Bedlam South is written by Mark Grisham and David Donaldson. Since I love history and heard this had a Civil War background, I was excited about reading this novel. While the Civil War is the background for this novel, you are also engrossed in a suspenseful, exciting set of characters.

I was following up on family history research that I had no previous leads on. It had been a while since I had worked on this line in depth, and I started to see mistakes I had made in my earlier research endeavors. I want to share some of those mistakes with you, so you will learn from my errors.

Guest Author, Elyse Doerflinger, has written a wonderful blog on backing up your computer files. There are things that we can do to prevent this from being a complete loss of work. With permission, I would like to share with you Elyse’s article on “Backing Up Your Genelaogy Data.”

The holiday season is over, it is time to start preparing and thinking about getting ready for your Family Reunion. Whether you are in charge of the event or just a family member in attendance, there are genealogical steps you can take in order to take full advantage of the family all in one place.

The Geneabloggers have come up with their 2010 theme thanks to Amy Coffin. For those who have time in their schedules to blog, this weekly suggestion gives them something to write about.I have enjoyed participating in last year’s blogging and Week 1 of this year. Here is Week 3's blog.

Genealogical Societies have noticed a decline in their membership with the economy having most of us tightening our financial belts. Those in leadership positions are questioning what they can do to promote their membership and make others feel their monies are well spent in joining their Society.

Patricia Neely-Dorsey has written a beautiful book of Southern poetry, "Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia". Perfect for anyone who lives in the South or has any connections there; her poetry brings life to the Southern way. This book of poetry would make a wonderful gift idea!

Here are some wonderful genealogical events you might want to consider for the upcoming year. The friends and networking opportunities, along with the knowledge you will gain, will well be worth the financial commitment.

Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings has posted his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post for us to think of our Genealogy Wish List. This one got my attention because I can think of several databases I wish were online (especially if offered for FREE).

Many of us are writing our Genea-lists out for the upcoming year. Educational opportunities will be somewhere on that list for most of us. I want to suggest a genealogy educational idea to add to your list.