We are pleased to present this year’s collection of new books by members of the Foreign Service community.

The Foreign Service Journal is pleased to present our 23rd annual Foreign Service authors roundup. With “In Their Own Write,” we celebrate the wealth of literary talent within the Foreign Service community and give our readers the opportunity to support their storytelling colleagues.

Many of these titles, in particular the memoirs, are excellent resources for anyone contemplating a career in international affairs. And the list comes to you in time for your holiday shopping.

Each entry contains full publication details along with a brief commentary sent to us by the author. All listed prices are for the paperback edition unless there is only a hardcover edition; and where an e-book is available that is noted.

This year our list of books written, edited, or translated by Foreign Service personnel and their family members stands at 65. The list is not a definitive record of works by FS authors. As always, we rely on the authors themselves to bring their books to our attention. If your recent book is not listed here, please let us know, and we can add it to next year’s collection. We accept submissions for the November FSJ all year—for more information, email journal@afsa.org.

Note that we can feature only one book by each author. For inclusion, books must be available for purchase, and we use publisher list prices as of press time in late October. Also note: Inclusion of a book in this collection does not imply endorsement by AFSA or the FSJ. AFSA welcomes the opportunity to share the news of books published by members of the FS community but does not vouch for the contents of the books.

This year, in addition to seven works of history or biography and eight books on policy and issues, we have 12 memoirs, 24 works of fiction (including eight for children and young adults), six guidebooks and self-help, and two volumes of poetry. We also include a “Grab Bag” section of essay collections, academic books, cookbooks, and others that didn’t quite fit any of our standard categories.

As always, we also offer a selection of recent books “of related interest” to diplomats and their families that were not written by FS authors.

It takes a village to put this collection together. This year, it was assembled by Publications Coordinator and Content Strategist Hannah Harari. ITOW blurbs were written by Deputy Editor Donna Gorman and ORI blurbs by former FSJ Editor in Chief Steve Honley.

—The FSJ Team

MEMOIRS

Another Brazil Heard From: Voices and Insights from the Brazilian Countryside

Susan K. Brems and Fred G. Brems, Olympia Publishers, 2024, $20.99/paperback, e-book available, 292 pages.

Susan and Fred Brems lived in the state of Ceará in northeast Brazil for 17 months, when Susan was posted there as an FSO with USAID from 1989 to 1990. This book is a compilation of letters the couple penned describing their life and work in this little-known enclave, where she was a researcher on fertility and health among rural women and he was a high school teacher.

The letters shine a light on the socioeconomic and political landscape of Brazil in the early 1990s, the everyday lives and struggles of the people who lived and worked there, and the couple’s own experiences as residents of such a community. The stark differences between northeast Brazilian and American cultures are illustrated with deference, humor, and self-reflection.

Susan Brems is a retired USAID Senior Foreign Service officer. During her 25-year career, she served in Lima, La Paz, Managua, Luanda, Lusaka, Manila, and Washington, D.C. Her husband, Fred Brems, is an educator, researcher, and photographer. After retiring in 2017, the couple moved to Durham, North Carolina.

An American Tune: A Memoir

J. Michael Cleverley, independently published, 2024, $26.99/paperback, print only, 274 pages.

An American Tune tells the story of retired Senior Foreign Service Officer J. Michael Cleverley’s nearly 30 years living and working in Europe and Africa, focusing on his assignments as deputy chief of mission in Helsinki, Athens, and Rome. The memoir offers an insider’s view of critical conjunctures in the years following World War II. Much has changed since those decades—but perhaps not so much as one would think. Many of the issues the Foreign Service wrestled with then, both internally and diplomatically, remain.

J. Michael Cleverley served in Rome, Athens, Helsinki, Pretoria, London, and Milan. He holds master’s degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School and Brigham Young University and is a graduate of the National War College.

An earlier book by Cleverley, Born a Soldier (2008), was a bestseller in Finland and Sweden, and was runner-up for the Next Generation Indie Book Award in both the history and biography categories.

Behind the White House Curtain: A Senior Journalist’s Story of Covering the President—and Why It Matters

Steven L. Herman, Kent State University Press, 2024, $29.95/hardcover, e-book available, 248 pages.

Author Steven Herman combines memoir and history to pull back the curtain on the inner workings of the White House press corps, giving readers a rare glimpse into the historical and current relationship between the president and the press. He reflects on the experience of reporting on a president who once called journalists “enemies of the people”—and indeed, former President Trump singled out Voice of America (VOA), accusing the organization of being not a voice of America but rather a voice supporting Moscow’s and Beijing’s interests.

Under questionable circumstances, top VOA executives lost their security clearances, and a dossier was prepared on Herman in an effort to remove him as White House bureau chief. Herman convincingly argues that public access to accurate, unbiased information is essential to a healthy and peaceful democracy, and that journalists can and should play a key role in pressing government officials to be truthful and transparent.

Steven Herman is an active-duty Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Agency for Global Media and is VOA’s chief national correspondent. He also served on the AFSA Governing Board for eight years, stepping down in October 2024. For a more detailed review of his book, see the June 2024 Foreign Service Journal.

Passports and Parasites: An Extraordinary Journey of Adventure, Resilience, and Healing

Vashti Kanahele, independently published, 2023, $16.99/paperback, e-book available, 390 pages.

This memoir from Diplomatic Security spouse Vashti Kanahele is full of adventure, travel, and raw, unfiltered moments from 15 years spent living overseas. From war-torn Baghdad to the sunny Caribbean and multiple countries in between, Kanahele shares details from an adventurous life she never foresaw herself living. She writes about struggles familiar to FS spouses, like the need to reinvent herself with every move, and more personal struggles with infertility, Lyme disease, and Hashimoto’s disease, sharing how she has been able to live with and overcome complex chronic illnesses while serving overseas.

Vashti Kanahele is the spouse of Kraig Kanahele, who joined Diplomatic Security in 2002, and has been posted to Baghdad; Beirut; Phnom Penh; Dallas, Texas; Lagos; Willemstad; and Washington, D.C. They plan to move to Cairo in July 2025.

Episodes from a Foreign Service Career: Africa, Democracy and Public Diplomacy

Robert LaGamma, Palmetto Publishing, 2024, $15.99/paperback, print only, 348 pages.

In Episodes from a Foreign Service Career, author Robert LaGamma invites readers into his life as a U.S. diplomat. In a career that spanned more than three decades, LaGamma served in nine African nations and Italy, culminating in his tenure in South Africa during Nelson Mandela’s first year as president of that country. He writes about the intricacies of diplomatic negotiations and the challenges of advocating for democracy in nations grappling with change.

LaGamma also writes about his post-retirement work leading missions for the National Democratic Institute in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Carter Center in Nigeria. He was also director of the Council for the Community of Democracies.

Robert LaGamma is a retired Foreign Service officer who joined the United States Information Agency (USIA) in 1963 and served in Zimbabwe, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger, Côte d’Ivoire, Togo, Senegal, Nigeria, and South Africa. LaGamma is a past recipient of the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy. He lives in Reston, Virginia.

Heshima: Les dix rocs du respect

Laurent Lubulu, L’Harmattan, 2024, $23.60/paperback, print only, 222 pages.

In this French-language memoir, Foreign Service spouse Laurent Lubulu argues that respect is the cornerstone of all virtues. Through colorful anecdotes from his own life in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, France, and many other places, the author shares his understanding of respect—defined here as dignity, tolerance, gratitude, and compassion—which he learned from his mother’s culture. In the epilogue, Lubulu calls for women’s power as a way to improve the future of humankind.

