everything that's on my mind

I've had a few books on my shelf that I've wanted to read over the last couple of years, but just haven't gotten to them. Actually, I've had shelves full of books I haven't gotten to yet. But these were the only books I had on a particular subject - the Civil Rights movement in America.

Two of the books were written by Taylor Branch. They are Parting The Waters : America in the King Years 1954-63 and Pillar of Fire : America in the King Years 1963-65, which are the first two of three books Branch has written on the Civil Rights movement. (The third, At Canaan's Edge : America in the King Years, 1965-68, was just published last week.) I actually started Parting the Waters once, but abandoned it for another book at the time and haven't gotten back to it. This is not uncommon, as I often start one book but switch instead to another.

Anyway, the third book on my shelf is the one that I've started reading today. I wanted to at least get to one of them this year, and it seemed appropriate to start today on the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. The book is Bearing the Cross : Martin Luther King, Jr., And The Southern Christian Leadership Conference by David Garrow. It's supposed to be the biography of King to read, so I am looking forward to it.

I will likely post here about it as I get into it, so I guess there will be more to come...