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Journalist and author AJ Jacobs revealed the cover for his forthcoming book, It’s All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World’s Family Tree. We’ve embedded the full image above—what do you think?

During the research process for this book, Jacobs has tracked down several famous “cousins” including former President George H. W. Bush, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, and Harry Potter movie series actor Daniel Radcliffe. To learn more about this project, check out Jacobs’ TED talk.

At Slate, Ariel Bogle recaps a discussion I had last week with AJ Jacobs, Wilhelmina Rhodes-Kelly, and Chris Whitten on how technology is affecting the family tree. I talked a little bit about what drew me to research my ancestry in the first place.

Although technology is changing the way we discover our personal histories, the reasons why people may begin to investigate in the first place have stayed the same. Curiosity, of course, but also a sense of history. Maud Newton told the audience how her interest in her family tree was sparked by the improbable stories her mother told about their predecessors. But the importance of ancestry cut very close for Newton. “I myself was basically a eugenics project,” she said. “My parents married because they thought they would have smart children together, not because they loved each other.” Her father was particularly obsessed with the idea of purity of blood, she added. “Someone suggested to me that there might be something [my father] was hiding, and then I got really interested.”

We had lots of fun; I don’t think any of us were ready for the panel to end when it did, and how often can you say that? The audio is below Bogle’s summary, if you’d like to listen.

In related reading: at Tin House, my series of brief but wide-ranging interviews with authors about ancestry is ongoing. Guests so far are Laila Lalami, Celeste Ng, Saeed Jones, and Christopher Beha. And at The Begats, I’ve written in the last few months about Alexander Chee’s jokbo (gorgeous books recording his family history back to the Joseon Dynasty, which began in 1392), ancestor worship in the Old Testament, and some disappointing (but not too surprising) discoveries about my self-given namesake, Maude Newton Simmons, among other things.

The stark and stunning image above is a grave map — taken from Alex’s jokbo — for one of his ancestors.

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible AJ Jacobs

AJ Jacobs is "Jewish in the same way the Olive Garden is an Italian restaurant. Which is to say: not very." He sets out to explore the Bible in the only way he can-- by trying to live it as literally as possible for a year. He has a stack of different translations and versions, and several spiritual advisers from all faiths to call on with questions. He looks at the rules, how they're followed or not, and tries to follow them as literally as possible. He finds an adulterer in Central Park and tosses a pebble at him. He grows his beard. He takes a piece of string and ties a print out of the 10 Commandments to his forehead every morning. (He does at one point have someone over to show him how to wrap Tefflin, the traditional way that orthodox Jews follow Deuteromony 6:8 "Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.") He carries around a handi-seat so he won't accidentally sit anywhere a menstruating woman has sat (which ties in well with his germophobia.) His wife, in revenge, sits on every flat surface in their apartment one month. He wonders about how much trouble he'll be in with his landlord for painting his doorposts with lamb's blood (and does it when his son, who has developed a liking for drawing on walls, can't see him.)He visits different houses of worship, and goes to Israel to visit with the Samaritans and herds some sheep.

It's a fascinating look at the role religion plays in people's lives, especially those who are Orthodox in their faith. It's a hilarious tale of trying to live an old school life in modern New York. He struggles with lustful thoughts and tries to censor everything, including the Land O'Lakes girl in his apartment to make things easier. Then his bosses at Esquire assign him all the interviews with starlets, just to mess with him. He starts wearing all white in a city that dresses in black.

But, through the humor it's striking in how much the experience changes him. It doesn't necessarily make him a believer, but does make him more thoughtful about how he lives his life and how he interacts with other people. His insights as he tries to wrap his head around these rules, people who live their life by these rules, and how many religions spring out of various interpretations of them, are honest and sometimes profound.

Extremely readable and enjoyable, but will also change the way you look at religion and the role it plays in your life, and lives of others.

Book Provided by... my friend Kathleen, who loaned it to me.

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