Holiday Gifts for Expats and Global Citizens: 10 Great Books from 2019
As you look for a holiday gift for your favorite expat or perhaps just for some interesting reading over the holidays, have a look through our annual list of highly rated books, especially selected with the expat reader in mind. All can be easily purchased on the internet, and while some are more serious, others are just for fun. For those expats who may live far away, most of these titles have digital and audio versions available, which makes getting them to your friend or loved one that much easier.
- 1,000 Places to See Before You Die (Deluxe Edition): The World as You've Never Seen It Before by Patricia Schultz. Whether you prefer to experience the world from the comfort of your home or travel so frequently that collecting airline points is a personal passion, you will lose yourself in the lush beauty of these pages. Schultz chose each image specifically to express what it’s like to experience each place, whether hiking along the man-made irrigation channels on the volcanic island of Madeira, relaxing on Mykonos’s Paradise Beach in Greece, or climbing the steep winding track to the “Tiger’s Nest” in Bhutan. “There are surprises galore, fresh finds, plenty of ‘aha’ discoveries. This book will be a popular holiday gift choice for both intrepid adventurers and armchair travelers—and nearly every vacationer in between.” —Forbes
- The Levelling: What's Next After Globalisation by Michael O'Sullivan. The world is at a turning point similar to the fall of communism. Then, many focused on the collapse itself, and failed to see that a bigger trend, globalization, was about to take hold….But rather than a world that is flat, what has emerged is one of jagged peaks and rough, deep valleys characterized by wealth inequality, indebtedness, political recession, and imbalances across the world's economies. "Michael O'Sullivan chronicles a 'world turned upside down' in this fascinating new book detailing the twenty-first century's seismic shifts in technology, the global economy, and the balance of power." —Nicholas Burns, professor, Harvard University, and former U.S. Under Secretary of State
- Extreme Economies: Survival, Failure, Future—Lessons from the World’s Limits by Richard Davies. In his quest for a purer view of how economies succeed and fail, Richard Davies takes the reader off the beaten path to places where part of the economy has been repressed, removed, destroyed or turbocharged. By travelling to each of them and discovering what life is really like, Extreme Economies tells small stories that shed light on today’s biggest economic questions, with vital lessons for our future. "Davies visits economies pushed to the limit and examines what their response teaches us about resilience in the face of climate change, demographic shifts and state failure." —Financial Times
- The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli. Time is a mystery that does not cease to puzzle us. Philosophers, artists and poets have long explored its meaning while scientists have found that its structure is different from the simple intuition we have of it. From Boltzmann to quantum theory, from Einstein to loop quantum gravity, our understanding of time has been undergoing radical transformations. Time flows at a different speed in different places, the past and the future differ far less than we might think, and the very notion of the present evaporates in the vast universe. “Modern physics has found its poet. A captivating, fascinating, profoundly beautiful book. . . Rovelli is a wonderfully humane, gentle and witty guide for he is as much philosopher and poet as he is a scientist. —Irish Times
- The End Is Always Near: Apocalyptic Moments, from the Bronze Age Collapse to Nuclear Near Misses by Dan Carlin. Combining his trademark mix of storytelling, history and weirdness, Dan Carlin connects the past and future in fascinating and colorful ways. At the same time, the questions he asks us to consider involve the most important issue imaginable: human survival. From the collapse of the Bronze Age to the challenges of the nuclear era, the issue has hung over humanity like a persistent Sword of Damocles. “Carlin puts the ‘hardcore’ in Hardcore History by focusing his narratives on the most violent and dramatic moments in human history, filling his show with colorful anecdotes that were most likely left out of your high school history class.” —Time
- Beautiful Boards: 50 Amazing Snack Boards for Any Occasion by Maegan Brown. Visually exciting and deliciously enticing, The BakerMama's snack boards move beyond (and include) classic cheese and charcuterie and comprise easy-to-find fresh and prepared foods, arranged in beautiful, artful, and whimsical ways. … Plus, you can make the boards ahead of time, so you can actually sit down and spend time with your loved ones. In this book, you will find boards for anytime, entertaining and special occasions, seasons and holidays, breakfast and brunch, meals, and desserts. “Of all the books on boards for all occasions, this is it!!” —Kindle Customer
- Our Wild Calling: How Connecting with Animals Can Transform Our Lives―and Save Theirs by Richard Louv. Louv’s landmark book, Last Child in the Woods, inspired an international movement to connect children and nature. Now Louv redefines the future of human-animal coexistence. Our Wild Calling explores these powerful and mysterious bonds and how they can transform our mental, physical, and spiritual lives, serve as an antidote to the growing epidemic of human loneliness, and help us tap into the empathy required to preserve life on Earth. “Louv writes of our need for immersion in nature and of how our interactions with animals can help us to save not only ourselves, but also the planet. In lyrical, sometimes mystical prose, he challenges our assumptions about how we relate to other species.” —Booklist, starred review
- Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know by Malcolm Gladwell. How did Fidel Castro fool the CIA for a generation? Why did Neville Chamberlain think he could trust Adolf Hitler? Why are campus sexual assaults on the rise? Do television sitcoms teach us something about the way we relate to each other that isn't true? Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know. And because we don't know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world. "Talking to Strangers is a must-read...I love this book...Reading it will actually change not just how you see strangers, but how you look at yourself, the news—the world...Reading this book changed me." ―Oprah Winfrey, O, The Oprah Magazine
- One Day at Disney: Meet the People Who Make the Magic Across the Globe by Bruce Steele, Bob Iger (Foreword). Discover what it's like to report to work every day for The Walt Disney Company. On a Thursday in 2019, a small army of photographers and videographers scattered across the globe to capture what goes on beyond those tantalizing "Cast Members Only" doors ... All the photos in this book were taken on that single Thursday, beginning early in Tokyo and following the sun around the world through Shanghai, Hong Kong, Paris, Madrid, the Bahamas, Costa Rica, and dozens of places throughout the United States. More than 40 hours after it began, the day ended as the sun set on the Aulani resort in Hawaii. As any Cast Member can tell you, a Disney job is less a destination than a limitless journey. And for just One Day at Disney, we can all tag along for the ride.
- The Body: A Guide for Occupants by Bill Bryson. As addictive as it is comprehensive, this is Bryson at his very best, a must-read owner's manual for everybody. Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body—how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Bryson-esque anecdotes, The Body will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular. "Glorious....Draws on dozens of experts and a couple hundred books to carry the reader from outside to inside, from up to down and from miraculous operational efficiencies to malignant mayhem when things go awry. . .You will marvel at the brilliance and vast weirdness of your design." —The Washington Post
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Creveling & Creveling is a private wealth advisory firm specializing in helping expatriates living in Thailand and throughout Southeast Asia build and preserve their wealth. The firm is a Registered Investment Adviser with the U.S. SEC and is licensed and regulated by the Thai SEC. Through a unique, integrated consulting approach, Creveling & Creveling is dedicated to helping clients cut through the financial intricacies of expat life, make better decisions with their money, and take the steps necessary to provide a more secure future.
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