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Check out these recommended reads, hand-picked by library staff just for readers like you!

 

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Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books

Kirsten Miller

"Kirsten Miller has that rare ability to take a serious subject and make it very, very funny. I enjoyed this novel and you will too."--James Patterson

The provocative and hilarious summer read that will have book lovers cheering and everyone talking! Kirsten Miller, author of The Change, brings us a bracing, wildly entertaining satire about a small Southern town, a pitched battle over banned books, and a little lending library that changes everything.

Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books--none of which she's actually read. To replace the "pornographic" books she's challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she's sure the town's readers need.

What Lula doesn't know is that a local troublemaker has stolen her wholesome books, removed their dust jackets, and restocked Lula's library with banned books: literary classics, gay romances, Black history, witchy spell books, Judy Blume novels, and more. One by one, neighbors who borrow books from Lula Dean's library find their lives changed in unexpected ways. Finally, one of Lula Dean's enemies discovers the library and decides to turn the tables on her, just as Lula and Beverly are running against each other to replace the town's disgraced mayor.

That's when all the townspeople who've been borrowing from Lula's library begin to reveal themselves. That's when the showdown that's been brewing between Beverly and Lula will roil the whole town...and change it forever.

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A Well-Trained Wife

Tia Levings

The instant New York Times bestseller:

“Today it hit me when he hit me, blood shaking in my brain. Maybe there wasn’t a savior coming. Maybe it was up to me to save me.”

Recruited into the fundamentalist Quiverfull movement as a young wife, Tia Levings learned that being a good Christian meant following a list of additional life principles––a series of secret, special rules to obey. Being a godly and submissive wife in Christian Patriarchy included strict discipline, isolation, and an alternative lifestyle that appeared wholesome to outsiders. Women were to be silent, “keepers of the home.”

Tia knew that to their neighbors her family was strange, but she also couldn't risk exposing their secret lifestyle to police, doctors, teachers, or anyone outside of their church. Christians were called in scripture to be “in the world, not of it.” So, she hid in plain sight as years of abuse and pain followed. When Tia realized she was the only one who could protect her children from becoming the next generation of patriarchal men and submissive women, she began to resist and question how they lived. But in the patriarchy, a woman with opinions is in danger, and eventually, Tia faced an urgent and extreme choice: stay and face dire consequences, or flee with her children.

Told in a beautiful, honest, and sometimes harrowing voice, A Well-Trained Wife is an unforgettable and timely memoir about a woman's race to save herself and her family and details the ways that extreme views can manifest in a marriage.

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A Walk in the Park

Kevin Fedarko

Two friends, zero preparation, one dream. From the author of the beloved bestseller The Emerald Mile, a rollicking and poignant account of an epic 750-mile odyssey, on foot, through the heart of America’s most magnificent national park and the grandest wilderness on earth.

A few years after quitting his job to follow an ill-advised dream of becoming a guide on the Colorado River, Kevin Fedarko was approached by his best friend, the National Geographic photographer Pete McBride, with a vision as bold as it was harebrained. Together, they would embark on an end-to-end traverse of the Grand Canyon, a journey that, McBride promised, would be “a walk in the park.” Against his better judgment, Fedarko agreed to the scheme, unaware that the small cluster of experts who had completed the crossing billed it as “the toughest hike in the world.”

The ensuing ordeal, which lasted more than a year, revealed a place that was deeper, richer, and far more complex than anything the two men had imagined—and came within a hair’s breadth of killing them both. They struggled to make their way through the all but impenetrable reaches of its truest wilderness, a vertical labyrinth of thousand-foot cliffs and crumbling ledges where water is measured out by the teaspoon and every step is fraught with peril—and where, even today, there is still no trail along the length of the country’s best-known and most iconic park.

Along the way, veteran long-distance hikers ushered them into secret pockets, invisible to the millions of tourists gathered on the rim, where only a handful of humans have ever laid eyes. Members of the canyon’s eleven Native American tribes brought them face-to-face with layers of history that forced them to reconsider myths at the center of our national parks—and exposed them to the impinging threats of commercial tourism. Even Fedarko’s dying father, who had first pointed him toward the canyon more than forty years earlier but had never set foot there himself, opened him to a new way of seeing the landscape.

