1. Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America by Linda Lawrence Hunt (University of Idaho Press). In 1896, Helga Estby and her eldest daughter, Clara, rook up a $10,000 wager to walk unescorted from Spokane, Wash., to New York City. A Norwegian immigrant with eight children, Helga was desperate to save her family's property after the 1893 depression. With only $5 each, the mother and daughter braved snowstorms, hunger and wild animals to make the 3,500-mile trek. But when they reached their destination, they were denied the money. Almost as remarkable as Helga's story is the tale of how the author learned about Helga's historic walk — from a student's essay about his grandmother's journey. Tragically, Helga's family never realized the importance of her expedition and destroyed not only letters, but hundreds of pages of her journal! Bold Spirit serves as a good model for how to document a life when the paper trail no longer exists.

2. Killed Strangely: The Death of Rebecca Cornell by Elaine Formal) Crane (Cornell University Press). In 1673, Rebecca Cornell (ancestor of Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University) was found dead — badly burned near her bedroom fireplace. Although the coroner's report initially claimed that her death was an accident, the sinister events surrounding her death eventually came to light. This engrossing, well-documented narrative offers a view of Colonial life in Rhode island, and details some fascinating topics: domestic abuse, witchcraft, ghosts and matricide. The book is fully documented with sources familiar to genealogists.