Enter below for your chance to win this month’s featured genealogy book.
Genealogy is more than collecting names, dates, and places. The records we discover are clues that help us understand the people who came before us, but sometimes the biggest discoveries come when we slow down and ask better questions.
This month’s Ancestral Findings book giveaway features Ancestoring: Understanding Records, Family, and Ourselves by Darcie Posz.
After going through this book, I found it to be a valuable resource for genealogists who want to take a deeper look at their research. Ancestoring encourages researchers to move beyond simply finding records and begin thinking about what those records can truly tell us about our ancestors.
The book explores how documents, photographs, newspaper articles, family stories, and other sources can reveal more when we consider the reasons they were created and the people connected to them. Every record has a story behind it, and understanding its historical setting, creator, and the circumstances surrounding it can help us make better discoveries.
One of the important lessons in Ancestoring is learning to analyze evidence carefully. Genealogists often have to piece together information from many sources, and this book helps readers develop the habit of asking thoughtful questions rather than accepting the first answer they find.
The book is divided into three areas: Understanding Records, Understanding Family, and Understanding Ourselves.
The section on records helps researchers examine the evidence they find and consider what information may be missing or hidden. The section on family encourages genealogists to view their ancestors as real people who lived in their own time period and circumstances. The final section reminds us that our own experiences and assumptions can influence how we interpret the past.
For genealogists who enjoy solving problems, studying evidence, and discovering the people behind the documents, Ancestoring offers a fresh way to approach family history research. It encourages us to become better researchers by learning how to observe, question, and think more carefully about the clues our ancestors left behind.
About the Author
Darcie Posz is a professional genealogist, author, and researcher known for her thoughtful approach to genealogy and evidence analysis. She is a Board-Certified Genealogist and a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, an honor recognizing significant contributions to the field of genealogy.
Through her research, teaching, and writing, Darcie helps genealogists develop stronger research methods and think more deeply about the records they discover. Her work focuses on understanding the connection between evidence, historical context, and the people behind the documents.
In Ancestoring: Understanding Records, Family, and Ourselves, she shares her approach to genealogy and encourages researchers to look beyond the obvious answers and continue asking questions that lead to a better understanding of their ancestors.
Enter our free book giveaway for your chance to win a copy of Ancestoring: Understanding Records, Family, and Ourselves.
The giveaway ends September 1, 2026, at midnight.
Good luck, and keep discovering the stories hidden in your family history!
Want to start reading before the giveaway ends?
You can purchase a copy of the book here, even if you are not selected as the winner.