And always, there was the great gorge itself: austere and unforgiving but suffused with magic, drenched in wonder, and redeemed by its own transcendent beauty.

A Walk in the Park is a singular portrait of a sublime place, and a deeply moving plea for the preservation of America’s greatest natural treasure.

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Dies the Fire

S. M. Stirling

More of "the best straight-ahead science fiction the genre has ever seen" (Amazing) from the bestselling author of "Conquistador," 
An electrical storm over Nantucket causes all electronic devices to cease to function-computers, radio, even firearms-and plunges the world into a darkness humanity is unprepared to face. But as some people band together to help, others are building armies for conquest...

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Stormy Weather

Carl Hiaasen

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"Hysterically funny...Hiaasen at his satirical best." - USA Today

Two honeymooners wake up early, make love twice, and brace themselves for a spectacle they won't be watching from the sidelines. A seductive con artiste stumbles into a scam that promises more cool cash than the lottery. A shotgun-toting mobile home salesman is about to close a deal with disaster. A law school dropout will be chasing one Gaboon viper, a troop of storm-shocked monkeys, and a newfound love life, while tourists by the thousands bail from the Florida Keys. We're now entering the hurricane zone, where hell and hilarity rule. And in the hands of the masterful, merciless Carl Hiaasen, we're going to have some weather.
 

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A Psalm for the Wild-Built

Becky Chambers

Winner of the Hugo Award!

In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, bestselling Becky Chambers's delightful new Monk and Robot series, gives us hope for the future.

It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.

One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. 

But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.

They're going to need to ask it a lot.

Becky Chambers's new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?

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Just for the Summer

Abby Jimenez

Instant #1 New York Times bestseller and a Good Morning America Book Club Pick!

This witty, slow-burn rom-com is the "ideal beach read." --Elle

Justin has a curse, and thanks to a Reddit thread, it's now all over the internet. Every woman he dates goes on to find their soul mate the second they break up. When a woman slides into his DMs with the same problem, they come up with a plan: They'll date each other and break up. Their curses will cancel each other's out, and they'll both go on to find the love of their lives. It's a bonkers idea... and it just might work.

Emma hadn't planned that her next assignment as a traveling nurse would be in Minnesota, but she and her best friend agree that dating Justin is too good of an opportunity to pass up, especially when they get to rent an adorable cottage on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

It's supposed to be a quick fling, just for the summer. But when Emma's toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they're suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected--including catching real feelings for each other. What if this time Fate has actually brought the perfect pair together?

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Doomsday Book

Connie Willis

Connie Willis draws upon her understanding of the universalities of human nature to explore the ageless issues of evil, suffering, and the indomitable will of the human spirit.

“A tour de force.”—The New York Times Book Review

For Kivrin, preparing to travel back in time to study one of the deadliest eras in humanity’s history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi for a woman traveling alone. For her instructors in the twenty-first century, it meant painstaking calculations and careful monitoring of the rendezvous location where Kivrin would be received.

But a crisis strangely linking past and future strands Kivrin in a bygone age as her fellows try desperately to rescue her. In a time of superstition and fear, Kivrin—barely of age herself—finds she has become an unlikely angel of hope during one of history’s darkest hours.

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CIRCE

Madeline Miller

"A bold and subversive retelling of the goddess's story," this #1 New York Times bestseller is "both epic and intimate in its scope, recasting the most infamous female figure from the Odyssey as a hero in her own right" (Alexandra Alter, The New York Times). In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child -- not powerful like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power -- the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves. Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus. But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love. With unforgettably vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and page-turning suspense, Circe is a triumph of storytelling, an intoxicating epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man's world. #1 New York Times bestseller -- named one of the best books of the year by NPR, the Washington Post, People, Time, Amazon, Entertainment Weekly, Bustle, Newsweek, the A.V. Club, Christian Science Monitor, Refinery 29, BuzzFeed, Paste, Audible, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, Thrillist, NYPL, Self, Real Simple, Goodreads, Boston Globe, Electric Literature, BookPage, the Guardian, Book Riot, Seattle Times, and Business Insider

