Three items of note:
Miss Benson's Beetle - book
The Hate U Give - movie
The Story of My DNA - book
Yesterday, the trial of Derek Chauvin announced a guilty verdict. It happened that Lynn's book club discussed the book "The Hate U Give". The discussion included a mention of the movie of that book starring Amandla Stenberg. It is impressive to me how much the movie matches what happened in the real life arrest of George Floyd, even though the book on which it is based was written several years ago. I think it is also impressive to see how smartphones mattered in helping the world understand what happened.
We have nearly finished with the book by Rachel Joyce "Miss Benson's Beetle". The story of two women going from London to the French islands of New Caledonia, 1200 miles west of the coast of Australia. Rachel Joyce repeats her masterful work in "The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry" in "Miss Benson's Beetle", although the stories are quite different. Harold walks to the post office and keeps on walking. Miss Benson has a longtime interest in possibly discovering a fabled beetle in the tropical land of New Caledonia. I totally recommend both books, read as an PhD in English reads novels, slowly, carefully and fully appreciating them and the feelings they evoke.
If you haven't had your DNA analyzed, do yourself a favor and have it done. Anywhere from $50 to $200 can get you information on your ancestors. https://fearfunandfiloz.blogspot.com/2015/12/dna-banking-and-analysis.html
We each bought a book from 23andMe about our DNA. Between the two of us, much of Europe, Asia and the American continents are represented. I admit that I am only European while the rest of us is carried by the female partner in this marriage.
"Information on your ancestors" can mean anything from Grandma's date of birth to the % of your DNA that comes from Neaderthals, 6% in my case. I read that checking the DNA of an English nobleman resulted in finding that he was not directly related to earlier holders of his title but that his butler was. Surprises and new ideas can result. Humans spread out from Africa but it took a long time and body and skin modifications along the way.
