19 Brilliant Books About Different Cultures

Read for | Stories about India, inequality, the caste system

Behind the Beautiful Forevers tells a story of the dichotomy between Annawadi, a slum by the Mumbai international airport, and the luxury hotels surrounding it. India is one of the fastest-growing economies on earth, but Katherine Boo humanizes those who are left behind recounting the three years she spent in the lives of the families who call Annawadi their home.

Read for | Latin America, social and cultural history, colonization, colonialism

Rather than chronology, geography, or political successions, Eduardo Galeano organizes Latin American history by the patterns of five centuries of exploitation. The book discusses gold and silver, cacao and cotton, rubber and coffee, fruit, hides and wool, petroleum, iron, nickel, manganese, copper, aluminum ore, nitrates, and tin. These are the veins which he traces through the body of the entire continent, up to the Rio Grande and throughout the Caribbean, all the way to the ends where they pour wealth into the United States and Europe.

Read for | Iran, Iranian-American Immigrant Family, Cultural Differences

Funny in Farsi chronicles the journey of Dumas and her family, in 1972, at age seven, who moved from Iran to California. The book shares stories about her life in the United States for the next several decades (with a brief return to Iran). The book explores the themes of adjusting to a different culture and dealing with her extended family, most of whom also moved to the U.S. in the 1970s.

Read for | Asia, China, Japan, Korea, social and cultural history

An ancient Chinese proverb says that “two tigers cannot share the same mountain.” In East Asia, however, there are three tigers on that mountain: China, Japan, and Korea. These countries have a long history of turmoil and tension with each other. In Michael Booth’s newest travelogue, he sets out to understand the animosity between these three “tiger” nations and understand their barriers to peace.

Read for | Personal Growth, Critical Thinking, Thinking to Learn

Think Again reveals that we don’t have to believe everything we think or internalize everything we feel. It’s an invitation to let go of views that are no longer serving us well and prize mental flexibility over foolish consistency. If knowledge is power, knowing what we don’t know is wisdom.

Learn how to rethink and unlearn with Adam Grant’s stories, wisdom, and advice to keep an updated mind and develop your muscle for lifelong learning.

Read for | Kenya, Environmental Activism, Sustainability

In Unbowed, Wangari Maathai shares her life from childhood until she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. She writes about her childhood, her education in the United States and her return to Kenya, moving on to her life as an environmentalist and political activist, culminating with the victory of the opposition in the 2002, elections against the ruling party and her election to parliament, followed shortly after by the Nobel Prize. Maathai stresses the connection between environmental conservation and good governance.

Read for | Denmark, lifestyle, journalistic memoir, light-hearted

Cultural Lens: New York Times Bestseller, National Book Award Winner, Named one of Time’s Ten Best Nonfiction Books of the Decade

My copy of The Year of Living Danishly is worn from so much use. In this cozy book, Helen Russel is suddenly given the opportunity of a new life in rural Jutland, Denmark – a country with the reputation as the happiest place on earth. Russell explores the secret to their success through a year of living on the ground trying to uncover their formula for happiness. From childcare, education, food and interior design to SAD, taxes, sexism and an unfortunate predilection for burning witches, The Year of Living Danishly is a funny, poignant record of a journey that shows us where the Danes get it right, where they get it wrong, and how we might just benefit from living a little more Danishly ourselves.

Read for | How to build a culture, what is culture

Where does great culture come from? In The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle explores some of the world’s most successful organizations and shares the secrets to their strong cultures. Culture is not something you are—it’s something you do. The Culture Code puts the power in your hands to create strong cultures and helps you understand what not to do when building a strong culture. This book shares a different perspective on culture than what you may typically think. If office cultures are malleable, then how can we apply this same information to advance larger cultures within countries?

Read for | Wellness, Health, Happiness, Lifestyle, Greece, Italy, Japan, Costa Rica, California, Singapore, Denmark

Not only will Dan Buettner’s books improve your wellness, but you’ll explore parts of the world that are often overlooked in novels. From Sardinia Italy to Singapore, explore the cultures, diets, habits, and outlooked of 8 incredible world regions. Learn what makes them some of the healthiest and happiest places on Earth, and how you can apply their secret sauce to your own life.

