In Belonging Matters: Conversations on Adoption, Family, and Kinship, Julie Ryan McGue records her experiences as an adoptee during the Baby Scoop Era. After a breast biopsy, questions about her health history prompted her to embark on a journey to find her birth parents. The...

Lost Roots: Family, Identity, and Abandoned Ancestry by Karl von Loewe explores the background of his father, Sigmund. Growing up in a German household immersed in cultural traditions, Sigmund's ancestral past remained vague until von Loewe's relentless inquiry. Uncovering surprising truths, von Loewe discovered that...

Life of Peter is a work of non-fiction in the biography, historical, and slice-of-life subgenres. The work is best suited to the general adult reading audience and was penned by author Michael Pedretti. Self-described as the tale of a “man of vigor, a common farmer,...

Once Our Lives: Life, Death, and Love in the Middle Kingdom by Qin Sun Stubis is a non-fiction memoir that traces the author's family legacy back generations and forms a full picture from the evolution of the Chinese Communist Revolution to the Cultural Revolution. Stubis...

The Buster Clan: An American Saga by K.P. Kollenborn is a deep dive into the author’s family history and the ancestors who were, in their small way, a part of shaping and building the United States. Using stories, legends, and sometimes myths from his family’s...

Jigsaw Puzzle in a Vortex: A Collection of Memoirs tells the story of Aurora M. Lewis, a black woman living in America. Aurora traces her family’s genealogy from her great-grandmother to her mother, describing how they lived their lives. She seems to have a special...

Debbie Russell's Crossing Fifty-One: Not Quite a Memoir is a touching reflection on familial history that doubles as a personal exploration of the author's own identity. The book follows Russell's journey as she faces her father's terminal illness, exploring her ancestry as a means of...

Virgil's Story is an autobiographical memoir in which Virgil D. Mochel recounts his entire life and the story of how the Mochel family found its footing in America. The book opens with Virgil narrating how his ancestors from both sides of his parents' family arrived...

Fortitude: Preserving 400 Years of an American Family's Faith, Patriotism, Grit and Determination by Dale R. Spaulding is a sprawling work that takes a deep dive into the history of the Spaulding family. Spaulding takes readers back to the ancient and medieval origins of the...

History allows one to understand the present and semi-predict the future. Personal history is also important as it holds the key to many characteristics one exhibits. When we research the past generations, this is genealogy. Robin R. Foster helps the budding genealogist understand what it...