Laurent Lubulu is currently posted in Abuja with his spouse, Office Management Specialist Tammy Lubulu. They have previously served in Mali, Benin, Djibouti, Bahrain, Eritrea, and Senegal.

Queer Diplomacy: A Transgender Journey in the Foreign Service

Robyn McCutcheon, Westphalia Press, 2024, $16.25/paperback, e-book available, 338 pages.

Robyn McCutcheon was the first Foreign Service officer to transition gender while posted overseas, and Queer Diplomacy is the only book out there that tells the story of what it’s like to be transgender in the Foreign Service. McCutcheon writes about the experience of being both a diplomat and gender nonconforming.

How does being a diplomat affect the personal life of someone who is gender nonconforming? How does a gender nonconforming person represent the U.S. government in the countries where they are posted? Is a gender nonconforming person able to influence U.S. policy in ways that a cisgender person cannot? McCutcheon addresses these questions while relating her own experience.

During 15 years in the Foreign Service, Robyn McCutcheon was posted to Moscow, Bucharest, Tashkent, Astana, and Washington, D.C. She retired in 2019.

From the Arctic Circle to Zambia and Exotic Places In-Between: Memoirs of a Foreign Service Spouse Who Is Also a Birdwatcher!

Janet Peterson, BookBaby, 2023, $19.99/paperback, print only, 400 pages.

This memoir by Janet Peterson chronicles her family’s daily life, adventures, and misadventures after her spouse, Jon Peterson, joined the Foreign Service midcareer as an information management specialist.

While adapting to new living arrangements, Janet observes the local flora and fauna (especially birds—her passion), which leads to a deeper understanding of the cultural differences in each country they are assigned to.

Janet Peterson was posted with her spouse, Jon, who joined the Foreign Service in 2001, to Yaoundé, Bern, San José, Lusaka, and Oslo. Upon his retirement in 2019, they moved to Delaware, where they are in the process of restoring a Victorian house.

Classes of Travel: Things I Learned and Taught Along the Way

Edward August Schack, BookBaby, 2024, $28.22/paperback, e-book available, 492 pages.

Edward August Schack has worn many hats overseas. He wrote this memoir about the years he spent working in 36 countries as a Peace Corps volunteer, English teacher, U.S. Customs inspector, State Department employee, and Foreign Service spouse—specifically the challenges he and his wife, retired FSO Mary Pauline Stickles, faced. They not only juggled dual professional careers but also explored the world as a family, ensuring that their three children received good educations.

Edward August Schack and his spouse were posted in Bangkok, Yerevan, Kabul, Zagreb, and Washington, D.C. He retired from his job as a management inspector for the Office of the Inspector General in 2017 but continues to work part-time as a receptionist at the State Department. The couple lives in Wheaton, Maryland.

Marielo: A Foreign Service Life in Diary and Letters

M. Wesley “Wes” Shoemaker, Dorrance Publishing Co., 2023, $62.00/paperback, e-book available, 912 pages.

Former Foreign Service Officer Wesley “Wes” Shoemaker was married to fellow FSO Mary Shoemaker for 51 years. After Mary’s death in 2013, Wes began the process of turning her personal writings into Marielo: A Foreign Service Life in Diary and Letters.

Containing a total of 191 letters—116 of which were written to Wes—Marielo chronicles Mary’s life as a Foreign Service officer who was forced to resign her position when she married a fellow FSO in 1962 due to a department policy barring married women from overseas posts. She rejoined the Service in 1974, when the State Department revised its policy on married women as Foreign Service officers.

Mary and Wes communicated through the slowly dying medium of letter writing, which provided a lifeline that held their marriage together through the months and years when they were separated by their work.

M. Wesley Shoemaker is a former Foreign Service officer who resigned to enter a doctoral program in Russian history at Syracuse University and went on to teach at Lynchburg College.

Diplomats at War: Friendship and Betrayal on the Brink of the Vietnam Conflict

Charles Trueheart, University of Virginia Press, 2024, $34.95/hardcover, e-book available, 368 pages.

Journalist Charles Trueheart was born into a Foreign Service family: His dad, William Trueheart, was deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Saigon from 1961 to 1963, as the conflict in Vietnam was heating up. A close family friend, the author’s godfather, Frederick “Fritz” Nolting, served as the ambassador then. Diplomats at War is the young Trueheart’s account of how the conflict in Vietnam destroyed the close relationship between his dad and the ambassador, who never spoke again after a fallout over policy turned personal. The book is also fascinating for its portrayal of life as an FS kid in prewar Saigon.

“The author paints a fascinating portrait of the interagency process,” says Ambassador Laura Kennedy in a forthcoming FSJ review of the book. “He describes the diplomatic dilemmas that we continue to grapple with today: the diplomatic establishment seeking to assert its authority over an increasingly dominant military, the relationship of State and the CIA, journalists who not only report but shape political and popular attitudes, the embrace of ‘strong men’ whose proclivities can end up undercutting the policies we pursue.”

Charles Trueheart is a former reporter and Paris bureau chief for The Washington Post and a past director of the American Library in Paris. Trueheart grew up in Paris, Ankara, London, and Saigon. Diplomats at War is the winner of the American Academy of Diplomacy’s 2024 Dillon Book Award for a Book of Distinction on the Practice of American Diplomacy.

Diplomats at War is the winner of the American Academy of Diplomacy’s 2024 Dillon Book Award for a Book of Distinction on the Practice of American Diplomacy.

A Jew in Gaza: Humanitarian Heartbreak, Hubris and Horrors

Allan J. “Alonzo” Wind, Enable & Ennoble, 2024, $19.99/paperback, e-book available, 242 pages.

This is the story of how A.J. “Alonzo” Wind, a retired Foreign Service officer and international development executive, became mission director for International Medical Corps in the occupied Palestinian territories and lived in Gaza and East Jerusalem from 2022 to 2023. It offers a view into Gaza few have had.

As an American Jew, a Baha’i, and a humanitarian, Wind lived through interminable conflicts between Israel and Gaza. He writes of the two years he spent in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, including and beyond the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the current war between Israel and Hamas. Wind explains how his organization struggled to provide humanitarian assistance in the face of conflict and danger to innocent civilians.

Alonzo Wind is a retired USAID Senior Foreign Service officer. From 1999 to 2019, he served in Managua, Luanda, Abuja, Baghdad (twice), Kandahar, Pretoria, and Washington, D.C.

HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY

When Harry Met Pablo: Truman, Picasso, and the Cold War Politics of Modern Art

Matthew Algeo, Chicago Review Press, 2023, $28.99/hardcover, e-book available, 256 pages.

In the summer of 1958, former U.S. President Harry Truman and Pablo Picasso spent a day together sightseeing in the south of France, a meeting arranged by the founding director of the Museum of Modern Art, Alfred Barr. The politician and the painter were an odd couple: Picasso was a communist, and the only thing Truman hated more than communists was modern art. But they hit it off, striking up an unusual friendship that also served as a rebuke to critics of modern art in the United States.

Matthew Algeo is married to FSO Allyson Algeo, who is currently the deputy chief of mission in Gaborone. The couple’s previous postings include Bamako, Rome, Ulaanbaatar, Maputo, and Sarajevo.