Read for | How to Think, Update Your Worldview, Facts, Data

If you plan to read only one book from this list, choose Factfulness. This is the single most important book I have read for helping me clearly see the world.

Factfulness is the stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends–what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school–w most people systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently outguess teachers, journalists, Nobel laureates, and investment bankers. In Factfulness, Professor of International Health Hans Rosling, with collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens and reveals ten instincts that distort people’s perspectives.

Read for | Finland, happiness, mindful practices, health, lifestyle

Forget hygge–it’s time to blow out the candles and get out into the world Journalist Katja Pantzar did just that, taking the huge leap to move to the remote Nordic country of Finland. What she discovered there transformed her body, mind and spirit. In this engaging and practical guide, she shows readers how to embrace the keep it simple and sensible daily practices that make Finns one of the happiest populations in the world, year after year.

Read for | Denmark, Nordic countries, Scandinavia, data-driven

Journalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for more than ten years, and he has grown increasingly frustrated with the rose-tinted view of this part of the world offered up by the media. In The Almost Nearly Perfect People, he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success, and, most intriguing of all, what they think of one another.

Read for | Nigeria, Colonization of Africa, History of Nigeria

Things Fall Apart is a classic narrative about Africa’s cataclysmic encounter with Europe as it establishes a colonial presence on the continent. Told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s, Things Fall Apart explores one man’s futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political and religious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order.

Read for | Spain, North Africa, Magical Realism, Language Differences, Travel

The Alchemist tells the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel the world. One night, he receives a dream about a treasure and begins his quest in search of it. Santiago’s journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, of recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life’s path, and, most importantly, to follow our dreams.

Read for | Afghanistan History, Society, and Culture, Gender Issues

The Kite Runner tells the story of Amir, a young boy from Kabul. The story is set against a backdrop of tumultuous events, from the fall of Afghanistan’s monartchy, through the Soviet invasion, the exodus of refugees to Pakistan and the United States, and the rise the Taliban regime.

In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Mariam, an illegitimate teenager from Herat is forced to marry a shoemaker from Kabul after a family tragedy. Laila, born a generation later, lives a relatively privileged life, but her life intersects with Mariam’s when a similar tragedy forces her to accept a marriage proposal from Mariam’s husband.

Read for | Nigeria, Life of an African International Student in the USA, Cultural Clashes, Race & Colorism

Ifemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria to go to school in England and the United States. Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black for the first time. Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Fifteen years later, they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion–for each other and for their homeland.

Read for | Chinese-American Immigrants, San Francisco, Resilience

The Joy Luck Club tells the story of four mothers, four daughters, and four families whose stories shift depending on who’s telling them. In 1949, four Chinese women, recent immigrants to San Francisco, begin meeting to eat dim sum, play mahjong, and talk. United by their stories of unspeakable tragedy and hope, they call themselves the Joy Luck Club. Rather than sink into tragedy, the four women choose to gather to raise their spirits and money. Forty years later the stories and history continue.

Cultural Lens: Colombia, Magical Realism, Commentary on Colombian Government

One Hundred Years of Solitude tells the story of the multi-generational Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, founded the town of Macondo. The story traverses the rise and fall, birth and death of the town of Macondo through the leadership of the Buendiá family.

Read for | Singapore, Chinese-American Immigrant Family, Cultural Clash

In Crazy Rich Asians, New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young. Her vision of a humble family home and quality time her fiance is dashed upon her arrival. You see, Nick is from one of Singapore’s wealthiest families. His childhood home looks like a palace, and he grew up riding in more private planes than cars. He also failed to tell Rachel that is one of the country’s most eligible bachelors. Her relaxed family vacation turns into an obstacle course of old money, new money, nosy relatives, and scheming social climbers.