One of the primary reasons I’ve always wanted to and have written for Ancestry Publishing is that their books are always the creme de la creme of the genealogical publishing industry. Capably led and directed by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Jennifer Utley, the books they publish are always beautifully done and filled with quality content. There are four excellent new titles that you can rely upon to satisfy your genealogical reference needs. I am thrilled to have received copies to review and to share with you!

Finding Your Canadian Ancestors
Finding Your Canadian Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide is a brand new book written by Canadian genealogical experts Sherry Irvine and Dave Obee. Canada is a large and diverse country consisting of provinces and territories, and its history is equally as interesting and compelling. As a result, the records are divided between the provincial and territorial archives and the extraordinary Library and Archives Canada. Canadian confederation occurred in 1867, but your research has to consider the history, geography, and records created over the last 400+ years.

Sherry Irvine and Dave Obee have produced the most concise guide to Canadian genealogical research in decades! It addresses almost every type of major genealogical record type, complete with descriptions and guidance for locating the best content and avoiding research pitfalls. Carefully selected current biographical reference referrals are included, as are a host of the very best websites. I am already using this book as a reference for the online classes I teach about Canadian research. You, too, will find this the best new Canadian genealogical reference you’ve ever seen.

A Guide to Mormon Family History Sources
A Guide to Mormon Family History Sources is another new book, written by Kip Sperry. Kip is renowned as a professor at Brigham Young University and holds multiple degrees of genealogical accreditation, and is one of the best speakers on the circuit concerning Mormon/LDS topics. He is the author of a number of definitive research books concerning acronyms and paleography. His new book is a brilliant compendium related to research of one’s Mormon genealogical and historical sources. Before I read this exceptional book, I had no conception of the extraordinary resources that existed for the extant records of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members. While most genealogists are aware of the records of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and local Family History Centers, the sheer detail of LDS records is amazing—yet the volume of data should be no surprise as a result of the religious tenets.

Kip Sperry’s book is obviously a thorough academic work and a labor of love. For the first time ever, there is now a book devoted to LDS resource research, replete with addresses, websites, Kip’s signature acronyms, and the most extensive bibliography published in one place for Mormon researchers’ reference. Kip Sperry has, once again, written a brilliant and definitive book.

Your Swedish Roots
Your Swedish Roots, by Per Clemensson and Kjell Andersson, is another great step-by-step handbook for researching your Swedish ancestry. Published in 2004 by Ancestry Publishing, I gave this book to friends whose father and mother immigrated from Goteborg in 1921. The father continued his railroad work with the Chicago Short Line Railroad, and we learned a tremendous amount through the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board and from other U.S records. With the arrival of Ancestry.se, the Swedish geographical Ancestry site, I continued working for my friends and found even more information. As a non-Swedish researcher, Your Swedish Roots was a primary guide for me.

Working with my Swedish friends, the book Your Swedish Roots, and the Ancestry.se site, we have made significant process–tracing the family back to the late 1600s so far.

Finding Your Mexican Ancestors
Finding Your Mexican Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide, by George R. and Peggy Ryskamp, is undoubtedly one of the best new genealogical books published in America in 2007. With the influx of Mexican immigrants to this country, there is a huge demand for assistance in tracing one’s Mexican ancestry. George and Peggy Ryscamp are brilliant experts on the subject of Mexican, Caribbean, and Hispanic immigration. This book focuses on Mexican ancestry and reveals national and religious resources more than any other published resource to date. This is a “must-have” for every library serving Mexican and Hispanic populations. There are resource descriptions, directions, addresses of governmental and religious resources, and many websites that will help you find your family’s records.

Love for Reference Books
It’s obvious, I’m sure, that I am not only a rabid genealogist but I am also an addicted bibliophile. Libraries, books, journals, and manuscripts have always held a fascination for me. I must confess that my book library contains more than 3,000 books. Not all of them, of course, are genealogical titles. I guess I’m an addict to information. That’s just me–and I’ll bet I’m among kindred spirits here.

Happy hunting,
George G. Morgan

AWJ Editor’s Note: All four of these titles are currently on sale in the Ancestry Store for 20% off the retail price. See today’s product specials.

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George G. Morgan is the best-selling author of The Official Guide to Ancestry.com and How to Do Everything with Your Genealogy, both of which are available in the Ancestry Store. George and Drew Smith produce The Genealogy Guys Podcast each week. George is also now teaching online genealogical workshops for Pharos Tutors and for the Continuing Education Division of the University of South Florida in Tampa. Visit his company’s website at AhaSeminars.com to view his schedule of upcoming conference events.