy and freedoms in a post-9/11 world.
I'm currently deeply engaged in The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett, Earth Has No Sorrow by Michelle Blake, and High Noon by Nora Roberts. I've dabbled in about six other books and acquired at least six new ones via purchase or trade. I expect to finish at least one of these books by tomorrow night, taking me to 15 books for August and 96 YTD.