The Foreign Service Journal - November 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2017 51 This extraordinary guide will help readers learn how the international system works, identify the key problems and play- ers, and kick-start a do-gooder career. Whether you’re a bud- ding diplomat, an aspiring international development expert or anything in between, this is a must-read book for the change- makers of tomorrow. Proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to social justice causes. Lyla Bashan is a Foreign Service officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development, who currently serves in Armenia as the director of USAID’s Sustainable Development Office. Her previous postings include Guatemala, Tajikistan and Washing- ton, D.C. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Lyla worked for several nongovernmental organizations, including Mercy Corps and InterAction, and was later a State Department civil servant. Food in Lima: M’s Adventures Eating in Lima, Peru Mikkela Thompson, Lulu Press, 2017, $18.21/paperback, 25 pages. Food in Lima is writer, painter and photog- rapher Mikkela Thompson’s tribute to the food she has tried in Lima, Peru. “The best part of food is who you eat it with,” the author begins, dedicating this book to her friends. In one colorful spread after another, she shares some of the meals she has enjoyed with her friends. This slim volume is divided up according to categories: from traditional dishes named after a women’s sales cry during the War of the Pacific and “sanguches,” to the Japanese-influenced food called “Nikkei” and the contributions to the internationally renowned cuisine of Peru made by the waves of Chinese, Japanese and Italian immigrants to the country during the 1800s. The photos are intended to make you drool and to whet your appetite for food and travel. A Foreign Service office management specialist (OMS), Mikkela Thompson is currently posted in Lima. She has also served in Bangladesh and Colombia, and as an OMS rover in the Western Hemisphere. The daughter of an FSO, she joined the Foreign Service in 2011 and prior to that was The Foreign Service Journal ’s business manager for several years. Her M’s Adventures in Bangladesh was published in 2013 and M’s Adventures in Colombia was published in 2016. To purchase these books, and to follow her adventures, go to madventures.me . Leader by Choice: 7 Decisions That Spark Your Purpose, Passion and Perseverance Andres Valdes, Amazon Digital Services, 2017, $3.99/Kindle, 226 pages. Why leave your short life up to chance when you can start living and leading by choice? This book is your kick in the pants! As its title implies, Leader by Choice isn’t an academic exer- cise full of theories. It’s jam-packed with practical and motiva- tional stories designed to help ignite your personal transforma- tion through easy-to-implement advice and exercises for those ready to start living and leading. The author, a proud graduate of “the School of Hard Knocks,” as he puts it, draws on his own experience surmounting the setbacks and tragedies he faced to demonstrate that one doesn’t need special talents, a new job or more education to change one’s life for the better. In this book he presents the seven specific decisions that took him from accidental to intentional living. Andres Valdes joined the Foreign Service in 2005 and is currently serving as a management officer in Armenia. He has completed tours in Rwanda, Japan and Cuba, and an assignment in Washington, D.C., in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, where he worked on humanitarian diplomacy. When not at work or spending time with his family, the author mentors and writes or lectures on leadership, personal development and communication. Moja and the Lion Corrinne Callins (author), Michael Cribbs (illustrator), Callico Press, 2017, $10.99/ paperback, 20 pages. Moja is a lion cub who has much to fear living alone with his mother, without the protection of the pride, on the Kenyan plains. But the wise lioness teaches Moja that he can overcome any threat by trusting God, and one day the little lion is tested. The story is based on Psalm 118:6— “The Lord is with me. I will not fear.” Pleasingly illustrated by Michael Cribbs, this book for ages 3 to 6 is the second from Callico Press. Dedicated to publishing thoughtful books that encourage readers to understand their value and worth and to recognize the value and worth of others, Callico’s motto is: “Encouraging faith and learning through truth and inspiration.”