Month: September 2023

Sunday Post: Document Everything

BonnieReadsAndWrites24 Comments

Doug and I started going through my extensive glassware collection yesterday. We went through several boxes in the basement, deciding which ones I wanted to keep, sell, or give away. The keep pile was smaller than I thought it would be. Once we had the keep pile, Doug took pictures of everything and I created a document with pictures and descriptions, and we filled up our first crate, to go into storage at our retirement house. So we made some progress! The sell pile is pretty large, and I have to decide if I’m going to go the Ebay route or another route. It’s mostly glassware, a lot of it collectible like moon & stars. Any suggestions appreciated.

The hard part will be going through what I have displayed right now and see if I want to sell any of it. I have quite a bit on display. I have an extensive jadeite collection that I’m keeping. The picture is below. Ignore the mess and the non-jadeite. This is just a tiny bit of the glassware that I have.

LAST WEEK ON THE BLOG

On Monday, I participated in “It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?”

On Thursday, I reviewed the audiobook of Bright Lights, Big Christmas.

On Friday I participated in Book Blogger Hop.

On Saturday I reviewed Growing a Top-Notch Family Tree by Nancy Blodgett Klein for Indie Weekend.

NEXT WEEK ON THE BLOG

I’m trying very hard to catch up, so Indie Weekend may show up in the middle of the week! In addition, I hope to review The Bakery at Clamshell Bay audiobook by Sarah Jane Bailey Five Years After, by William Forstchen, Enola Holmes and the Mark of the Mongoose by Nancy Springer, and Christmas Presents by Lisa Unger.

BOOK HAUL

I was very excited to get The Exchange: After The Firm, by John Grisham, a revisit to the main character of the novel The Firm 15 years later.

I started reading it right away, but sadly it’s been underwhelming. Not what I expected at all. Maybe it will get better.

Sad Passing: Farewell to Jimmy Buffett. Doug introduced me to his music in 1980 when we were in high school and we were huge fans. RIP, Son of a Son of a Sailor.

Hope you all had a wonderful week.

Indie Weekend: Growing A Top-Notch Family Tree by Nancy Blodgett Klein

BonnieReadsAndWrites9 Comments

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.

Nancy’s Blog

BUY LINKS

AMAZON | AMAZON UK

BEFORE YOU GO….

*If you read the book, please leave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, as well as anywhere else you review books.  Some people feel very daunted by writing a review. Don’t worry. You do not have to write a masterpiece. Just a couple of lines about how the book made you feel will make the author’s day and help the book succeed. The more reviews a book has, the more Amazon will promote it.

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Book Blogger Hop: Suggest a book for Billy’s 42d birthday

BonnieReadsAndWrites4 Comments

Billy at Coffee Addicted Writer is the host of Book Blogger Hop, and the topic today is to suggest a book for his 42nd birthday.

Answer: Since I don’t know Billy super well, I went through some of his reviews on his blog and he appears to read a wide range of genres. I decided to recommend a mystery series that has become one of my favorites, the Electra McDonnell series. Book one is called A Peculiar Combination. It is about a family of safe-cracking criminals who, when caught, make a deal with the British government to use their talents for good, turn spy, and help them during WWII. There are three books currently published in the series, and the fourth will be coming out in May 2024. Click on the cover below for my review of Book One.