The Barber Family: From Slavery, Through Segregation and the Civil Rights Movement

Donald M. Barber and David G. Brown, independently published, 2024, $20.00/paperback, print only, 102 pages.

This book follows four generations of the Black American Barber family, describing challenges they faced living in the rural and racist post–Civil War society of St. Mary’s County in Southern Maryland. The book was written by retired FSO David G. Brown and Donald M. Barber, a retired social service worker and one of the book’s subjects.

Although emancipated in 1864, the Barbers lived in a segregated society dominated by white men and women who wished to preserve their Southern way of living. Successive generations of the Barber family overcame this as they sought the education and opportunities that would allow them to build self-reliant, prosperous, and fulfilling lives with dignity.

The book is available for purchase only from Historic Sotterley, Inc., through museumstore@Sotterley.org.

David Brown spent 32 years in the Foreign Service, including assignments in Ho Chi Minh City, Tokyo, Beijing, Taipei, and as deputy consul general in Hong Kong. His last assignment before retiring in 1996 was as director of Korean affairs in Washington, D.C.

Lessons from History: The Leadership Challenge of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: Why It Matters Today

Emilio Iodice, independently published, 2024, $14.00/paperback, e-book available, 134 pages.

Emilio Iodice has written a new book on leadership, this time exploring how Martin Luther King Jr. led his battle for equality, lifting the burden of segregation from the shoulders of Black Americans. Iodice calls Dr. King “one of the most extraordinary leaders in American history,” whose emotional intelligence and ability to lead with courage set the stage for a moral change in the character of Americans.

Emilio Iodice served in Brazil, Mexico, Spain, and Italy before retiring from the Foreign Service in 1998. He subsequently served as vice president of Lucent Technologies and director and professor of leadership of the John Felice Rome Center of Loyola University until 2016. His book The Extraordinary Leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt: Why It Matters Today was featured in the November 2023 FSJ.

Our First Glimpse of Japan: Prominent American Visitors to Japan in the 1870s

Samuel Kidder, Piscataqua Press, 2024, $25.00/paperback, print only, 373 pages.

Our First Glimpse of Japan is a collection of contemporary published and personal accounts of travel in Japan during the 1870s by four prominent Americans: William H. Seward (Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State), Charles A. Longfellow (son of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), Ulysses S. Grant, and Andrew Carnegie.

Each section is introduced by an established scholarly expert, with editor Samuel Kidder providing an overall introduction, timeline, and footnotes to put these accounts into their diplomatic, cultural, and historical context. The personal observations of these travelers give the reader a glimpse into the formation of American attitudes toward Japanese society and culture.

Samuel Kidder joined the Foreign Commercial Service in 1983 and retired in 2006. His last position was as minister-counselor for commercial affairs in Japan—his third Japan posting. Upon retirement, he became executive director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, a position he held until 2014. Another retired FSO, Edwina S. Campbell, wrote the introduction to the section of the book on Ulysses S. Grant. Campbell is the author of a book on Grant’s post-presidential travel and diplomatic policy, Citizen of a Wider Commonwealth, which was featured in the November 2017 FSJ.

American Dreams: The Story of the Cyprus Fulbright Commission

Keith E. Peterson, Armida Books, 2024, $25.00/paperback, print only, 298 pages.

This is the history of the 52-year run of the Cyprus Fulbright Commission, which was for decades the largest commission in the world. The bicommunal commission benefited both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, who worked on the commission together, even after their 1974 war. The U.S. invested more than $250 million in the commission, including millions of dollars devoted to conflict resolution work by many important American scholars.

Keith Peterson retired in 2015 after 29 years as a public diplomacy officer with USIA and the State Department. He was posted in Bangladesh, Tunis, Nicosia, Bridgetown, London, Valletta, Stockholm, and Washington, D.C. Peterson was the last chairman of the board of the Cyprus Fulbright Commission and currently splits his time between Illinois and Florida.

Josh Binney: From Mack Sennett to Cab Calloway

T. Dennis Reece, BearManor Media, 2024, $28.00/paperback, print only, 198 pages.

This biography explores the film and stage career of actor, director, writer, producer, and promoter Josh Binney, a pioneering artist who was called a “spiritual forefather” of director Spike Lee. The author covers Binney’s direction of all-Black films in the 1940s as well as his troubles with the law, including time spent in Montana State Prison for investment fraud.

T. Dennis Reece is a retired State Department Foreign Service officer who served in the Soviet Union, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Cabo Verde, and Washington, D.C. A graduate of Valparaiso and Purdue Universities in Indiana, he now lives in Tampa, Florida. He is a volunteer for the Goodwill-Suncoast Bookworks early literacy program and is head of the Clearwater chapter of the Sons of the Desert, a Laurel and Hardy appreciation society.

My Dearest Lilla: Letters Home from Civil War General Jacob D. Cox

Gene Schmiel, ed., University of Tennessee Press, 2023, $34.95/paperback, e-book available, 296 pages.

My Dearest Lilla is a collection of letters written from the battlefield by Civil War General Jacob Cox to his wife, Helen. This collection of letters, edited by retired FSO Gene Schmiel, offers lucid reports and analyses of the war as Cox makes the transition from untested soldier to respected general and statesman. As the letters also show, Cox’s commitment to the Union and the abolition of slavery motivated him to fight, but his love for his wife, and his respect for her as an intellectual equal, shine through.

Gene Schmiel has written 25 books about the Civil War and regularly speaks to Civil War groups across the country. During his Foreign Service career, he served as chargé d’affaires in Reykjavík, Djibouti, and Bissau, and as consul general in Mombasa.

POLICY & ISSUES

Lost Decade: The US Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power

Robert D. Blackwill and Richard Fontaine, Oxford University Press, 2024, $29.99/hardcover, e-book available, 480 pages.

Two foreign policy experts—one a retired Foreign Service officer—explore whether the U.S. government’s “Pivot to Asia,” begun during the Obama administration in 2011, has been a strategic success. Outlining its aims, achievements, and where it has fallen short, they present the historical context of the pivot and propose a path forward to preserve American security and prosperity.

Robert Blackwill is a retired Senior Foreign Service officer and former ambassador who served as principal deputy assistant secretary for political affairs and European affairs, before being appointed by President Ronald Reagan as chief U.S. negotiator with the Warsaw Pact. He was later appointed by President George H.W. Bush as special assistant to the president for national security affairs and senior director for European and Soviet affairs as well as U.S. ambassador to India from 2001 to 2003. He is currently a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

Co-author Richard Fontaine, a veteran foreign policy professional who has specialized in Asian affairs, is executive director of the Trilateral Commission, a member of the Defense Policy Board, and the chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security.

Pakistan and American Diplomacy: Insights from 9/11 to the Afghanistan Endgame

Ted Craig, Potomac Books, 2024, $34.95/hardcover, e-book available, 296 pages.

As a Foreign Service officer, Ted Craig served in Pakistan twice, including as political counselor from 2018 to 2019. In this book, he provides an in-depth overview of Pakistan-U.S. relations from 9/11 to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, examining both the policy successes and failures along the way.

Ted Craig retired from the Foreign Service in 2018 after a 29-year career, including two tours in Islamabad. He also held various policy positions related to peace and security, environmental diplomacy, and human rights. He now works as a counterterrorism program adviser based in Tashkent.

