Holiday Gifts for Expats and Global Citizens: x Great Books from 2017

Chad Creveling, CFA

Chad Creveling, CFA

Helping Expatriates Make Smart Financial Decisions

Published Dec viii, 2017

As you look for a vacation gift for your favorite expat or perhaps just for some interesting reading over the holidays, take a look through our annual list of highly rated books from 2017, especially selected with the expat reader in heed. All can be hands purchased on the internet, and while some are more serious, others are only for fun. For those expats who may live far away, all of these titles have a digital version available, which makes getting them to your friend or loved one that much easier.

  1. The Lost City of the Monkey God past Douglas Preston. Since the days of conqueror Hernán Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost metropolis of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, chosen the White City or the Lost Urban center of the Monkey God. … In 1940, swashbuckling announcer Theodore Morde returned from the rainforest with hundreds of artifacts and an electrifying story of having constitute the Lost City of the Monkey God—simply and so committed suicide without revealing its location. Three quarters of a century later, best-selling author Doug Preston joined a squad of scientists on a groundbreaking new quest. "Deadly snakes, flesh-eating parasites, and some of the well-nigh forbidding jungle terrain on earth were non enough to deter Douglas Preston from a great story." ―The Boston Globe
  2. World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech by Franklin Foer. Without pausing to consider the toll, the world has rushed to embrace the products and services of four titanic corporations. Nosotros shop with Amazon; socialize on Facebook; turn to Apple for entertainment; and rely on Google for information. … As these companies have expanded, marketing themselves every bit champions of individuality and pluralism, their algorithms have pressed the states into conformity and laid waste to privacy. ... At stake is zippo less than who we are, and what we volition become. "World Without Mind is a searing take, a polemic packed with urgency and desperation that, for all its erudition and eloquence, is not afraid to roll up its sleeves and make things personal." —NPR.org
  3. The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World by Maya Jasanoff. Migration, terrorism, the tensions between global capitalism and nationalism, and a communications revolution: these forces shaped Joseph Conrad's destiny at the dawn of the twentieth century. … In a compelling alloy of history, biography, and travelogue, Maya Jasanoff follows Conrad'south routes and the stories of his iv greatest works—The Secret Agent, Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness,andNostromo. Genre-bending, intellectually thrilling, and deeply humane,The Dawn Watch embarks on a spell-binding expedition into the night middle of Conrad's globe—and through it to our own. "Enlightening, empathetic, superb." —John Le Carré, writer
  4. Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides'south Trap? by Graham Allison. People's republic of china and the United States are heading toward a war neither wants. The reason is Thucydides's Trap, a mortiferous design of structural stress that results when a rising ability challenges a ruling one. … The eminent Harvard scholar Graham Allison explains why Thucydides's Trap is the all-time lens for agreement U.S.-China relations. … Through uncanny historical parallels and state of war scenarios, he shows how close we are to the unthinkable. … Allison also reveals … what painful steps the United states and China must have to avert disaster today. "I read the volume with smashing interest. I can only hope that the US-Red china relationship becomes the fifth case to resolve itself peacefully, rather than the 13th to event in war." —Henry Kissinger, former Usa Secretary of State
  5. Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser. Millions of readers ofLittle House on the Prairie believe they know Laura Ingalls―the pioneer girl who survived blizzards and virtually-starvation on the Swell Plains. … Merely the truthful saga of her life has never been fully told. … Wilder'south real life was harder and grittier. … Spanning about a century of epochal alter, from the Indian Wars to the Dust Bowl, Wilder'southward dramatic life provides a unique perspective on American history and our national mythology of self-reliance. "Engrossing … Exhilarating … Lovers of the series volition delight in learning well-nigh existent-life counterparts to archetype fictional episodes, just, every bit Fraser emphasizes, the true story was oft much harsher." —Publishers Weekly
  6. Secrecy Globe: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Aristocracy by Jake Bernstein. A hidden circulatory system flows beneath the surface of global finance, carrying trillions of dollars from drug trafficking, taxation evasion, bribery, and other illegal enterprises. … InSecrecy World, the Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter Jake Bernstein explores this shadow economy and how it evolved, drawing on millions of leaked documents from the files of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca. Bernstein traveled to the Caribbean area, Latin America, Europe, and inside the United States to uncover how these strands fit together.Secrecy Earth offers a disturbing and sobering view of how the world really works and raises critical questions about financial and legal institutions nosotros may once have trusted. "Bernstein does first-rate piece of work in providing a map to a scandal that has yet to unfold completely." ―Kirkus Reviews
  7. The Hereafter Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia past Masha Gessen. "Ambitious, timely, insightful and unsparing … Past far Gessen's all-time book, a sweeping intellectual history of Russian federation over the by four decades, told through a Tolstoyan gallery of characters. … What makes the volume so worthwhile … are its keen observations about Russia from the point of view of those experiencing its render to a heavy-handed land. Information technology helps that Gessen is a participant, and not but an observer, able to translate that world adeptly for Western readers. … You feel right there on the streets." —Washington Mail
  8. Striking Makers: The Scientific discipline of Popularity in an Age of Lark by Derek Thompson. Nix "goes viral." If yous think a popular pic, vocal, or app came out of nowhere to become a word-of-mouth success in today'due south crowded media surround, y'all're missing the real story. … Shattering the sentimental myths of striking-making that dominate pop culture and business concern, Thompson shows quality is bereft for success, nobody has "expert gustation," and some of the most popular products in history were ane bad break away from utter failure. It may be a new world, but there are some indelible truths to what audiences and consumers want. "Superb." —Fareed Zakaria,Book of the Week selection
  9. Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Virtually Wanted Human on Wall Street past Sheelah Kolhatkar. The story of the billionaire trader Steven A. Cohen, the ascension and fall of his hedge fund, SAC Capital, and the largest insider trading investigation in history—for readers ofThe Big Curt, Den of Thieves, andDark Coin and fans of Start'sBillions. …Blackness Edge offers a revelatory look at the grayness zone in which so much of Wall Street functions, and a window into the transformation of the U.S. economy. Information technology's a riveting, truthful-life legal thriller that takes readers within the government's pursuit of Cohen and his employees, and raises urgent questions well-nigh the ability and wealth of those who sit at the pinnacle of modern Wall Street. "A richly reported, entertaining tale about the cat-and-mouse game between the government and Cohen."—Andrew Ross Sorkin, The New York Times Book Review
  10. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson. What is the nature of space and fourth dimension? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within united states? In that location's no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and all-time-selling writer Neil deGrasse Tyson. …Astrophysics for People in a Hurry will reveal only what y'all need to be fluent and fix for the next cosmic headlines: from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics, and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe. "With wry humor, keen vision, and abundant humanity, Neil deGrasse Tyson distills the large questions of space, fourth dimension, and reality into brusque, insightful chapters you can enjoy with your morning coffee." —Discover

About Creveling & Creveling Private Wealth Advisory

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 cutting through the financial intricacies of expat life, make ameliorate decisions with their money, and take the steps necessary to provide a more than secure time to come.

Copyright © 2017 Creveling & Creveling Individual Wealth Informational, All rights reserved. The articles and writings are not recommendations or solicitations, and invitee manufactures express the opinion of the author; which may or may not reflect the views of Creveling & Creveling.