14-10-2011 Time Traveller's Handbook - A Guide to the Past by Althea Douglas   

Though this fascinating book states it was written as a guide for the family historian working in Canada, I believe the book would help any family historian find valuable insights into the lives of their ancestors. I found Chapters 9, 14, and the Historical Dates in the Appendix to be most helpful in my personal genealogy research. This book is well documented with end notes and also provides suggestions for additional reading about the various subjects it discusses.

4-5-2011 Chapter by Chapter Review of
   "Courthouse Research for Family Historians" by Christine Rose
This is the ultimate guidebook to Courthouse Research in the United States. Rose has done an exceptional job of presenting in simple and clear terms the steps to take in doing courthouse research. Any genealogist that is researching in the U.S. should make this book a critical part of their resource library. After reading this book I became aware that I may have missed examining some important resources.

26-2-2011 Book review of "History for Genealogists"    Review written by Larisa S. Asaeli
I hated this book at first glance. The design is unattractive and the obvious errors in punctuation, spelling, and grammar forced me to pull out my red pencil. I was further irritated that Jacobson makes broad generalizations and states facts without documentation. But the worst was her claim that Henry VII (not VIII) broke from the Catholic Church and founded the Church of England. The inclusion of time lines in the middle of narrative was jarring as well. But I continued reading and soon found myself saying things like, "I did not know that" and "Wow!" So even though this book is a bit pricey, and a bit messy, I found it to be a worthwhile read.

6-11-2010 Book review of "The Joy of Family Traditions"    Review written by Larisa S. Asaeli
At first glance, this unassuming little book may not seem worthwhile for genealogists. But after I began reading the introduction and Jennifer Trainer Thompson's vision for the project, I realized that this is the perfect book for genealogists because it is all about making connections across family generations. Her claim -- that traditions are about including and celebrating family-- fits in with our goals as genealogists. Therefore, this book would not only make a great gift for a couple starting their own family, but it will inform us about our ancestors' traditions and show us how to make new ones.

19-8-2010 Book review of "The Routledge Historical Atlas of Women in America"    Review written by Larisa S. Asaeli
While this book is less than 150 pages, it packs in a lot of information about women missing from United States' history. The author says in her introduction that her primary purpose in writing such a book was not only to show readers where American women were located in the narrative of US history, but primarily to visually recreate aspects of the "every woman's" life. So, while this book is not written for a genealogical audience, it does provide information that may help researchers flesh out family histories. It could also provide clues about women's lives that may point researchers towards new investigative tracks that they might not have previously considered.

26-6-2010 Book review of "Turning Memories Into Memoirs: A Handbook for Writing Lifestories" by Denis Ledoux.    Review written by Cindy Carman
I purchased and read no less than five books about writing a personal history before choosing to write this review. From the Table of Contents, to the Chapter Outlines, to section descriptions, I found this book to be the most organized, and easiest to follow of all the ones I had read. Ledoux's introduction comes right to the point; he describes how to use the book and briefly enumerates what you will need for the project of writing your personal history.

31-3-2010 Book review of "You Can Write Your Family History" by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack.    Review written by Larisa S. Asaeli
This book is a friendly and encouraging guide for writing a family history. Ms. Carmack takes a daunting task and breaks it down into well-defined and manageable steps that will allow even the busiest of us to make the needed headway on that family history we have been meaning to write (or finish writing).

4-12-2009 ***Cooking Up Family History this Holiday Season
   A review of historical recipe sources by Larisa S. Asaeli.
This year why not utilize your genealogy and cooking skills to a make a dish that your ancestors would have eaten in their homeland? Or maybe you would just like to find a recipe that has been lost to add to a family history. Thanks to facsimile editions, e-books, and the internet we can now find historical recipes and prepare them with ease for our family and friends this holiday season. This article will show you a few sources to search and point you towards books and periodicals that can help you trace down that special recipe for your holiday menu.

1-10-2009 Larisa Asaeli reviews "Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs, 2nd Edition" by Maureen A. Taylor.
   As mentioned in my last book review about social networking, sharing photographs is just one way of performing genealogical research. Thanks to Drew Smith's suggestion in Social Networking for Genealogist, I have posted many photos online for family members to peruse. Now, thanks to "Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs" by Maureen Taylor, I have a better understanding of the relevance of photos to genealogy. However, Taylor has taught me more than just appreciation of these photos; she presents a solid research methodology for interpreting these photos and identifying your ancestors.