American Global Leadership: Ailing US Diplomacy and Solutions for the Twenty-First Century

G. Doug Davis and Michael O. Slobodchikoff, eds., University of Tennessee Press, 2024, $34.95/paperback, e-book available, 496 pages.

Dedicated to former Secretary of State George Shultz, this book features 15 essays about American diplomacy and its evolution, with contributions from retired diplomats and military leaders. It covers various aspects of foreign policy, military and diplomatic strategy, and the challenges facing U.S. foreign policy today.

The authors discuss American diplomatic history, evaluate past successes and mistakes, and propose a path forward for American diplomacy in the 21st century. This book will be of interest to scholars of diplomatic history and political science.

Getting Russia Right

Thomas Graham, Polity Books, 2023, $29.95/hardcover, e-book available, 272 pages.

Russia expert and former Foreign Service Officer Thomas Graham traces the evolution of U.S.-Russian relations from the beginning of the post-Soviet era until today, closely examining the mistakes made by successive U.S. administrations that led to the current hostile relationship between the two nations. Graham suggests policy shifts that would bring about improved relations in a post-Putin world, allowing the U.S. to better advance its own interests.

As an FSO from 1984 to 1998, Thomas Graham served two tours in Moscow. Between those postings, he worked on Russian and Soviet affairs on the State Department’s policy planning staff (S/P) and in the office of the under secretary of Defense for policy. He was director for Russian affairs for the National Security Council (NSC) from 2002 to 2004 and special assistant to the president and senior director for Russia on the NSC staff from 2004 to 2007. He is currently a distinguished fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a lecturer on global affairs and political science at Yale University, where he co-founded the Russian Studies Project. He holds a BA in Russian studies from Yale and both an MA in history and a PhD in political science from Harvard.

From Vision to Action: Remaking the World Through Social Entrepreneurship

John Marks, Columbia University Press, 2024, $28.00/paperback, e-book available, 208 pages.

Author John Marks explains how he and his wife, Susan Collin Marks, used the methodology of social entrepreneurship to build the world’s largest peacebuilding nongovernmental organization with a staff of 600 and offices in 35 countries.

In describing 11 basic principles of social entrepreneurship, he shows how these principles were employed to prevent violence in the Middle East, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

John Marks joined the Foreign Service in 1966. He served in Vietnam and Washington, D.C., until 1970, when he resigned in protest over U.S. policy in Southeast Asia. He is the founder of Search for Common Ground, a peacebuilding NGO.

Assessing Russia’s Actions in Ukraine and Syria, 2014–2022

John A. Pennell, Rowman & Littlefield, 2024, $130.00/hardcover, e-book available, 370 pages.

What do Russia’s actions in Ukraine and Syria, particularly between 2014 and 2022, tell us about the character of modern conflict? USAID Foreign Service Officer John Pennell posits that Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine reveal more continuity than change and more evolution than revolution in warfare. He argues that new-generation warfare, political warfare, or full-spectrum conflict better describe Russia’s activities than hybrid warfare.

John Pennell joined USAID in 2001 and is currently the USAID/Caucasus regional mission director in Tbilisi, Georgia. He has also served in Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Tunisia, Afghanistan, El Salvador, Indonesia, and Iraq. He has a PhD in war and defense studies from King’s College London.

The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World

Allison Pugh, Princeton University Press, 2024, $29.95/hardcover, e-book available, 384 pages.

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence and labor-saving technologies like self-checkouts and automated factories, the future of work has never been more uncertain, and even jobs requiring high levels of human interaction are no longer safe.

The Last Human Job explores the human connections that underlie our work, arguing that what people do for each other in these settings is valuable and worth preserving. Drawing on in-depth interviews and observations with people in a broad range of professions—from physicians, teachers, and coaches to chaplains, therapists, caregivers, and hairdressers—Allison Pugh develops the concept of “connective labor,” a kind of work that relies on empathy, the spontaneity of human contact, and a mutual recognition of each other’s humanity.

Allison Pugh was in the Foreign Service from 1991 to 1994, serving in Honduras and the Operations Center in Washington, D.C.

Strengthening International Regimes: The Case of Radiation Protection

Daniel Serwer, Palgrave MacMillan, 2024, $119.99/hardcover, e-book available, 431 pages.

In Strengthening International Regimes, retired Foreign Service Officer Daniel Serwer traces the history of international radiation protection norms from 1896 to the present. Serwer explains how and why a mechanism with no legal authority has become universal and applies the lessons learned to other pressing issues that require a balance between risks and benefits, such as artificial intelligence, human genome editing, and climate change. This book will interest readers who seek to understand how to set resilient international norms that balance risks and benefits in today’s conflict-riddled world.

Daniel Serwer served as a State Department FSO from 1977 to 1998. After retirement, he became a vice president at the United States Institute of Peace. He is currently a professor and senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

FICTION

Return of the Silent Sovereign: A Space Fantasy of War, Passion, and Second Chances

Judith Baroody, independently published, 2023, $9.99/paperback, e-book available, 294 pages.

A Star Fleet admiral embarks on a suicide mission to save her crew and enters a space-time warp. Awakening as a baby on her home planet 300 years later with the memory of her previous life intact, she discovers her civilization is on the brink of extinction and returns to space to find a solution. Her journey leads her to vengeful fanatics, ballerinas in desperate straits, and an archenemy who may be the key to saving her world.

As a public diplomacy Foreign Service officer from 1984 to 2017, Judith Baroody served in Damascus, Tel Aviv, Casablanca, Nicosia, Santiago, Baghdad, and Paris. Baroody has a PhD in international relations and has taught at both American University and the National War College. She served as chair of the FSJ Editorial Board from 2011 to 2013. Baroody is also the author of Media Access and the Military (1998), Casablanca Blue (2020), and Paris Gold (2022).

The Chrysalis Option: A Kiana Azunna Novel

Eric Coulson, independently published, 2024, $16.95/paperback, e-book available, 345 pages.

When Kiana Azunna, the first woman Royal Marine commando, leads a mission into Afghanistan as the country is collapsing, the operation goes wrong, and she finds herself recruited by Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service on a voyage of adventure and self-discovery. Kiana travels across Türkiye, Syria, and Ukraine, only to end up in Nigeria confronting a threat to peace and the person who was responsible for her parents’ deaths.

Retired FSO and former U.S. Army officer Eric Coulson joined the State Department in 2015 and served in Abuja, Santo Domingo, and London before retiring in 2022.

and far away (Book One of the Man Series)

Robert Richard Downes, Longhornbar Book, 2024, $14.95/paperback, e-book available, 200 pages.

Set in 2004, and far away follows a retired intelligence officer who only wants to relax in New England with his books and cats. But his former employer keeps pulling him back into covert missions, targeting an international crime network.

Robert Richard Downes is a retired Senior Foreign Service officer with 37 years of federal service, the majority with the State Department. He joined the department in 1981 and served in Australia, Germany, Mexico, Nicaragua, Thailand, and Venezuela. Prior to that, he worked for both an NGO in Guatemala and the U.S. Agency for International Development. He now lives in his native Texas where he kayaks, writes, and volunteers for local charities and international organizations. He is the author of four books including Hello to a River, a book on kayaking in Texas, published in February 2024.

Atonement at Dawn

Stephen Eisenbraun, independently published, 2023, $12.00/paperback, print only, 102 pages.

