luluread's review
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
annap5519's review
5.0
What a joy it was to follow along with the author on her quest for the history and insight on her incredible cousins. A short, enjoyable read. I loved it.
eileen_critchley's review
3.0
Some of this was interesting, and I think genealogy can be fascinating. Ultimately, for me, it's less interesting to learn about other people's families than it would be to learn about my own. As such, at times it was just a little on the boring side for me. It's more about the journey than the destination when it comes to researching our ancestors.
{library, audio}
{library, audio}
siria's review
2.0
The Almost Legendary Morris Sisters is billed as the author's attempt to find out the truth about four relatives of hers who were the subject of a lot of family lore: the four Morris sisters (there's a brother, but he scarcely gets a look in, in the lore or in the book) who went from a St. Louis orphanage in the early twentieth century to wealth, political connections, and affairs with millionaires in New York City. It starts off promisingly enough, and I looked forward to seeing Julie Klam tease out fact from fiction and use that process to explore questions of familial memory, but as the book progressed it became increasingly dull and irritating. Klam doesn't know much about how to conduct historical or genealogical research, and doesn't seem interested in picking up those skills along the way—but she does take a certain amount of pride in detailing just how slipshod her methodology is. She gives up after a day in a presidential archive when she doesn't immediately find a reference she's looking for, but flies to Romania for two weeks to look for... well, vibes?
Also did I mention she goes to a psychic? In earnest?
Like reading the research paper of a slacker student who thinks that surface enthusiasm and a superficially interesting idea is going to hide the fact that little thought and less work went into it.
Also did I mention she goes to a psychic? In earnest?
Like reading the research paper of a slacker student who thinks that surface enthusiasm and a superficially interesting idea is going to hide the fact that little thought and less work went into it.
c_sch's review
2.0
I’m active on ancestry.com, so I really appreciate that lots of research is mostly months of plodding, and often turns up dead ends. Significant discoveries are a rarity. That being said, Julie Klam’s research of the Morris sisters went exactly the same way. I was just hoping that she had cut out the myriad details of the dead ends and the rambling about her feelings about her family. It felt like too much filler to me.
rebekahcraft's review
3.0
An interesting look at researching family genealogy. The author includes these really strange asides that are meant to be funny/quirky, but were distracting to me.
I enjoyed looking at the process of an in-depth research project from the perspective of a non-librarian/archivist. I appreciated the desire for connection with her family history; I had a similar feeling of connection as I traced my family members back several generations.
I enjoyed looking at the process of an in-depth research project from the perspective of a non-librarian/archivist. I appreciated the desire for connection with her family history; I had a similar feeling of connection as I traced my family members back several generations.
editrix's review
4.0
This was great. It's not so much about the story she researched for the book as it is about the *process* of her researching the story for the book, but I wasn't bothered by that because it was put together so nicely and was smart and snappy. Klam is funny and self-deprecating in comfortable but not dopey ways, and I'll read more from her.
"Reader, do you know what microfilm is? If you're young and grew up never being without a cell phone, the internet, or social media, you may not have ever used microfilm or even heard of it. Back when I was in school and we used our feet to propel our school bus and Dad ran a dinosaur in the quarry, we used microfilm in our library. The microfilm reader looks like an old black-and-white TV. (Or if that's not a visual you're familiar with, an old desktop computer. And if that's not a visual you're familiar with, then just stop it right now!) At a library you would request a certain reference book, and the librarian would hand you a box and inside was a roll of film. But it's not moving images, it's micro images ("micro" was a word used to describe high-tech devices back in the twentieth century.) You thread the film into the machine, not unlike how I used to load film into 35 mm cameras in college (which I didn't do if I could help it even though I was a film major and it was a mandatory skill to learn.)"
"As a young kid, I was a so-so athlete (so, so terrible), and I did almost comically poorly in school ("I just don't understand how you can get a negative grade on an exam," my father once said). I wasn't conscious of the fact that other kids in sixth grade showed and washed their hair regularly until a girl in my class said fro Valentine's Day she was going to give me a heart-shaped bottle of Head & Shoulders. (She did not.) So while I was often oblivious to the world around me, I knew that secretly I was very special."
"When I was younger I told my brothers that when our parents eventually died, no one should tell me for as long as possible. Let me go on and pretend that they just were too busy to pick up the phone. Maybe even record a few messages to leave for me every now and again. I clearly feel as if what I don't know can't make me sad."
And so on. She seems fun.
"Reader, do you know what microfilm is? If you're young and grew up never being without a cell phone, the internet, or social media, you may not have ever used microfilm or even heard of it. Back when I was in school and we used our feet to propel our school bus and Dad ran a dinosaur in the quarry, we used microfilm in our library. The microfilm reader looks like an old black-and-white TV. (Or if that's not a visual you're familiar with, an old desktop computer. And if that's not a visual you're familiar with, then just stop it right now!) At a library you would request a certain reference book, and the librarian would hand you a box and inside was a roll of film. But it's not moving images, it's micro images ("micro" was a word used to describe high-tech devices back in the twentieth century.) You thread the film into the machine, not unlike how I used to load film into 35 mm cameras in college (which I didn't do if I could help it even though I was a film major and it was a mandatory skill to learn.)"
"As a young kid, I was a so-so athlete (so, so terrible), and I did almost comically poorly in school ("I just don't understand how you can get a negative grade on an exam," my father once said). I wasn't conscious of the fact that other kids in sixth grade showed and washed their hair regularly until a girl in my class said fro Valentine's Day she was going to give me a heart-shaped bottle of Head & Shoulders. (She did not.) So while I was often oblivious to the world around me, I knew that secretly I was very special."
"When I was younger I told my brothers that when our parents eventually died, no one should tell me for as long as possible. Let me go on and pretend that they just were too busy to pick up the phone. Maybe even record a few messages to leave for me every now and again. I clearly feel as if what I don't know can't make me sad."
And so on. She seems fun.
souriete's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
A nicely readable book about getting into genealogy. Her progress doing so, focusing on the relatively easier-to-research 1st half of the 20th century, demonstrates nicely the difficulties, frustrations and triumphs of genealogy. The family was fascinating.
willoughbychase's review
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.5
rjthefriendly's review
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0