8-8-2009 Larisa Asaeli reviews "Social Networking for Genealogists" by Drew Smith.    This handy little guide is written for the genealogist who has minimal knowledge about social networking sites. Smith provides term definition with his step-by-step instructions on how to use various networks. Since it is often difficult to learn how to use web-based applications from a book, the screen shots Smith includes are very helpful. He also lists suggested steps at the end of each chapter to help readers practice the skills they will learn along the way.

3-6-2009 Book review of "The Genealogist's Address Book: State and Local Resources, 6th Edition" by Elizabeth Petty Bentley.    Review written by Aubrey Fredrickson

1-4-2009 Book review of "Family History Cultures and Faiths: How Your Ancestors Lived and Worshipped" by Michael Gandy.    Review written by Larisa S. Asaeli
While this handy little book is a useful background guide to records available in the English National Archive, it is really a history of religion and record keeping in England from 1500-1940. It also features an additional chapter on South Asian peoples, their records and history from the 1700s to the present day. While Michael Gandy claims this book is not for beginners, the basic historical information will help anyone looking for ancestors in England understand what kind of records would be generated for people of all faiths, not just Anglicans. While the majority of the records he discusses are held in the National Archives, he also points out records held either in the LDS church's Family History Library, located at other repositories in England, or posted online.

28-1-2009 Book review of "Scrapbooking Your Family History: The Ultimate Workbook" by Creating Keepsakes.    Review written by Larisa S. Asaeli
I admit it -- I have scoffed at scrapbooking in the past. A single photo on a page with all kinds of doodads and folderols seems time consuming and expensive to me. But what Creating Keepsakes offers with this workbook is a brilliant cross between writing family histories and scrapbooking. From the moment I opened the book, my opinion of scrapbooking changed. Intrigued by their beautiful pages that are full of rich family history details, I found myself interested in not only looking at the design, but also in reading the accompanying stories on each page.

10-10-2008 Book review of "The Hidden Half of the Family: A Sourcebook for Women's Genealogy" by Christina Kassabian Schaefer.    Review written by Larisa S. Asaeli
For those researching female American family histories and genealogy-rejoice! This reference book by Christina Kassabian Schaefer contains comprehensive information for those of us looking for civil records on our female ancestors. At first I was skeptical about the timeliness of this book since it was first published almost 10 years ago; but as I delved into the book, the scope and content began to impress me.

22-5-2008 Book Review of The Cornish Overseas: The Epic Story of the 'Great Migration' by Philip Payton
Review written by Larisa Schumann
   For those of you with Cornish ancestry this is a valuable resource for the story behind the story of your family's migration to Australia, South Africa, or the Americas. However, even if you don't have Cornish ancestry, this is a fascinating book! Philip Payton's extensive and detailed account uses language that will be easily understood and is supplemented by maps and line drawings. And those of you who love to read endnotes will be pleased by Payton's 20-plus pages at the book's end. He also includes a detailed index.

29-11-2007 Book review by Larisa R. Schumann of "The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl"
   by Timothy Egan. Published by Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2006
This true account of the lives of several people in the High Plains of Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico is very moving, especially for me as the grandchild of a Dust Bowl survivor. His narrative follows several families during the years of 1901 to 1939, with an epilogue set in 2005 and featuring the aging children of the Dirty Thirties. Following these families' stories brings a fascinating humanity to this tragic time when dust storms reached as far east as Washington, DC, New York City, and the Atlantic Ocean.

12-8-2007 A book Review of The Unknown Civil War: Odd, Peculiar, and Unusual Stories of the War Between the States by Webb Garrison, published in 2000 by Cumberland House
By Larisa Schumann    This book is an interesting and light read into the stories and folklore surrounding the Civil War and important figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Stonewall Jackson, and Robert E. Lee. Photographs and drawings from the time period enhance the text, while subheadings make for easy reading. However, as a serious researcher and teacher, the lack of footnotes made me constantly question Garrison's sources and credibility as a scholar. Even though he does include a bibliography, there are rare attributions to those sources. Consequently, I would not consider this book reliable or credible for any type of serious family history research, even though it is interesting and entertaining.