Atonement at Dawn is a sequel to Stephen Eisenbraun’s previous novel, Danger and Romance in Foreign Lands. It continues the love story of Rakhi, a beautiful Indian banker, and an impetuous American foreign correspondent, Scott, who met in New Delhi in the late 1970s. Rakhi’s London-based career brings her into contact with a wealthy Chinese business client in Singapore. While Rakhi is frequently abroad on business, Scott becomes entangled in London with Nasreen, a sultry woman who enters the dark world of espionage and sex work.

Stephen Eisenbraun joined the Foreign Service in 1975, serving in Dhaka, Lahore, Freetown, and Mombasa as well as in various D.C. assignments. After retiring in 2002, he spent 20 years editing the department’s Human Rights Reports.

Firetrap: A Marko Zorn Novel

Otho Eskin, Oceanview Publishing, 2024, $27.95/hardcover, e-book available, 320 pages.

When a narcotic more deadly than fentanyl spreads across Washington, D.C., homicide detective Marko Zorn must investigate the source. In Book 3 of the Marko Zorn series, his search for the criminals behind the drug leads him to a Big Pharma company run by murderous twin brothers. When Marko learns of the company’s plan to release another dangerous prescription medicine, he needs to stop the twin brothers. But can he evade their attempts to kill him?

Author and retired FSO Otho Eskin served in Syria, Yugoslavia, Iceland, and Berlin (then the capital of the German Democratic Republic). He says his career in the Foreign Service unknowingly prepared him for thriller writing later in life as he witnessed political corruption at every level of society. Eskin has also written plays that have been professionally produced in Washington, D.C., New York, and Europe. He is married to writer Therese Keane and lives in Washington, D.C.

High Value Target$: A Zach Turner Thriller

Michael T. Evanoff, Authors On Mission, 2024, $14.99/paperback, e-book available, 212 pages.

In the bustling diplomatic enclave of Islamabad, a church bombing shatters more than just lives and limbs—it ignites a relentless pursuit of justice. Diplomatic Security Service Agent Zach Turner’s world crumbles when his friend Attaf falls victim to the attack. Fueled by grief and an unwavering commitment to duty, Turner extends his tour in Pakistan, determined to unravel the web of extremism behind the bombing. Drawing on his unconventional training and sharp instincts, Turner plunges into a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a shadowy network of terrorists.

Michael Evanoff served as a Diplomatic Security Service special agent for 26 years and as assistant secretary of State for Diplomatic Security from 2017 to 2020. He served in eight embassies, including Islamabad (before, during, and after 9/11). In 2003 he was recognized for his role in capturing 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Now retired from government service, he writes thriller novels that educate readers about the Foreign Service and the role of DSS special agents.

Silent Light: A Novel

Mark Jacobs, Evergreen Review Books, 2024, $23.00/paperback, e-book available, 374 pages.

In this new novel by former Foreign Service Officer Mark Jacobs, an American named Smith is working on an oil platform off the west coast of Africa when he unexpectedly wins a stash of diamonds while playing poker. But there’s a catch: He has to find the diamonds, which are hidden somewhere in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After setting off in search of the gems, Smith meets Béatrice, who tells him they are a thousand miles away in her small village on the other side of the country, and promises to lead him to the diamonds if he can help her get home.

Mark Jacobs was a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay and served in Europe, Türkiye, and Latin America as an FSO. He has published five books and more than 200 stories in magazines including The Atlantic, The Kenyon Review, and The Southern Review. His story “How Birds Communicate” won the Iowa Review Award in fiction. Jacobs lives and writes in Virginia.

Tipping Point: The World in 2050 – Book One

George Alfred Kennedy, SETAF Press, 2024, $20.00/paperback, e-book available, 323 pages.

It’s 2050, and climate change on planet Earth threatens the lives of the world’s population. What will world leaders do to preserve life as we know it around the globe? Caught between ideological hawks and their corporate industry allies and financial donors who question this reality, will they be convinced to rethink the geopolitics of a changing global climate to avoid worldwide famine, drought, mass migration, and shooting wars?

George Kennedy spent 35 years in the State Department, retiring as a Senior Foreign Service officer after assignments in seven countries, including as consul general in Toronto, deputy assistant secretary, and senior adviser to Ronald Brown, the first Black Secretary of Commerce. Kennedy currently lives in Arizona.

The Filigree Master’s Apprentice

Jeannine Johnson Maia, independently published, 2023, $12.99/paperback, e-book available, 270 pages.

As Porto prepares to inaugurate Gustave Eiffel’s magnificent iron bridge over the Douro River in 1877, 17-year-old Henrique flees the harsh conditions of life upriver. Behind him is a searing betrayal he wants to forget. Ahead is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to apprentice in a goldsmith’s shop. Henrique is learning the delicate art of filigree-making when an acquaintance from his past appears, dredging up old accusations of thievery and threatening all he’s built. The Filigree Master’s Apprentice is a story of resilience, friendship, and a young man’s search for the person he wants to become.

Jeannine Johnson Maia worked for more than 13 years as a press specialist in the Public Affairs Office of the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels. Prior to that, she worked as a journalist in Belgium and Washington, D.C., studied international relations in the U.S. and Italy (at the University of Virginia and SAIS Johns Hopkins, respectively), taught English in France, earned a creative writing master’s degree, and lived in Cabo Verde. Her first novel, Rossio Square N.°59, was featured in the November 2021 FSJ.

Trouble in Queenstown: A Mystery

Delia Pitts, Minotaur Books, 2024, $28.00/hardcover, e-book available, 320 pages.

In this fast-paced contemporary mystery, Black private investigator Vandy Myrick returns to her New Jersey hometown after a personal catastrophe. As she establishes her new career, Vandy tackles a racially charged murder case connected to the family of her small community’s mayor. It seems nearly impossible that she can solve the case, but Vandy won’t back down.

Delia Pitts spent 11 years as a cultural affairs and information officer in the U.S. Information Agency, from 1983 to 1994. She served in Lagos, Nouakchott, Mexico City, and Washington, D.C. Pitts is also the author of Murder Take Two (2022) and numerous short stories. She is active in Sisters in Crime, Crime Writers of Color, and Mystery Writers of America.

Dirty Diplomat: An American Soldier in Colombia

Raul Rasay, independently published, 2022, $6.16/paperback, e-book available, 237 pages.

A U.S. Army military intelligence analyst assigned to the U.S. embassy in Bogotá leaks sensitive information to drug cartels in Colombia in exchange for money to care for his ailing child. Among the results of his illegal disclosures: a federal agent gunned down, failed drug busts, and a contract hit on a drug-sniffing dog. Will this dirty diplomat get caught?

Raul Rasay joined the Foreign Service as a security engineering officer in 2006. He has served in Washington, Mexico City, Bogotá, and Moscow. He is currently posted in Rome.

Operation Body Snatch: A Novel of the Vietnam War

Charles Ray, Dusty Saddle Publishing, 2024, $0.99/e-book, digital only, 98 pages.

Captain Roger Malik and his commando team are sent across the border to find and capture an enemy courier carrying plans for a devastating new operation against friendly forces. They don’t know the courier’s identity or schedule and are pressured to complete the mission as quickly as possible. An impossible mission—but Malik and his men thrive on the impossible.

This book is one of several published by Ambassador (ret.) Charles Ray in 2024, including The Lost Patrol, Rendezvous at Phouvong, and The Last Election. He is the author of numerous mysteries and Western series as well as several leadership books. Ray served for 20 years in the U.S. Army and then 30 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, including as U.S. ambassador to Cambodia and Zimbabwe, before retiring in 2012 and beginning a new career as an author.

