
Indie Weekend is my effort to help Indie Authors with marketing. Marketing is probably the biggest task authors have, and if I can help even a little, I’m happy to do it. You can help too by sharing this far and wide with your social media followers. Below please see my review of Growing A Top-Notch Family Tree: With Stories From Its Branches by Nancy Blodgett Klein.
BOOK DESCRIPTION (FROM AMAZON)
This two-part book gives advice to genealogists about specific steps to take to grow a great family tree online, with details about what to do and what to avoid to have the best possible tree for current family, future generations and the wider community to enjoy. It includes details about three different online sites, Ancestry, FamilySearch and MyHeritage. It also discusses the importance of DNA testing and DNA matching with relatives to help you verify your findings.
The second half of the book shares interesting stories about family tree members, including famous ones like Mayflower passenger Stephen Hopkins, colorful characters from the Stewart/Stuart family of Scotland, and “troublesome” women relatives like Elizabeth Woodville of England, Elizabeth Hutchinson, from Massachusetts, and fancy dresser Thomasine Boyes, a British immigrant to Massachusetts and wife of Rev. Francis Johnson, a popular Puritan minister.
This book is designed to be both educational and entertaining for anyone interested in genealogy, be they new to the subject or an experienced master.
BOOK REVIEW


This is a fantastic resource by Nancy Blodgett Klein for anyone who wants to explore their ancestry, especially if you use Ancestry.com and other online resources. I have used Ancestry.com for years, but I learned so much from this book that is going to enhance my experience there. Nancy points out many mistakes and pitfalls that I recognized at once as things I have done, and she shares tips and tricks that I never discovered on my own that I am now eager to try out.
While sharing the best ways to use online resources, Nancy also shares fascinating stories from her own family history, which includes many famous people, and tells you the best ways to discover your own stories. The addition of DNA to ancestral research is also explored, and Nancy tells us the best way to use that DNA to discover hidden secrets.
Whether you are new to genealogy or have been doing research for years, this book will inspire and help you along the way.
I downloaded a copy of this book on Kindle Unlimited, where subscribers can read it for free.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR (IN HER OWN WORDS)

Nancy Blodgett Klein
My latest book is Growing a Top-Notch Family Tree: With Stories from its Branches. Published in 2023, this is a non-fiction work for lovers of genealogy. Torn Between Worlds was my first novel while Life Lessons was my first non-fiction work. Both were published in 2021. In 2022, I published What’s So Special About Spain, a travel book for children. I worked as a journalist for 15 years in Chicagoland, starting out as a police reporter in Chicago. I also worked for the American Bar Association Journal, writing hundreds of articles on political, social and legal topics. Later on I was a public school teacher, including to many students from Mexico. I now live in Spain.
I received a bachelor’s from Tulane University in philosophy and a master’s in journalism from Boston University. Later, I earned a master’s in education from Roosevelt University. I am a member of two book groups and one writers group.
BUY LINKS
BEFORE YOU GO….

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Interesting, Bonnie. I’ll have to read this one. Thanks for letting me know about it. 😀
Thanks Tim! Anyone interested in genealogy should check this out.
Allen Rizzi’s and Ailish Sinclair’s blogs have got me interested. My grandfather was Watson Sinclair, and my middle name is Watson, named after him.
This is a great review for this book. Thanks, Bonnie.
Thanks Darlene, and thanks for sharing this!
Thanks so much, Bonnie, for your fantastic review of my book! I am very glad you picked up some practical tips for building your own tree on Ancestry.com by reading my book.
You’re welcome, and thanks for the reblog!
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