24-12-2006 "Guide To Finding Your Ellis Island Ancestors by Sharon D. Carmack"    a Chapter by Chapter Review by Cindy Carman
A very informative book that is not just a guide to Ellis Island records, but can also serve as a guide to immigration records in general. You will definitely want to have this book as a handy reference to immigration records of all sorts. It will help you discover where to find these records both on and off the internet and evaluate their usefulness and limitations.

8-4-2006 Larisa R. Schumann reviews the book-    Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Immigrant & Ethnic Ancestors: How to Find and Record your Unique Heritage by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack. Her writing style is friendly, full of personal anecdotes and experiences. Carmack's approach is encouraging for those who may feel hesitant about getting started doing family research.

17-6-2005 Cindy Carman Reviews the book -"In Search of Your Canadian Roots- Tracing Your Family Tree in Canada" by Angus Baxter
   This book attempts to provide guidance for the genealogy novice as well as solid help for the experienced genealogist who wants to understand Canadian research resources. Will the book help you? This review can help you decide.

5-11-2004 Cindy Carman reviews    the book "Tracing Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Tribes" by Rachal Mills Lennon. At long last a clear and concise guide to doing Native American Research has been written!

8-4-2004 Cindy reviews the book "Guide Book to Europe" - your passport to tracing your genealogy across Europe    A round of applause should go to the Editors of "Family Tree Magazine" for putting together this exceptional compilation of knowledge.

30-10-2003 City Directories -MARSDEN BROWN'S REAL IDENTITY SOLVED BY CITY DIRECTORIES
   Marsden Brown, born 30 Sep 1833 in Tionesta, Venango, Pennsylvania was a mystery . . . until city directories were consulted.

25-7-2003 Book Review by Larisa R. Schumann    The Forgotten Founders: Rethinking the History of the Old West by Stewart L. Udall.

30-5-2003 Book Review: More Psychic Roots by Henry Z Jones, Jr
   Don't be put off by the title of this book. It is not only entertaining but is often inspiring.

2-3-2003 Book Review: Cindy Carman's chapter by chapter review of the book - Your Guide to Cemetery Research by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack    This book is much more than a guide to researching in Cemeteries. It includes detailed information about researching all kinds of death records.

7-8-2002 Cindy Carman reviews - The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy, 3rd Edition by Val D. Greenwood    As a basic "learn how to do genealogy" book I think that The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy, 3rd Edition by Val D. Greenwood provides a good foundation. It certainly instructs the researcher in the principles of genealogical research and identifies the various classes of records used in that research. The author then evaluates each of the records in the context of the research process. This book is both a textbook and an all-purpose reference book for traditional paper record research.

30-11-2001 Cindy Carman reviews Everton Publishers' "The Handy Book for Genealogists" Ninth Edition    About 25 years ago I bought the Sixth Edition of "The Handy Book for Genealogists" and found it to be an indispensable aid in my genealogy research. A friend mentioned that I should get the newest version because in many states there had been jurisdictional changes that weren't reflected in my old 1971 Edition. It's hard for me to change and the only way I can convince myself that a change is good is to analyze the advantages of embracing the new. I bought the 9th Edition of the "The Handy Book for Genealogists" published September 1999 by The Everton Publishers, Inc. of Logan, Utah and compared it to my old version and here is what I discovered.

7-9-2001 Cindy Carman's review of the Australian Vital Records CD   
Though the interface could have used a bit more debugging and some of the duplication should have been eliminated, as an index of Australian Vital Records this one is pretty good.

27-7-2001 The New York Times July 1, 2001 news article
"The Search for the Family Tree Moves to the Web"   

21-6-2001 Cindy Carman does a chapter by chapter review of the book:    "Complete Beginner's Guide to Genealogy, the Internet, and Your Genealogy Computer Program" by Karen Clifford

This is without question the most well written book available not only for learning how to do genealogy but also for learning how to use today's genealogy tools. As an added plus, the book is full of charts, graphs, and cartoons which made reading it easy and fun. The cartoon illustrations increased my ability to remember the principles being taught and the step by step guides and charts gave me a visual road map to the accomplishment of my research goals.

11-5-2001 Cindy Carman's review of **"State Census Records"** by Ann S. Lainhart
   Finally a truly complete reference to what State Census records are available, what information they contain, and where to find them.

19-2-2001 Cindy Carman reviews***
   "The Census Book" by William Dollarhide