Maw Books

Maw Books – book reviews, book recommendations, book lists, author interviews and more!

Long time readers of my blog will know that I have always been drawn to books about human suffering and social injustice.  While they are books that break my heart, bring me to tears, make me mad, and make me wonder why I am blessed to live in such relative peace with a roof over my head, food on my table, clothes on my back, free to practice my faith, free to make my own decisions, and walk down the street without fear of death or harm, why are others are struggling in their own personal hell?  A hell that is beyond their control, and often a hell that is brought upon their heads simply by birth.

Reading often brings these issues into my awareness in a way that makes it personal.  And while awareness of these issues is important, sometimes awareness simply isn’t good enough.  How can I stand idly by when my small actions can make the largest of differences for others?  So when I was approached to help co-host the 2010 Social Justice Challenge with Amy and Hannah, I jumped at the chance.

I am so excited for this reading challenge because it’s simply not just a reading challenge.  Each month we will encourage you to learn about a different social justice topic and then perform an action step as well.  The challenge can be as simple or as life changing as you’d like it to be.  My boys are young – four and two – but these are the formative years.  I want to instill in them now that we are a family that will not only make a difference by helping us help ourselves but also by serving others who are less fortunate than ourselves.

As posted on The Social Justice Challenge blog:

Reading and literacy can not only make us better individuals but it can also motivate us to effect greater changes around us.

The 2010 Social Justice Challenge urges us to become literate learners of unjust causes and will give us the tools to empower us to literally make changes in our world for the better.

12 months. 12 themes. Countless lives changed.

I sincerely hope that you’ll join us this upcoming year regardless if you have a blog or not.  I have a feeling that this upcoming year will be amazing and one that I look forward to very much!  I believe in the power of a single individual and I know that we are each capable of touching the lives of others in ways that we may never know.  Take a chance.  The life that you may end up changing the most will be your own.

Visit the Social Justice Challenge blog, subscribe, and follow on Twitter for details and let us know if you have any questions.  And please help others learn about the challenge by sharing it.  Hannah, Amy and myself hope to work hard to make this an amazing challenge and an amazing year.

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