Dozens of Cousins - Lois Horowitz

I ordered this book specifically to understand the definition of genealogical terminology.  Did you know the difference between second cousins and first cousins, once removed?  Well, the answer was in the this book.

First, second, third cousins, etc. share the same set of grandparents or great-grandparents, etc.

So, first cousins have the same set of grandparents, that is, their parents are siblings.
Second cousins have the same set of great-grandparents; their parents are first cousins, and so on.

"Removed" cousins refer to cousins from different generations.
So, my first cousin's children are *my* first cousins, once removed.  My first cousin's granchildren are my first cousins, twice removed.

The book goes into greater detail and has useful diagrams to understand these relationships. I'll keep it with my genealogical references.

Published:  1999  Read: November 2013  Genre: Reference, non-fiction

The Dante Club - Matthew Pearl

This novel is a murder mystery solved by the members of the Dante Club; Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell and J T Fields.  The author weaves the attitudes and writings of these poets and publisher with the story from Dante's Inferno.  It makes for an engrossing tale, where I learned history, poetry, and even a little biology.  I enjoyed the way the story exposes the reader to Dante's writings.  The slices of late 1800 Boston history were interesting too.  I didn't solve the mystery until the very end.  A good read.

Published: 2004  Read: November 2013  Genre: Mystery