Bridge to Tomorrow: Cold War: A Novel of the Berlin Airlift, Part Two

Helena P. Schrader, Cross Seas Press, 2024, $23.95/paperback, e-book available, 516 pages.

In part two of an intended trilogy based on historical events, Berlin is under siege. More than 2 million civilians must receive food, fuel, and medicine by air—or surrender to the Soviets. USAF Captain J.B. Baronowsky and RAF Flight Lieutenant Kit Moran once risked their lives to drop high explosives on Berlin; they are about to deliver milk, flour, and children’s shoes instead. Meanwhile, two women pilots are flying an air ambulance carrying malnourished and abandoned children to freedom in the West.

Helena Schrader lived in Germany for 26 years, earning a PhD in history from the University of Hamburg before becoming a Foreign Service officer in 2005. She retired from the Foreign Service in 2018 and now writes full-time from an island in Greece. As an FSO, she spent most of her career in Europe and Africa; her last post was as an economic officer in Addis Ababa. She has previously published 18 historical novels.

Dead Hand

James Stejskal, Double Dagger Books, 2023, $16.99/paperback, e-book available, 269 pages.

In this second novel by James Stejskal, a Foreign Service family member, Russia has won the war in Ukraine and is eyeing the Baltics next. When a spy deep in the Kremlin contacts his handlers and mentions a code word for a Russian plan to start and win a nuclear war, it sets off alarm bells in Washington. A legendary CIA officer is sent to meet the Russian spy, and former Special Forces and CIA operator Joshua Devlin is coaxed out of retirement to be his backup, with promises that the job will be little more than babysitting. But things go sideways, initiating a chain of events that throws Devlin back into a deadly world where failure could mean nuclear Armageddon.

James Stejskal has been married to Ambassador (ret.) Wanda Nesbitt since 1997. During Nesbitt’s Foreign Service career, the two were assigned to Namibia, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, and Washington, D.C. Stejskal is also the author of Mission Iran (2024).

Jackleg Boys

Mark G. Wentling, Pegasus Publishers, 2024, $19.99/paperback, e-book available, 506 pages.

Jackleg Boys is a fictional account that traces the lives of the author’s great grandfather and his younger brother, who were teenagers when they fled their fifth-generation plantation home in Virginia during the U.S. Civil War. They made their way to Texas, where they became cowhands and went on cattle drives to Kansas, going through innumerable trials along the way. With the law on their heels, they escaped to Florida, where the story ends quite differently for each brother.

Mark Wentling is a retired USAID Senior Foreign Service officer. He joined USAID in 1977 and served in Niger, Guinea, Togo, Benin, Somalia, Tanzania, and Washington, D.C., before retiring in 1996. Wentling lives in Lubbock, Texas. He is the author of Africa Memoir, a three-volume account of his career in Africa.

Choosing Sides

David K. Wessel, Moonshine Cove Publishing, 2024, $21.00/paperback, e-book available, 274 pages.

Choosing Sides tells the story of an ordinary family torn apart by Hitler’s Germany and the difficult choices each family member must make: to endorse the Party, to stay quiet in the hope that Hitler would soon be gone, to join the resistance (at great personal risk), or to leave their beloved fatherland and family behind. The story revolves around a young man, Karl-Heinz, a character based on the author’s own father. Born in Germany, Karl-Heinz moved to the United States when he was 4 years old and returned seven years later to a changed country.

David Wessel was a Foreign Service officer from 2012 to 2017 and served in Rome and Guatemala. He is currently at work on his second novel. He is also the author of “In Their Own Words: A Conversation with Four Foreign Service Authors,” in this FSJ edition.

FOR CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULTS

What You Never Knew About Olivia Rodrigo

Nafeesah Allen, Capstone Press, 2023, $8.99/paperback, e-book available, 32 pages.

This book is part of an early reader “Behind the Scenes” series that offers biographies of celebrities admired by teens and tweens. Author Nafeesah Allen tells the story of Olivia Rodrigo in a way that is accessible to early and struggling readers. Allen has three other books in the series: on Stephen Curry, Zendaya, and Timothée Chalamet.

Author Nafeesah Allen is an active-duty FSO currently serving as the conflict stabilization coordinator in Mozambique. Other titles by Allen are available at https://www.nafeesahallen.com/author.

Trailer Park Prince

Andre L. Bradley, Tiny Ghost Press, 2024, $12.81/paperback, e-book available, 298 pages.

This young adult science fiction novel explores themes of discrimination, identity, and leadership through the lens of alien refugees living on Earth. The story follows Prince Noan Ladoan—a 17-year-old outcast among his own people, the Kaydans—as he navigates integration with humans, develops superhuman powers, and grapples with his role in his community’s future. The novel draws parallels to the American Civil Rights Movement, using the Kaydans’ struggles against human prejudice and violence to examine issues of racism, xenophobia, and social justice.

Andre Bradley is an active-duty Foreign Service officer in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service. He joined FAS in 2016 and has served in Mexico City. Bradley is currently posted in Washington, D.C.

Seeking Neopolis (The Trident’s Reckoning)

Elizabeth A. Drysdale, Stag Beetle Books, 2024, $13.99/paperback, e-book available, 312 pages.

Avi’s world turns upside down when a mysterious boy reveals that her memories have been manipulated by her own mother. Already shaken by her mother’s disappearance, Avi is plunged into a hidden war between a magical kingdom and a powerful organization, both accusing her mother of stealing an important artifact known as the Trident. With adversaries closing in, she embarks on a perilous journey to the sunken city of Neopolis. There, Avi uncovers a shocking and sinister truth about her mother’s actions.

This is Foreign Service family member Elizabeth Drysdale’s fifth novel for young adults. She is the daughter of FSO Clay Allen, who was most recently posted in Haiti. Drysdale lives in northern Utah with her husband and three sons.

Real Stories from Real Diplomats—Experiences of Women Serving at U.S. Embassies Around the World

Alicia Ford, independently published, 2023, $19.99/paperback, e-book available, 139 pages.

This thoughtfully curated debut anthology aimed at young adult readers offers honest, firsthand accounts from female Foreign Service officers around the world. Those featured are first-generation Americans, ambassadors, dual citizens, public service award winners, naturalized Americans, non-native English speakers, and former military personnel. They discuss topics such as racism, sexism, imposter syndrome, mental health management, LGBTQ+ issues, long-distance relationships, and motherhood.

Read about their experiences with coups, terrorism, interactions with global leaders, living and working in danger posts, helping U.S. citizens overseas, working with refugees, human trafficking, and more. This book also serves as an inspirational career guide and a call to join a public service community. It includes a glossary and tips for how to become a U.S. diplomat.

FSO Alicia Ford is currently the American Citizen Services chief in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

The Abled Little Elephant

SarahJean Harrison, independently published, 2024, $24.99/hardcover, e-book available, 57 pages.

The Abled Little Elephant tells the story of Esinka, a young elephant who loses his trunk in an accident. Despite feeling different and unsure of himself, Esinka discovers through teamwork, creative problem-solving, and self-belief that his true strength lies not in his trunk but in his heart and spirit. His story reminds readers that everyone has unique abilities and that challenges can be overcome with dedication and the help of a caring community.