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The Rise of Wolf 8

Rick McIntyre

"The powerful origin story of one of Yellowstone's greatest and most famous wolves." --Washington Post

"[The Rise of Wolf 8] is a goldmine for information on all aspects of wolf behavior and clearly shows they are clever, smart, and emotional beings." --Marc Bekoff, Psychology Today

Yellowstone National Park was once home to an abundance of wild wolves--but park rangers killed the last of their kind in the 1920s. Decades later, the rangers brought them back, with the first wolves arriving from Canada in 1995.

This is the incredible true story of one of those wolves.

Wolf 8 struggles at first--he is smaller than the other pups, and often bullied--but soon he bonds with an alpha female whose mate was shot. An unusually young alpha male, barely a teenager in human years, Wolf 8 rises to the occasion, hunting skillfully, and even defending his family from the wolf who killed his father. But soon he faces a new opponent: his adopted son, who mates with a violent alpha female. Can Wolf 8 protect his valley without harming his protégé?

Authored by a renowned wolf researcher and gifted storyteller, The Rise of Wolf 8 marks the beginning of The Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone series, which will transform our view of wolves forever.

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Horse

Geraldine Brooks

“Brooks’ chronological and cross-disciplinary leaps are thrilling.” —The New York Times Book Review

Horse isn’t just an animal story—it’s a moving narrative about race and art.” —TIME

“A thrilling story about humanity in all its ugliness and beauty . . . the evocative voices create a story so powerful, reading it feels like watching a neck-and-neck horse race, galloping to its conclusion—you just can’t look away.” —Oprah Daily

Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award · Finalist for the Chautauqua Prize · A Massachusetts Book Award Honor Book 

A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic, and the greatest racehorse in American history: from these strands, a Pulitzer Prize winner braids a sweeping story of spirit, obsession, and injustice across American history

Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union. On a perilous night, he reunites with the stallion and his groom, very far from the glamor of any racetrack. 
 
New York City, 1954. Martha Jackson, a gallery owner celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters, becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance.
 
Washington, DC, 2019. Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian, find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse—one studying the stallion’s bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success.
 
Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington, Horse is a novel of art and science, love and obsession, and our unfinished reckoning with racism.

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Poverty, by America

Matthew Desmond

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Evicted reimagines the debate on poverty, making a “provocative and compelling” (NPR) argument about why it persists in America: because the rest of us benefit from it.

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker, The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Oprah Daily, Time, The Star Tribune, Vulture, The Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Public Library, Esquire, California Review of Books, She Reads, Library Journal

“Urgent and accessible . . . Its moral force is a gut punch.”—The New Yorker

Longlisted for the Inc. Non-Obvious Book Award • Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal 

The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages? 
 
In this landmark book, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond draws on history, research, and original reporting to show how affluent Americans knowingly and unknowingly keep poor people poor. Those of us who are financially secure exploit the poor, driving down their wages while forcing them to overpay for housing and access to cash and credit. We prioritize the subsidization of our wealth over the alleviation of poverty, designing a welfare state that gives the most to those who need the least. And we stockpile opportunity in exclusive communities, creating zones of concentrated riches alongside those of concentrated despair. Some lives are made small so that others may grow.
 
Elegantly written and fiercely argued, this compassionate book gives us new ways of thinking about a morally urgent problem. It also helps us imagine solutions. Desmond builds a startlingly original and ambitious case for ending poverty. He calls on us all to become poverty abolitionists, engaged in a politics of collective belonging to usher in a new age of shared prosperity and, at last, true freedom.

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Thank You for Listening

Julia Whelan

From the author of My Oxford Year, Julia Whelan's uplifting novel tells the story of a former actress turned successful audiobook narrator--who has lost sight of her dreams after a tragic accident--and her journey of self-discovery, love, and acceptance when she agrees to narrate one last romance novel.

