Books and Media: Book Reviews for expats

 

 


Introduction


Expat Book Reviews   South East Asia is a fascinating region which you should explore fully during your assignment. This section enlists a number of interesting books which may help you to extend your knowledge and entice you to travel literary beyond the ordinary - .

Bbooks can be ordered from Amazon.


We are proud to have Jo Parfitt join our team of editors to maintain the sections dedicated to books for expatriates. Amongst the many hats this famous author is wearing, she is also an editor of the UK's Telegraph's book section for expatriates.


Jo Parfitt runs Summertime, which specialises in helping make publishing and portable career dreams come true. Since 1987 she has lived and worked abroad in five countries and loves nothing more than sharing what she knows to help others to grow. Sign up for her free newsletter, The Inspirer, at www.summertimepublishing.com or www.career-in-your-suitcase.com.

If you want to suggest any book for your fellow expatriates to read, please write us an email.
To qualify for a review, books should either be of interest to expatriates or target expat needs in the fields featured in this section..



Expatriate Lifestyle


A Moveable Marriage: Relocate Your Relationship Without Breaking It
Robin Pascoe

A Moveable Marriage is the latest masterpiece from the Expatriate Press stable, and as usual, Pascoe does not mince words. A solid grounding in newspaper journalism has made the author unafraid of telling it how it is, even if at times some of her punches appear to be aimed below the belt. 
 Just as a relocating couple must write an inventory of all the physical possessions that will be shipped with them, so too must they inventorise their marriage.  They should take stock of its flexibility, its communication strategies and perhaps most important of all, the state of each partner’s self-esteem.
‘The better a woman feels about herself, the more likely it is she will feel confident and ready to live her entire life to its fullest, including her married life,’ writes Pascoe. When a family moves abroad, the balance shifts .....

Shanghai Books

Third Culture Kids


Third Culture Kids - Growing Up Among Worlds
Dave Pollock and Ruth Van Reken

This is an excellent book. It should be read by everyone who is living and working overseas, away from their home environment, especially those who have their children with them. Succinctly, with erudition, and with an easy-to-read style it examines and explains the problems experienced by a person who spends, or has spent, a significant part of his or her development years outside their parents' home culture. It contains much practical advice on how to deal with these problems. The term third culture was coined in the 1950s by Drs John and Ruth Useem, when they made a study of Americans who lived in India as foreign service officers, missionaries, technical aid workers, and business representatives. It was realised that there were expatriates from other countries who were undergoing similar experiences even though from different origins, styles and social stratification systems.

Read on >>>>

Shanghai Books

Business and Career in Asia


The Asian Insider, Unconventional Wisdom for Asian Business
by Backman, Michael


Rich in figures, facts and anecdotes, this book is part management guide and part travel narrative. Amongst some of the topics covered are: Asian business practices; the near-mythic Asian family connections; politicians; commercial tribes; business personalities; business characteristics in certain Southeast Asian countries. This revised edition contains a new chapter on China and another on corporate governance in Asia. With notes, bibliography and index.

Shanghai Books

Asian Culture and History


Westerners in China: A History of Exploration and Trade, Ancient Times through the Present
by Stockwell, Foster


The history of contact between China and the West goes back many centuries. Goods from China were being traded in Rome long before the birth of Christ. But not until the mid-15th century, when Marco Polo published his account of his travels, did China really capture the European imagination. Subsequent centuries saw missionary trips to China by Franciscans and Jesuits, a European craze for Chinese silk and porcelain, European visits to Tibet, the infamous Opium War between Britain and China, and further instances of contact, commerce, and conflict. This book traces the history of Western exploration in and trade with China. It follows the events outlined above and touches on many other highlights, including exploration by the Russian Nikolay Przhevalsky, who travelled deep into China and today is largely remembered for the horse he discovered and identified there; the travels of 19th-century women explorers in China; American Roy Chapman's discovery of the first fossilized dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert; and the competition between two American explorers to be the first to capture a live panda. Also included are a chronology of Chinese history and a pronunciation guide. Order



Shanghai Books

Asian Religion and Philosophy


Guide to Chinese Buddhism (Zhong Guo Fuo Jiao)

by Zheng, Lixin

This handy softback is a guide to the history, practices of Buddhism in China and includes colour photographs of sites, buildings and artefacts. The history of Buddhism and its scriptures is traced from its origins in India, followed by an overview of the "schools" of Buddhism and their spread to China. Temples, grottoes and holy mountains in China are located in the final chapter discusses the international linkages maintained by China's Buddhists. With chronology, who's who list, glossary reading list and index. Order



Shanghai Books