SarahJean Harrison joined USAID in 2010 and became a Foreign Service officer in 2013. She has served in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Kenya, Israel, and Washington, D.C. Harrison is currently studying Spanish in preparation for her next assignment in Peru.

Ashley Wants a Pet

Jestina Hodge-Pais, independently published, 2023, $12.99/paperback, 27 pages.

This heartwarming children’s book explores the essence of pet ownership—how it involves not only the joy of companionship but also the commitment to love and care for an animal for a lifetime. Author Jestina Hodge-Pais hopes Ashley’s story will inspire Foreign Service family discussions about owning and caring for a pet.

Jestina Hodge-Pais joined the Foreign Service in 2000 as a human resources specialist and has served in Manila, Lagos, Brasília, Beijing, Kabul, Maputo, Kinshasa, and Washington, D.C. She is currently assigned to Islamabad. Hodge-Pais is also the author of A Chance to Love.

Christopher & Caroline in India

Joanne Grady Huskey, Xlibris US, 2023, $14.99/paperback, e-book available, 36 pages.

Joanne Grady Huskey wrote this children’s book about her own children, Foreign Service kids Christopher and Caroline, whom she calls “world citizens who love to learn about new cultures.” The book tells the story of Christopher and Caroline’s early childhood in India—FSO dad James L. Huskey was assigned to Chennai from 1993 to 1996. By sharing the magic and richness of the Indian culture and people, the author hopes she can inspire children to learn more about faraway places and cultures different from their own.

Joanne Grady Huskey is an author, cross-cultural trainer, and public speaker. She and her family were posted in Beijing, Chennai, Nairobi, and Taipei. Huskey now serves on the board of Championwoman, a program to empower Indian women. Her previous books include The Unofficial Diplomat: A Memoir, Make It in India, Growing Up Grady, and iCAN: A Young Woman’s Guide to Taking the Lead. Another children’s book, Christopher in China, was published in July 2024.

The Book of Allies

Chigozie Okocha, independently published, 2024, $13.99/paperback, e-book available, 148 pages.

The Book of Allies is a compilation of 10 short stories, all based on real-world events, to inspire and offer hope to young adult readers ages 11 to 18. The collection of short stories features a variety of characters, from Oom Bey, who fought against apartheid in South Africa, to an extreme couponer in Woodbridge, Virginia. The author features people who have been motivated to do and be better for their community, encouraging readers to step into positions of leadership.

Chigozie Okocha joined the State Department as a Foreign Service officer in 2015. He has served in Casablanca, Hyderabad, Quito, and Washington, D.C. He recently started his fifth assignment as a policy adviser (POLAD) to AFRICOM.

POETRY

The Commuter’s Confessions

Lucia Melgar, Finishing Line Press, 2023, $17.99/paperback, e-book available, 38 pages.

The Commuter’s Confessions is the first book of poetry by Lucia Melgar, who is also new to the Foreign Service. The poems focus on the quiet and heart-pounding thoughts that accompany train commuters in the short span of time before they arrive at their destination, when, writes the poet, their inner desires, fears, observations, and meditations come to light. We question if we really want to arrive, if we should be headed elsewhere, or even if we should have traveled in the first place.

Lucia Melgar is currently in limited non-career appointment (LNA) training at the Foreign Service Institute before setting out for Panama City in early 2025. Before becoming an LNA, Melgar spent seven years as an internal auditor for Goldman Sachs and Citibank. Her poems have been published previously in Dovetail, the art and literary journal of the NYU School of Professional Studies.

Corona/Crown

Kim Roberts and Robert Revere, WordTech Editions, 2023, $21.25/paperback, e-book available, 44 pages.

A collaboration between poet Kim Roberts and fine art photographer Rob Revere, Corona/Crown is a personal response to the closing of cultural spaces during the COVID-19 lockdowns. This series of prose poems and photographs borrows from the formal tradition of heroic crowns of sonnets—corona is Italian for “crown”—in which each section is connected to the last by a repeated line or phrase. This slim book references specific cultural experiences while keeping in mind the larger issues of mortality, health, and love.

Photographer Robert Revere is a public diplomacy officer currently posted in Dushanbe. He has also served in Manama, Montreal, Freetown, and Washington, D.C. He studied at the Corcoran School of Art, the Art Institute of Boston, and the Maine Photographic Workshops, and taught at Maryland College of Art and Design. His work has been exhibited in Washington, D.C., New York, and Boston, and he has been an artist in residence at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and Ireland’s Burren College of Art.

GUIDEBOOK/SELF-HELP

Diplomatically: A Guide for Creating Work-Life Balance in the Foreign Service

Yikee Adje, independently published, 2023, $15.95/paperback, e-book available, 109 pages.

This book by active-duty USAID FSO Yikee Adje provides a practical road map on how to align your professional aspirations with your personal priorities. It will give you the tools to build strong relationships, communicate effectively, and approach your work with intention so that you can negotiate for and achieve work-life balance. Diplomatically unveils the “3Cs” approach—connection, communication, and courage—that are key to Adje’s success as a Foreign Service officer and mother to five children.

Yikee Adje joined USAID in 2012 and is currently the USAID program office director in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She is also a certified executive coach and master facilitator who coaches USAID staff and facilitates retreats globally to help individuals and teams reach higher levels of performance.

Safari to Success: Elevating Your 40s with the Incredible Mindset from Tanzania

Tomoko Horie, Rosslyn Publishing, 2023, $5.50/e-book, digital only, 71 pages.

Originally from Japan, Tomoko Horie moved to Washington, D.C., to work as a journalist for Nippon TV. When her spouse joined the Foreign Service in 2022, she was in her 40s, and she quit her job to move with him and her young children to Tanzania.

In this book, Horie describes how she navigated and overcame the obstacles of middle age while living in Tanzania. The new perspective she gained by moving to Africa helped the author resolve her worries about aging. Reading this book, says the author, offers a unique chance to join her on this journey, experiencing life in Africa and rethinking personal challenges.

Tomoko Horie worked as a journalist for 15 years. Tanzania is the first overseas assignment for her family; their next post will be Hong Kong.

Musings on Project Management

Kenneth F. Smith, Central Books, 2023, $80.00/paperback, e-book available, 475 pages.

Managers are continually confronted with a variety of issues at various stages of a program’s project life. Musings on Project Management highlights some typical problems, offering both tried and true “best practice” approaches as well as some innovative recommended solutions, complete with techniques, tools, and templates.

Kenneth Smith joined USAID as a civil servant in 1965, converting to the Foreign Service in 1971. He was assigned to Washington, D.C. (with extended temporary duty to Vietnam and other USAID missions), Manila, Seoul, and Jakarta before retiring from USAID in 1983. After retirement he continued working as a freelance project management consultant for USAID and others. He holds a BA and an MA in government and international relations from the University of Connecticut, an MA from MIT, and a doctorate in public administration from George Mason University.

How to Be a Diplomat

Darren Thies, BookBaby, 2024, $19.99/paperback, e-book available, 220 pages.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a diplomat? Darren Thies answers this question through stories and firsthand accounts of the work, lifestyle, and adventures of U.S. Foreign Service officers, shedding light on the day-to-day work of diplomats and outlining the seven qualities needed to excel in this field. Packed with practical rules and personal advice, this book will empower you to navigate any workplace or interpersonal relationship like a seasoned diplomat.