For Sewanee Chester, being an audiobook narrator is a long way from her old dreams, but the days of being a star on film sets are long behind her. She's found success and satisfaction from the inside of a sound booth and it allows her to care for her beloved, ailing grandmother. When she arrives in Las Vegas last-minute for a book convention, Sewanee unexpectedly spends a whirlwind night with a charming stranger.

On her return home, Sewanee discovers one of the world's most beloved romance novelists wanted her to perform her last book--with Brock McNight, the industry's hottest, most secretive voice. Sewanee doesn't buy what romance novels are selling--not after her own dreams were tragically cut short--and she stopped narrating them years ago. But her admiration of the late author, and the opportunity to get her grandmother more help, makes her decision for her.

As Sewanee begins work on the book, resurrecting her old romance pseudonym, she and Brock forge a real connection, hidden behind the comfort of anonymity. Soon, she is dreaming again, but secrets are revealed, and the realities of life come crashing down around her once more.

If she can learn to risk everything for desires she has long buried, she will discover a world of intimacy and acceptance she never believed would be hers.

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Practical Magic

Alice Hoffman

*25th Anniversary Edition*—with an Introduction by the Author!

The Owens sisters confront the challenges of life and love in this bewitching novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Rules of Magic, Magic Lessons, and The Book of Magic.

For more than two hundred years, the Owens women have been blamed for everything that has gone wrong in their Massachusetts town. Gillian and Sally have endured that fate as well: as children, the sisters were forever outsiders, taunted, talked about, pointed at. Their elderly aunts almost seemed to encourage the whispers of witchery, with their musty house and their exotic concoctions and their crowd of black cats. But all Gillian and Sally wanted was to escape. One will do so by marrying, the other by running away. But the bonds they share will bring them back—almost as if by magic...

“Splendid...Practical Magic is one of [Hoffman's] best novels, showing on every page her gift for touching ordinary life as if with a wand, to reveal how extraordinary life really is.”—Newsweek 

“[A] delicious fantasy of witchcraft and love in a world where gardens smell of lemon verbena and happy endings are possible.”—Cosmopolitan

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The God of the Woods

Liz Moore

When a teenager vanishes from her Adirondack summer camp, two worlds collide

Early morning, August 1975: a camp counselor discovers an empty bunk. Its occupant, Barbara Van Laar, has gone missing. Barbara isn’t just any thirteen-year-old: she’s the daughter of the family that owns the summer camp and employs most of the region’s residents. And this isn’t the first time a Van Laar child has disappeared. Barbara’s older brother similarly vanished fourteen years ago, never to be found.

As a panicked search begins, a thrilling drama unfolds. Chasing down the layered secrets of the Van Laar family and the blue-collar community working in its shadow, Moore’s multi-threaded story invites readers into a rich and gripping dynasty of secrets and second chances. It is Liz Moore’s most ambitious and wide-reaching novel yet.

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Year of Wonders

Geraldine Brooks

This gripping historical novel is based on the true story of Eyam, the "Plague Village", in the rugged mountain spine of England. In 1666, a tainted bolt of cloth from London carries bubonic infection to this isolated settlement of shepherds and lead miners. A visionary young preacher convinces the villagers to seal themselves off in a deadly quarantine to prevent the spread of disease. The story is told through the eyes of eighteen-year-old Anna Frith, the vicar's maid, as she confronts the loss of her family, the disintegration of her community, and the lure of a dangerous and illicit love. As the death toll rises and people turn from prayers and herbal cures to sorcery and murderous witch-hunting, Anna emerges as an unlikely and courageous heroine in the village's desperate fight to save itself. Exploring love and learning, fear and fanaticism, and the struggle of science and religion to interpret the world at the cusp of the modern era, Year of Wonders is at once a story of unconventional love and a richly detailed evocation of a riveting moment in history. Like Arthur Golden's Memories of a Geisha and A. S. Byatt's Posession, Year of Wonders blends learning and romance into an unforgettable read.

