I Ran Out Of February!

What I'm Reading Now
(a book is a book, whether it be paper, ebook, or audiobook)
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February is too short! I am working on Noteworthy Reads #26, but it’s not going to get done tonight unless I stay up all night and I’m too tired for that. It also won’t get done tomorrow night since I have a class. So at this point, I am aiming for next weekend.

The reason the Noteworthy Reads for February will be late is that I flew over 1500 miles to see my parents and my brother’s family and had a lovely visit, without my laptop. After I returned, this past Sunday night I went to see Altan, an Irish music group, in concert as my choice for my parents’ Christmas present to me. I’ve loved their music for over 20 years. I had a blast! (There was dancing in the aisles!) [Here’s a sample of their music on YouTube: John Doherty’s Reels (instrumental) or an old favorite song, Dulamon.]

I’ve also been ordering, and reading, books to help me more understand the world my ancestors lived in, and the events they lived through. Here’s a list of books I’ve been reading recently:

    

• The Patriots and the People: The Rebellion of 1837 in Rural Lower Canada by Allan Greer
• A Deep Sense of Wrong: the Treason, Trials and Transportation to New South Wales of Lower Canadian Rebels after the 1838 Rebellion by Beverley Boissry
• The History of Huntingdon and of the Seigniories of Beauharnois and Chateauguay, by Robert Sellar (150th Anniversary Edition)
• Famine in West Cork: the Mizen Peninsula Land and People 1800-1852 by Patrick Hickey
• Commemorating Canada: history, heritage, and memory, 1850s-1990s (Themes in Canadian History) by Cecilia Morgan.

I’ve also recently reread/skimmed The Scottish Pioneers of Upper Canada, Glengarry and Beyond” by Lucille H Campey.

Further, I’ve discovered the treasure trove of old (off copyright) history books on Amazondotcom that can be downloaded to the Kindle app on my iPad. I think they are mainly the same sort of digitized old history books that I have been reading over the last year or so on Google Play books, but instead of getting a crick in my neck trying to read the whole book on my laptop through the bottoms of my bifocals, I can read them in the same position I would any other e-book on an e-reader – much easier on the neck! I'm going to take a closer look at the Canadian history titles later this week.

Check back this coming weekend for my next installment of NoteWorthy Reads, #26!

Building My Own Genealogical Library

photo via Pixabay.com

I spent the week finishing off a project I owed someone who helped me a great deal last year, and it’s done now, but it doesn’t make much of a blog post. I didn’t know what I was going to write about this week, so I went into procrastination mode and cleaned my apartment.

I discovered while I was straightening that I’m amassing a rather eclectic genealogy library. Some of the history timeline, historical mapping and geographical dictionary reference books I had before (I just like that sort of thing), but I used them a lot last year in writing 52 Ancestors posts, and/or reviewing the context of my ancestors lives to get an idea of where to search for more sources in which they might have been mentioned. I added to the stash last year by buying county specific Family Map Books for Lapeer and Sanilac county MI, by Gregory A. Boyd, which contain land patents, townships, cities and town, cemeteries, roads, and historical (before modern roads) maps.

Then there are the reference books I bought because I was unaware until recently how helpful genea-people and out-of-state librarians could be (and because I’m an introvert and tracking down and buying a non-circulating reference book was easier for me than picking up the phone and asking someone to copy some pages for me – I’m aware of how little sense that makes but it’s still true). Probably the most unique book I bought falls under this category. (I did try to get it through inter-library loan first; that’s how I know it is non-circulating.) So now I am the owner of the hard to find Amish and Amish Mennonite Genealogies, by Hugh F. Gingrich and Rachel W. Kreider. Published by the Pequea Bruderschaft Library in Gordonville, PA 17529 (the 2007 updated and corrected version). So if anyone needs a “look up”, my email address is in the “Contact Me” page.

The second most unique book is a CD version of the Dictionary of Scottish Immigrants to Canada before the Confederation, Volumes 1-4. Or perhaps, the Marriages of Puslinch Township, Wellington County, Ontario, compiled and transcribed by Marjorie Clark.

"Evolution of Reading" Shutterstock Image ID: 197751560; copyright to Spiber.de

Additionally, over the course of last year, I have gathered about 115 old (out of copyright) histories of counties, states, provinces, and certain religious or cultural groups in scanned in Google eBooks mostly from the 1800’s or early 1900’s. They are very helpful for understanding the context of my ancestors’ lives. Some of the books contain biographical sketches of original settlers and then-current residents; I found some of my ancestors in those!

I’ve also bought “how-to” books. how to research German genealogy (Baxter), Scottish genealogy (Durie & another by Clarke), and Loyalist ancestors (Bunnell) – the first two I definitely have, the last one I might have.

And then there are books I bought because they just sounded fascinating: The Scottish Pioneers of Upper Canada, 1784-1855 by Lucille Campey, Our Daily Bread: German Village Life, 1500-1850 by Teva J. Scheer, The Complete McPhatter Letters, collected by Matthew McPhatter and compiled by Anna Jackson, Authentic Letters From Upper Canada by T.W. McGrath (1833), The Passing Parade by Gordon Bennett (that’s a pen-name, he’s a grand-uncle) and A Walk Through Yesterday: Memoirs of Jessie L. Beattie by Jessie L. Beattie (I think we’re related somehow. Maybe not, but her grandfather arrived in pre-confederation Canada as a child on the same boat my 3rd great grandfather and his family did), etc. There are others but this is enough for one post.

Can you tell I love books?

via Pixabay.com