Leave No Stone Unturned Blog

Your guide to genealogy-related gift ideas to add to your own holiday wish list!

This post contains affiliate links. You can read my full disclosure statement here.

Genealogical Reference Books

There are so many books to choose from, but these are my go-to books and I recommend them for anyone working on their genealogy.

In addition to these general resources, there are some topic-specific books that I also highly recommend. They include:

Genealogical & Historical Non-Reference Books

And then there are some fun reads, including:

Genealogical & Historical Fiction Books

Most genealogists love a good mystery book…these have a genealogical or historical twist:

You can find more history- and genealogy-related mysteries here (there are a bunch!).

Magazines

Some of my favorite genealogy magazines include:

  • Family Tree Magazine – A one-year subscription includes seven issues; available in print and electronic versions.
  • Your Genealogy Today – Formerly Family Chronicle, a one-year subscription includes six issues; available in print and electronic versions.
  • Internet Genealogy – A one-year subscription includes six issues; available in print and electronic versions.
  • History Magazine – A one-year subscription includes six issues; available in print and electronic versions.
  • American Spirit – A publication of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, this always has some great articles. You do NOT need to be a member of the DAR to subscribe.
Society Memberships

There are plenty of genealogical and historical societies out there at all levels: national, regional, state, and local. Two of the more popular national/regional societies are the National Genealogical Society and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Professional-related societies include the Association of Professional Genealogists and the American Historical Association. To find other societies, start with the listing provided at Cyndi’s List.

Software & Apps

These are the most popular genealogy database programs:

In addition, there are plenty of other genealogy-related software tools that might be of interest to you:

Want your family tree database on your mobile device? Here are a few apps you might want to try out:

  • Families (android, works with your Legacy Family Tree database file)
  • GEDFamilies (android, works with any GEDCOM file)

And don’t forget about photo-editing software to help you preserve your photo collection and documents. I personally use Photoshop because I also use several other Adobe products in the Creative Cloud. I’ve heard that Photoshop Elements is a cheaper alternative to Photoshop and still provides a wide range of capabilities suitable to the needs of genealogists.

A non-genealogy program that may be of interest to genealogists is Folder Marker. You could color code surname folders based on the color associated with your grandparents’ lines (blue for paternal grandfather, green for paternal grandmother, red for maternal grandfather, and yellow for maternal grandmother), or use it for projects, client work, and other things.

Subscription Websites
  • Ancestry.com – Lots of stuff! Records and indexes, variety of types covering many places. Make sure you specify if you want a US or World subscription.
  • Fold3 – Their focus is on military-related records. However, they also have a big collection of non-military records including city directories, newspapers, and censuses. You can get this with an All Access Ancestry subscription.
  • Newspapers.com – Lots of digitized newspapers from 1700s to 2000s. Upgrade for complete access. You can get this with an All Access Ancestry subscription (but would still need to upgrade for complete access).
  • GenealogyBank – Oodles of newspapers at your fingertips. This is my personal favorite website for newspaper research. They also have a Historical Documents collection, which has some rather interesting resources.
  • Findmypast – Major focus is on the UK and Ireland, however they are adding US record collections all the time. Of particular interest is their British and Irish newspaper collection.
  • MyHeritage – Good set of records “including the world’s largest collection of newspapers.”
Office Supplies

I love office supplies! I’m always finding new goodies that I find helpful for research. Here are a few that I really like to use.
Tools & Gadgets

There are many tools out there that come in handy for the genealogist. Here are a few of my favorites:

  • Kindle Fire – Now known as Fire tablets, there are many options to suit anyone’s need. As far as genealogy is concerned, here’s my story. I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas in 2011 and had no idea how much I would use it for genealogy. I went an entire week at the Family History Library with only the Fire, while my laptop stayed in the hotel room. It’s also great to have my genealogy database at my fingertips for those times when I’m at a family gathering and people start asking questions…quick, easy access, and they have their answer. You can read more about how I use my Kindle Fire for genealogy here. Not into the Kindle? Consider other tablets or the iPad.
  • Brother DS-640 Mobile Scanner – I’ve had this DS-600 version of this scanner for several years and I love it. The great thing about this mobile feed scanner is that you can scan legal pages in one scan. It’s also a great backup for when the Flip-Pal batteries are dead. Although I don’t have one, I hear a lot of people talk about hand-held “wand” scanners as another mobile scanner option.
  • CZUR Aura-B Book and Document Scanner – I recently saw a genealogist rave about this…it may go on my own wish list this year!
  • Luxor L340 Home Office Double Sided Magnetic White Board (48” x 36”) – Bought this in 2016 and LOVE it (read my post about it)! Wish I had room for two more!
  • Wolverine Titan 8-in-1 High Resolution Film to Digital Converter – An older version of this product has been on my own wish list for years—the new version does even more! It has a great rating and is exactly what I need to convert all of the film, slides, and negatives I have in my possession. Perhaps Santa will get it for me this year…
DNA Testing Kits

There are now five major players in the arena for genealogical autosomal DNA testing.

Education

There a several educational opportunities available to us. Why not add one of these opportunities to your list?

  • Genealogy In Action – Yes, a shameless plug 🙂 Right now I offer one course, as well as an annual subscription to the Genealogy Scavenger Hunt.
  • National Institute for Genealogical Studies – Tons of courses to choose from. You can even earn certificates in a variety of areas, including American Records and Professions Development.
  • National Genealogical Society Courses – NGS offers two types of “at-home” learning opportunities—American Genealogical Studies and Continuing Genealogical Studies.
  • Family Tree University – Has a variety of courses available in different formats: Online Courses, Independent Study Courses, and Webinars. FTU also holds virtual conferences throughout the year.
  • Legacy Family Tree Webinars – A subscription grants you access to tons of webinars covering all sorts of topics.
Jewelry

I love jewelry and family history, so why not combine them? There are plenty of jewelry items out there, many of them customizable to include the birthstones of children. But since I don’t have any children, I tend to gravitate to the one’s without the customizable stones. Here are some of my favorites:

T-Shirts & Sweatshirts

I have all sorts of genealogy-related T-shirts and sweatshirts. Here are some of my favorites.

Novelty Items

Anything with a genealogy touch always makes a great gift: T-shirts, mouse pads, notebooks, mugs, etc. These are the two places I go when I want to give myself a genealogy-related gift:

What about you? Do you have any suggestions? What are you asking for this holiday season? Leave a comment and let me know.

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