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The Little Friend

Donna Tartt

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Goldfinch comes an utterly riveting novel set in Mississippi of childhood, innocence, and evil. •  “Destined to become a special kind of classic.” —The New York Times Book Review

The setting is Alexandria, Mississippi, where one Mother’s Day a little boy named Robin Cleve Dufresnes was found hanging from a tree in his parents’ yard. Twelve years later Robin’s murder is still unsolved and his family remains devastated. So it is that Robin’s sister Harriet—unnervingly bright, insufferably determined, and unduly influenced by the fiction of Kipling and Robert Louis Stevenson--sets out to unmask his killer. Aided only by her worshipful friend Hely, Harriet crosses her town’s rigid lines of race and caste and burrows deep into her family’s history of loss. Filled with hairpin turns of plot and “a bustling, ridiculous humanity worthy of Dickens” (The New York Times Book Review), The Little Friend is a work of myriad enchantments by a writer of prodigious talent.

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DNA and Social Networking

Debbie Kennett

The first decade of the new millennium has been an exciting time for the family historian. The increasing availability of online resources has transformed the genealogical research process. DNA testing and the new generation of social networking websites have developed in parallel and are becoming increasingly useful tools. DNA testing can now be used to prove or disprove genealogical connections and will put you in touch with your genetic cousins around the world. It can also take you back beyond the paper trail into your pre-surname history. Social networking tools can help you to find and stay in touch with friends and relatives, and provide new ways to share and collaborate with other researchers. This book looks at all the latest advances in DNA testing from the Y-chromosome tests used in surname projects through to the latest autosomal DNA tests. Debbie Kennett explores the use of new social media, including Facebook, Twitter, blogs and wikis, along with more traditional networking methods. DNA and Social Networking is an indispensable guide to the use of twenty-first-century technology in family history research.

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Family Photo Detective

Maureen A. Taylor

Unlock the Secrets of Your Old Family Photos!

Historical family photos are cherished heirlooms that offer a glimpse into the lives of our ancestors. But the images, and the stories behind them, often fade away as decades pass - the who, when, where and why behind the photos are lost. In this book, photo identification expert and genealogist Maureen A. Taylor shows you how to study the clues in your old family photos to put names to faces and recapture their lost stories.

Inside, you'll learn how to:
   • Determine the type of image you have - from common paper prints to stereographs to historical daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, and tintypes
   • Use clothing, accessories, and hairstyles to date the image in the correct decade
   • Research photographer's imprints to narrow down when and where the photo was taken
   • Compare facial features in multiple photos to confirm identity and family resemblance
   • Interview family members to gather more information about the image
   • Identify props in the photo to create context for the image

Each chapter includes dozens of historical photos to illustrate key points and provide clear examples. Charts, timelines and resource lists make it easy to find the exact information you need. Dozens of case studies show you how to apply the techniques in the book to real-life photo research projects. The answers to your family photo questions are closer than you think. Let this book help you start finding them today.

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Basics of Genealogy Reference

Jack Simpson

This book offers novice and experienced reference librarians an introduction to tried-and-true genealogy techniques and resources. With the help of four case studies, Simpson outlines a basic starting strategy for conducting genealogy research. Later chapters deal specifically with genealogical librarianship: how to conduct a reference interview, continuing and professional development, and basic resources every collection should have. Charts, screen shots, and examples of public documents are also included; while a series of appendices present the case studies in their entirety.

Genealogy is one of the most popular hobbies in the United States, and is heavily researched in public libraries and historical repositories. Increasingly, major genealogy resources are available online at libraries through subscription databases or free on the internet. As a result, librarians face the overwhelming task of helping a large audience of genealogists cope with an ever growing flood of new resources.

This book offers novice and experienced reference librarians an introduction to tried-and-true genealogy techniques and resources. With the help of four case studies, Simpson outlines a basic starting strategy for conducting genealogy research. Later chapters deal specifically with genealogical librarianship: how to conduct a reference interview, continuing and professional development, and basic resources every collection should have. Charts, screen shots, and examples of public documents are also included; while a series of appendices present the case studies in their entirety.

