Sometimes, life can be stranger than fiction. Join this monthly book club to discuss nonfiction titles. We will be meeting both in-person and online via Zoom. Register in advance to receive the Zoom meeting info to your email. Books will be available at the Circulation Desk one month prior to book club meeting.
This month, we will be reading and discussing The lost family: how DNA testing is upending who we are by Libby Copeland.
You swab your cheek or spit in a vial, then send it away to a lab somewhere. Weeks later you get a report that might tell you where your ancestors came from or if you carry certain genetic risks. Or, the report could reveal a long-buried family secret that upends your entire sense of identity. Soon a lark becomes an obsession, a relentless drive to find answers to questions at the core of your being, like "Who am I?" and "Where did I come from?" Welcome to the age of home genetic testing.In The Lost Family, journalist Libby Copeland investigates what happens when we embark on a vast social experiment with little understanding of the ramifications. She explores the culture of genealogy buffs, the science of DNA, and the business of companies like Ancestry and 23andMe, all while tracing the story of one woman, her unusual results, and a relentless methodical drive for answers that becomes a thoroughly modern genetic detective story. Gripping and masterfully told, The Lost Family is a spectacular book on a big, timely subject