Darren Thies is a public diplomacy officer who joined the State Department in 2010. He has served in Dushanbe, Bucharest, Kabul, Vladivostok, and in the Office of Iranian Affairs in Washington, D.C. He and his spouse are currently posted to Yerevan.

Riding More with Less: A Future for Bike Repair

Sam Tracy, PM Press, 2024, $24.95/paperback, e-book available, 272 pages.

Turning away from the obsolescence and disposability so often implied within consumer economies, Riding More with Less surveys experienced community bike shop mechanics worldwide to identify the best and safest repair solutions when new parts are not an option. For those already familiar with bicycle preservation, the book aligns the most useful technical references within a well-organized compilation of the most effective low-cost and free repair techniques.

And for the uninitiated, the book includes an overview of the community bike shops many readers may find in their own neighborhoods. Riding More with Less is the bike repair manual for anyone who rides bikes for fun, exercise, or transportation.

Sam Tracy is a Foreign Service family member who is currently working as a management assistant in Montevideo. His spouse, Kerri Spindler-Ranta, is a public affairs officer. The couple previously served in Riga, Georgetown, Pretoria, and Washington, D.C.

Under the Keel—A Guidebook to the North Atlantic (Day One—New York to Martha’s Vineyard)

Jock Whittlesey, independently published, 2023, $11.00/paperback, e-book available, 163 pages.

The first book in his nonfiction travel series, Under the Keel—A Guidebook to the North Atlantic, author Jock Whittlesey provides overviews of the oceanography, history, charts, geology, shipping, law, currents, weather, fish, animals, and famous events across the North Atlantic by following the path of the ocean liner Queen Mary 2 as it traveled from New York to Southampton in 2022. The wide-ranging information is aimed at a general-interest reader; it is not a specialized or technical tome.

Jock Whittlesey was a Foreign Service officer from 1992 to 2018, primarily working on environment, science, technology, and health issues. He served in London, Kingston, Amman, Athens, and three tours in China. Now retired, he has worked as an editor on the State Department’s Human Rights Report since 2019. Whittlesey is also the author of Coast Guard Academy—A User’s Guide (2021).

GRAB BAG

A Field Guide to the Culinary Arts

Derek Corsino, independently published, 2024, $25.00/hardcover, print only, 115 pages.

A Field Guide to the Culinary Arts offers an immersive journey through the heart of the kitchen, crafted for novice cooks and seasoned chefs alike. With a meticulous blend of tradition and innovation, this comprehensive cookbook serves as your compass in the vast landscape of gastronomy. Have a hankering for s’mores but can’t find marshmallows at post? Or maybe you need to make brownies but you don’t have access to boxed brownie mix? Derek Corsino has you covered. But he also includes easy explanations for complex recipes, like homemade ravioli.

Derek Corsino is a new FS family member whose spouse joined the Foreign Service earlier this year. The couple plans to depart for their first post, Shanghai, in May 2025. Corsino spent the past 11 years as a culinary and baking and pastry educator, and he is currently transitioning to become a full-time online educator.

My African Anthology

Robert E. Gribbin, independently published, 2024, $17.00/paperback, e-book available, 351 pages.

In My African Anthology, Ambassador Robert Gribbin draws on almost 60 years of work in and with Africa to spin tales and air his opinions. Themes include preventing child trafficking, finding a long-missing treasure, seeking “Gacaca justice,” fleeing from Ebola, searching for a legendary beast, observing the U.S. military presence in Africa, discovering black magic, and more.

The collection, which comprises fiction and nonfiction, both humorous and serious, paints a realistic portrait of Africa, its peoples, and its issues as seen and experienced by an astute observer. The book provides just the right mix of history and modernity, with deep insights into Africa.

Career FSO Robert Gribbin served as ambassador to the Central African Republic (1992-1995) and Rwanda (1995-1999). He is the author of In the Aftermath of Genocide: The U.S. Role in Rwanda and five novels, all set in Africa. His novel Finding Kony was featured in the November 2023 FSJ.

Faulkner’s Fashion: Gender, Race, Class, and Clothing

Christopher Rieger, Bloomsbury Academic, 2023, $100.00/hardcover, e-book available, 184 pages.

Faulkner’s Fashion is the first book-length study of author William Faulkner’s use of clothing in his novels and short stories and how that intersects with race, class, and gender. The book examines clothes as material objects with their own significance outside their symbolic meanings to the wearer and viewer. Faulkner’s own interesting history with fashion and dress is also linked to his world of fiction.

Christopher Rieger joined the Foreign Service as a generalist in 2023 after 15 years as a professor and director of the Center for Faulkner Studies at Southeast Missouri State University. He is a public diplomacy–coned officer currently on his first tour in the consular section in Mexico City.

Blood Sweat Tears

Christine Reed, ed., Rugged Outdoorswoman Publishing, 2024, $24.99/paperback, e-book available, 294 pages.

Blood Sweat Tears is a collection of short essays about being a woman on a trail. The women writers detail their experiences hiking, backpacking, mountaineering, and trail running as they share the challenges, beauty, and self-knowledge they find in outdoor adventures.

One story in the collection, “A Period of Transition,” was written by Public Diplomacy Officer Maggie Seymour, who joined the Foreign Service in 2020 and was first posted in Montreal. She is currently serving in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research on the INR Watch in Washington, D.C.

Zest Quest: Adventures with a Fruit Fanatic

Mikkela Thompson, independently published, 2024, $21.40/paperback, e-book available, 120 pages.

Mikkela Thompson is back, this time with a book on traveling the world in search of exotic fruits to sample. From a fruit haven in Kandy, Sri Lanka, and the night markets of Singapore, to a mountain village in Colombia, and even in the fruit-only menu on an airplane, Zest Quest is all about eating exotic fruit, both good and bad. Throughout the pages, Thompson follows her passion not just for passionfruit but for adventure.

The child of an FSO, Mikkela Thompson joined the Foreign Service as an office management specialist in 2011 and has served in Dhaka, Bogotá, Caracas, Vancouver, Nassau, Port of Spain, Santo Domingo, Lima, Rome, and Washington, D.C. Before joining the Foreign Service, she worked at AFSA, The Foreign Service Journal, and the Family Liaison Office (now GCLO). Thompson is currently assigned to Diplomatic Technology’s office of eDiplomacy, where she helps her colleagues with technology and knowledge management. Her last book, La Dolce Italia, was featured in the November 2023 FSJ.

Living Abroad With Children

Mary M. Muro, Jill P. Strachan, and John R. Whitman, eds., independently published, 2024, e-book available at no charge, digital only, 209 pages.

Fourteen adults—from France, Japan, Norway, and the United States who grew up as third culture kids (TCKs) and all attended the same elementary school in Cairo—offer memories and ideas aimed to make the most of a child’s life overseas. The book is available in 51 countries as a free e-book by searching Apple Books for the title Living Abroad With Children.

One of the co-editors, John Whitman, grew up overseas as the son of Foreign Service Officer Ross Whitman. The Whitman family lived in Oslo (1951-1953), Tel Aviv (1953-1955), Karachi (1955-1956), Cairo (1957-1961), and Tokyo (1961-1962). Co-editor Jill Strachan grew up overseas as the daughter of Foreign Service Officer D. Alan Strachan and Evelyn B. Strachan. The Strachans were posted to Athens (1947-1952), Lahore (1959-1962), and Cairo (1962-1965). Their story also appeared in the October 2023 FSJ.