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Tracing Your Family History

Lise Hull

To make the information easy to use, the book is divided into five parts: 
- Part One explains how to get started--from defining your goals to filing pertinent information
- Part Two leads you to places where information can be found: national archives, public libraries, museums, and more
- Part Three explains how to read vital documents and understand all the fine print
- Part Four helps to locate particular ancestors by tracing female ancestors, indigenous people, and even convicts, and the ins and outs of adoption and illegitimacy
- Part Five explains how to go beyond your local resources and use archives and research centers around the world
- Each section identifies common problems--unique Problem Solver, Quick Tips, checklists, and dos and don'ts boxes provide practical, understandable solutions
- The website names of searchable records databases are scattered throughout the book plus "the resources directory" at the end provide access to on-line genealogical data
No matter what your background or how little you know about your family history, this guide will help you discover your roots and in the process enable you to learn more about yourself.

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Forensic Genealogy

Colleen Fitzpatrick (Ph. D.)

Revised edition of Forensic Genealogy, originally published in 2005. Offers useful information on applications of forensic science to genealogy in the area of photograph identification, database mining, and DNA analysis. Contains corrections to the original edition, plus updated information on DNA testing for genetic genealogy, including information on autosomal DNA testing.

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A Field Guide for Genealogists

Judy Jacobson

Families of Southeastern Georgia is a reprint of the third and final volume of Dr. Averitt's 1964 publication, Georgia's Coastal Plain: A History, the volume that holds greatest importance for genealogists.Each of the roughly 1,000 sketches arranged here gives the subject's place and date of birth, his educational background and military service, and then his career, civic interests, church affiliation, hobbies, and so on. In almost every case, the author furnishes the names of the subject's parents, spouse, children, and spouse's parents, usually citing the subject's date of marriage and the dates or places of birth and death of at least these three generations of family members.

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Unpuzzling Your Past

Emily Croom

Best-selling genealogy author Emily Croom presents a new and expanded version of her best-selling guide to genealogy. It provides readers with all the tools and information they need to jump into this great American hobby by focusing on fundamental strategies for success, questions to ask, places for research, and interesting examples of each step along the way. Throughout, readers will find techniques and suggestions for: * tapping family documents, oral tradition, and memories * exploring the vast array of U.S. public records, from newspapers and tombstones to censuses and land records * getting the most from names, dates, and handwriting of the past * developing a first-rate and meaningful family history Well-organized, well written, and comprehensive, this guide also offers readers charts, illustrations, reference sidebars, bibliographies, a glossary, and useful, reproducible forms. Each chapter is capped with a list of Things To Do Now to encourage readers or students to apply what they have learned. Recent polls show that 60% of the U.S. population is interested in researching their family history! Emily Croom is an active researcher, teacher, and lecturer in genealogy. She holds a master's degree in history and contributes articles to several genealogy periodicals. Her other books include the companion volume, the Unpuzzling Your Past Workbook, the widely-acclaimed the Genealogist's Companion & Sourcebook, and the exciting the Sleuth Book for Genealogists.

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Tracing Your Family Tree

Kathy Chater

This practical book will take you on an exciting voyage of discovery into your family's past. It offers a complete introduction to the subject of genealogy and the process of tracing your very own family tree, covering in detail all the possible techniques and methods you might choose, and providing a thorough grounding in the tools you will need. All that you need to know to get you started is in this book, with invaluable lists, checklists, hints and tips, as well as information on recording your data and using the most methodical research techniques. As you step back in time and the lives of your forebears begin to unfold, you're guaranteed to be gripped and inspired. . A fascinating and fully comprehensive guide to discovering your roots and unearthing the secrets of your ancestors in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. . The complete practical handbook for all detectives of family history, heritage and geneaology, with over 500 photographs, artworks, charts and facsimiles. . Contains all the information you need to get started, from how to access the relevant records in libraries, institutions and government bodies, to using The National Archives, and the internet.

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Family History Detective

Desmond Walls Allen

This all-ages guide makes genealogy fun and exciting. You'll find answers to all your family history questions using the simple, achievable steps found inside.

Family History Detective includes:

   • Tips on how to find family history information in your own home
   • Websites, resources and techniques for online research
   • Complete instruction on locating and using census, courthouse and church records
   • An overview of library and archive research
   • Instructions on how to plan, record and organize your research
   • Fun ways to share your discoveries with others

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