It's Monday, What are You Reading? Mastering Genealogical Proof

It's Monday, What are You Reading?

Mastering Genealogical Proof 

by Thomas W. Jones

This post is the sixty-second entry for this meme suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [Entries 22-25 in the series were posted at  the Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories]

My oldest daughter, Annette, was good enough to get me a copy for Father's Day, and got one for herself at the same time. I had written about the book earlier, and am looking forward to spending more time with it.

From the website for the book, at The National Genealogical Society:

"Mastering Genealogical Proof aims to help researchers, students and new family historians reconstruct relationships and lives of people they cannot see. It presents content in digestible chunks. Each chapter concludes with problems providing practice for proficiently applying the chapter's concepts. Those problems, like examples throughout the book, use real records, real research, and real issues. Answers are at the back along with a glossary of technical terms and and extensive resource list."

You can order your copy from the link, above.

[Cross-posted on Dr. Bill's Book Bazaar blog]

Families are Forever!  ;-)

It's Monday, What are You Reading? "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

It's Monday, What are You Reading?

"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

This is the twenty-fifth entry for this meme, the fourth at this blog site, suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [The first 21 entries in the series were posted at  the Dr. Bill's Book Bazaar, which has generally been on hiatus]

Ok, if you are a regular reader, you are probably beginning to question my sanity in choice of books to read… Correct, unless you understand my variety of interests and activities. It was a concern I had in combining the two blogs; but, here goes.

The Hunger Games, the first of three, so far, in this series by Suzanne Collins, is a Young Adult book that is now being made into a movie with a March 23, 2012 planned release (it is currently in post-production) starring Jennifer Lawrence.

As an Examiner.com writer, I have written about here extensively. [Jennifer Lawrence was the star of "Winter's Bone" - a story set in Ozarks, filmed in the county where I live. "Winter's Bone" was based on the book of the same name and won the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic Film as the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. It was selected for four 2011 Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress (Jennifer) and Best Supporting Actor.]

As a highly acclaimed current Young Adult book series, I also have an interest beyond Jennifer Lawrence starring in the movie (and all three of my grown daughters anxiously looking forward to the movie based on reading the books…). In my author role, I have 'identified' a 14-year old  Civil War era young man in the family history of my current novel series. He cries out for a Young Adult novel, perhaps Graphic Novel, set 150 years ago in 2013. The Hunger Games is research for me in possibly writing this novel, in collaboration with my oldest daughter, who has developed some expertise in graphic novels. Ok, enough, for now. Wish me luck!  ;-)

 About the book - From School Library Journal; at Amazon.com:
Grade 7 Up - In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss's young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives. Collins's characters are completely realistic and sympathetic as they form alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing. This book will definitely resonate with the generation raised on reality shows like 'Survivor' and 'American Gladiator.' Book one of a planned trilogy.Jane Henriksen Baird, Anchorage Public Library, AK {Based on Hardcover edition} [I'm reading the Kindle Edition.]

By the way, it is still ok to question my sanity!  ;-)


Happy Reading,

Bill  ;-)

It's Monday, What are You Reading? The Unfinished Presidency - Brinkley

It's Monday, What are You Reading? 

The Unfinished Presidency - Brinkley

This is the twenty-fourth entry for this meme, the third at this blog site, suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [The first 21 entries in the series were posted at the Dr. Bill's Book Bazaar, which has generally been on hiatus]

Last week, I wrote here: As I finished White House Diary by Jimmy Carter I realized that there were Ronald Reagan Diaries that picked up the story by the next president, continuing events from a different perspective. Especially when I realized there was a book edited by historian Douglas Brinkley that was available in a Kindle Edition - it had to be read next.

Well, in looking at the other books that Douglas Brinkley had written, I came across a 1998 book, entitled "The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House." He had set about to do a 3-volume biography on Carter, but discovered there was a more interesting story begging to be written; which he did. I was able to find a hard cover copy in good condition of this 13 year old book on Amazon for $6. Hard to pass up. So, I am now reading it along with the Reagan diaries on Kindle, in tandem…  ;-)


Amazon.com Review:
Jimmy Carter isn't the first American president to become more popular after leaving the Oval Office than when he served in it; even Richard Nixon managed a semi-rehabilitation in the post-Watergate years. Yet perhaps no ex-president has reversed his fortunes so completely as Carter, whose approval rating has done nothing but improve since he lost his 1980 reelection bid. Many Americans admire Carter for his work building homes in the United States with the group Habitat for Humanity, but the 39th president is known and respected throughout the world for attempting to negotiate peace in trouble spots such as Haiti, North Korea, and the Middle East. "Carter," writes Douglas Brinkley, "has become a true citizen of the world." Noteworthy sections of this unauthorized biography (which benefits from lengthy interviews with its subject) include the story of how Carter worked relentlessly to undermine President Bush in the days leading up to the Persian Gulf War, as well as Carter's difficult relations with President Clinton. Also, Brinkley appreciates, and treats seriously, Carter's religious faith in a way many previous analysts have not. An excellent portrait of a complicated man. --John J. Miller

[Photo source: http://bakerinstitute.org/personnel/fellows-scholars/dbrinkley]

Happy Reading,

Bill  ;-)

It's Monday, What are You Reading? A Singular Woman by Janny Scott

It's Monday, What are You Reading? 

A Singular Woman by Janny Scott

This is the twenty-second entry for this meme, suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [The first 21 entries in the series were posted at the Dr. Bill's Book Bazaar, which has now been put on hiatus]

I have always been fascinated by the lady who is the subject of this book. I am very pleased that it is now available.

Product Description on Amazon.com:

A major publishing event: an unprecedented look into the life of the woman who most singularly shaped Barack Obama-his mother.

Barack Obama has written extensively about his father, but little is known about Stanley Ann Dunham, the fiercely independent woman who raised him, the person he credits for, as he says, "what is best in me." Here is the missing piece of the story.

Award-winning reporter Janny Scott interviewed nearly two hundred of Dunham's friends, colleagues, and relatives (including both her children), and combed through boxes of personal and professional papers, letters to friends, and photo albums, to uncover the full breadth of this woman's inspiring and untraditional life, and to show the remarkable extent to which she shaped the man Obama is today.

Dunham's story moves from Kansas and Washington state to Hawaii and Indonesia. It begins in a time when interracial marriage was still a felony in much of the United States, and culminates in the present, with her son as our president- something she never got to see. It is a poignant look at how character is passed from parent to child, and offers insight into how Obama's destiny was created early, by his mother's extraordinary faith in his gifts, and by her unconventional mothering. Finally, it is a heartbreaking story of a woman who died at age fifty-two, before her son would go on to his greatest accomplishments and reflections of what she taught him.

Happy Reading,

Bill  ;-)