Another Challenge - Social Justice Challenge

I had promised myself only to join as many challenges as I thought I could complete this year. I decided on 3 that really touched on my reading interests and also stretched my normal genres. Well, my blog friend Stephanie at Laughing Stars reviewed Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks this week for the Social Justice Challenge. I had seen this challenge floating around the blogosphere but I had my 3 challenges and just could not do anymore. After reading Stephanie's review, I checked out the Social Justice Challenge Blog and this is soooooo the challenge for me. The themes for each month are topics I read about and teach about all the time.

But, I was already behind. It was January 30th and I hadn't read a book for January. That was when I realized the theme for January was Religious Freedom and I had read Sarah's Key, a Holocaust novel this month. That sealed the deal for me. I am now committed to completing this challenge in 2010 as well.

February's topic is WATER. I can't wait to find a great book on this one. I live on Lake Lanier, just north of Atlanta. The lake provides water for the city of Atlanta, metro Atlanta and many communities in Alabama and Florida as well. It has been well below full for several years and we have had water restictions for as long as I can remember. There is even a lawsuit over the water in Lake Lanier and the Chattahooche River headed toward the US Supreme Court. On a world scale, water is the most scarce resource. I believe this resource to be even more pressing than oil on the global scale. I am looking forward to discussing this other challenge participants.