Recommended Genealogy Reading

Tracing Scots-Irish (or “Scotch-Irish”) ancestors can be tough. William Roulston helps out in Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors: The Essential Genealogical Guide to Early Modern Ulster, 1600-1800 (Ulster Historical Foundation). It’s been updated from the 2005 edition and is available as an e-book. The focus is on sources in Northern Ireland, so you’ll want to know your ancestors’ origin in Ulster.

Mastering Online Genealogy by W. Daniel Quillen (Cold Spring Press) is an easy-to-follow guide for online research newbies. Quillen covers the basics of searching online, free and subscription websites, and more. He also provides short reviews of popular genealogy software.

Novelist Suzanne Berne turns to nonfiction with her fourth book, Missing Lucile: Memories of the Grandmother I Never Knew (Algonquin). She combines biography, history and mystery as she searches for her father’s mother—“missing” since she died when her son was 6. From a box of keepsakes, a few journal pages and 90-year-old photographic negatives, Berne begins the journey.