It's All Relative

A. J. Jacob’s latest, It’s All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World’s Family Tree  is a fun and easy read about genealogy and the notion of families in general. In it Jacobs (The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically) works on his own family tree, meditates on the nature of family, and plots to host the world’s largest family reunion culminating in the Global Family Reunion in June of 2015. It includes big topics—privacy, scandal, DNA and “non-paternal events,” tradition and tribalism, and embracing failure—all handled with humor and care. It made me laugh and groan, but it’s also very hopeful for our global family.