After learning of someone who spent a year reading books from around the world – all 196 independent countries – I found this to be intriguing. (To view her blog, go to ayearofreadingtheworld.com) As an avid reader and someone interested in other cultures and customs, I developed my own Reading Around The World series focusing on 63 countries that Peace Corps (PC) is involved in (plus former countries). I’ll also list books I’ve read from countries not served by PC. Any book marked with ^ indicates it is a PC story. These books consist of a variety of different topics, but all are about the culture, history and/or customs of the country listed. Recommendations are encouraged! For books on my country of service (Morocco ’16-18), go here.
Eastern Europe & Central Asia
Albania
Armenia: My Grandmother: An Armenian-Turkish Memoir by Fethiye Cetin
Azerbaijan*: Ali and Nino by Kurban Said
Bosnia-Herzegovina*: People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks; Rose of Sarajevo by Ayse Kukin; War Childhood by Jasminko Halilovic; The Judgement of Richard Richter lby Igor Stiks; The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway; Genocide on the Drina River by Edina Becirevic; Logavina Street: Life and Death in a Sarajevo Neighborhood by Barbara Demick;
Bulgaria*: The Shadow Lands by Elizabeth Kostova
Cyprus*
Czech Republic*: The Bloodletters Daughter by Linda Lafferty
Estonia*
Hungary*
Georgia: Ali and Nino by Kurban Said
Kazakhstan*
Kosovo
Kyrgyz Republic: I am Me Because of You by Karen Lawrence^
Latvia*
Lithuania*
Macedonia
Moldova
Poland*: The Girl from Krakow by Alex Rosenberg
Romania*
Russia*: The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport; Between Love & Honor by Alexandra Lapierre
Slovak Republic*
Turkey*: My Grandmother: An Armenian-Turkish Memoir by Fethiye Cetin; Without A Country by Ayse Kulin; Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World by Suzy Hansen; Museum of Innocence by Orhan Pamuk; 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak; The Girl in the Tree by Sebnem Isiguzel; Walking on the Ceiling by Aysegul Savas
Turkmenistan*
Ukraine: Beyond the Shadow of Night by Ray Kingfisher; Savaged Lands by Lana Kortchik
Uzbekistan*
South America: The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard; State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
Argentina*
Bolivia*: The Puma Years by Laura Coleman
Brazil*: Never Stop Walking: A Memoir of Finding Home Across the World by Christina Rickardsson
Chile*: Ten Women by Marcela Serrano; Clandestine in Chile by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Colombia: Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras; The Gringo Brought His Mother by Geneva Sanders^
Ecuador: Living Poor A Peace Corps Chronicle by Moritz Thomsen^
Guyana
Paraguay
Peru: Turn Right at Machu Picchu by Mark Adams; Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Suriname*
Uruguay*
Venezuela*: Making it Happen: Peace Corps and Venezuela^ by Mike Kendellen
Caribbean
Dominican Republic: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez; In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
Eastern Caribbean: A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid
Haiti*
Jamaica
Central America & Mexico
Belize
Costa Rica
El Salvador*
Guatemala: Margarita: A Guatemalan Peace Corps Experience by Marjorie DeMoss Casebolt^; The President by Miguel Angel Asturias
Honduras*: The Lost City of the Monkey God by Douglas Preston
+Mexico: American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins; The Empress: A Novel by Laura Martinez-Belli; The Murmur of Bees by Sofia Segovia; Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Nicaragua
Panama
Asia: The Wishing Tree by John Shors
Afghanistan*: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini; A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini; The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad; The Broken Circle by Enjeela Ahmadi-Miller
Bangladesh*: I Remember Abbu by Humayun Azad
Cambodia: First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers by Loung Ung; The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine by Somaly Mam; Exiled: From the Killing Fields of Cambodia to California and Back by Katya Cengel
China: River Town by Peter Hessler^; Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China by Jung Chang; Out of Mao’s Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China by Phillip P. Pan; The Emperor Far Away by David Eimer; Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman; Dreaming in Chinese-Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love and Language by Deborah Fallows; Life by Lu Yao; The Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China’s Past and Present by Peter Hessler;
India*: The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy; Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri; Staying On by Paul Scott; Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo; Beneath the Marble Sky by John Shors; The Hundred Foot Journey by Richard C Morais; A Princess Remembers by Gayatri Devi; The Last Queen of India by Michelle Moran; Sideways on a Scooter by Miranda Kennedy
Indonesia: The Paradise Guest House by Ellen Sussman; Nirzona by Abidah El Khalieqy; The Birdwoman’s Palate by Laksmi Pamuntjak; The Question of Red by Laksmi Pamuntjak; Letters from a Javanese Princess by Raden Adjeng Kartini; Bali: Heaven and Hell by Phil Jarrett
Malaysia*: The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo
Mongolia: Walking the Gobi by Helen Thayer
Myanmar (Burma): A Well-Tempered Heart by Jan-Philipp Sendker; The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker
Nepal
Pakistan*: Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa; I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
Philipines
South Korea*: The Golden Orchard by Flora Ahn; The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See; If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha; Korea: The Impossible Country by Daniel Tudor
Sri Lanka*
Thailand: The Beach by Alex Garland
Timor-Leste
Africa: Say You’re One of Them by Uwem Akpan; African Visas by Maria Thomas; African Friends and Money Matters: Observations from Africa by David E. Maranz
Benin: Murder in Benin-Kate Puzey’s Death in the Peace Corps by Aaron Kase^
Botswana: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Burkino Faso*: Service Disrupted by Tyler Lloyd^
Burundi*: Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder; Small Country by Gael Faye
Cameroon: How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
Cape Verde*
Central African Republic*
Chad*
Comoros
Cote d’Ivoire*: Nine Hills to Nambinkaha by Sarah Erdman^; The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan
Ethiopia: Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Equatorial Guinea*
Eritrea*
Gabon*
Ghana: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi; Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau*
Kenya*: West with the Night by Beryl Markham; A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi wa Thiong’o; Unbowed by Wangari Maathai
Lesotho
Liberia: This Child Will be Great by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Madagascar: Beyond the Rice Fields by Naivo; Return to the Enchanted Island by Johary Ravaloson
Malawi
Mali*: Badass Librarians from Timbuktu by Joshua Hammer; Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali by Kris Holloway^
Mauritania*: The Desert and the Drum by Mbarfek Ould Beyrouk
Mauritius*
Mozambique
Namibia: Grandma 64 Joins the Peace Corps and Lands in Namibia by Anne Baker^
Niger*
Nigeria*: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe; Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo; The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare
Republic of Congo*: King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild; Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa by Jason K. Stearns
Rwanda: An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesaagina
Sao Tome and Principe*
Senegal
Seychelles*
Sierra Leone: A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
Somalia*: Keeping Hope Alive: One Woman 90,000 Lives by Dr. Hawa Abdi
South Africa: A Conspiracy of Mothers by Colleen van Niekerk; Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela; Born a Crime: Stories of a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
Sudan*: Emma’s War: Love, Betrayal and Death in the Sudan by Deborah Scroggins
Swaziland
Tanzania: Hard Rain by Irma Venter
The Gambia
Togo
Uganda: The Queen of Katwe – The Story of Life, Chess, and One Extraordinary Girl’s Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster by Tim Crothers; Kintu by Jennifer Makumbi
Zaire (now Democratic Republic of the Congo)*
Zambia
Zimbabwe*: The Hairdresser of Harare by Tendai Huchu; Diamond Boy by Michael Williams
Pacific Islands:
Cook Islands*
Fiji: Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu by J. Maarten Troost
Kiribati*: The Sex Lives of Cannibals by J. Maarten Troost
Marshall Islands*
Micronesia
Niue*
Papua New Guinea*: Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff
Samoa
Solomon Islands*: Journeys in a Small Canoe: The Life and Times of a Solomon Islander by Lloyd Maepeza Gina
Tonga:
Tuvalu*
Vanuatu: Getting Stoned with Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu by J. Maarten Troost
North Africa/Middle East: Baghdad Without a Map and Other Misadventures in Arabia by Tony Horwitz; Exit West by Mohsin Hamid; From Muhammed to Burj Khalifa by Michael Rank; From Beirut to Jerusalam by Thomas L Friedman; The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho; Travels with a Tangerine: A Journey in the Footnotes of Ibn Battutah by Tim Mackintosh-Smith
Bahrain*
Iran*: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi; The Last Days of Cafe Leila by Donia Bijan; Then They Came for Me by Maziar Bahari; A Sliver of Light-Three Americans Imprisoned in Iran by Shane Bauer; Revolutionary Ride by Lois Pryce
Jordan*: Married to a Bedouin by Marguerite van Geldermalsen; Queen Noor by Susan Muaddi Darraj
Libya*: The Return by Hisham Matar
Malta*
+Morocco: For books on my country of service go here.
Oman*
Tunisia*: The Ardent Swarm by Yamen Manai
Yemen*: I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali
Peace Corps Related
~All You Need is Love: The Peace Corps Spirit of the 1960’s by Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman
~Living on the Edge, fiction by Peace Corps writers
~A Life Inspired: Tales of Peace Corps Service
~Voices of the Peace Corps: Fifty Years of Kentucky Volunteers
Other cultures
(this will not include various books on United States, France, and the UK because I’ve read an overabundance of those over the years)
Antarctica: The Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton
Antigua: A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid
Austria: The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict
Belgium: War and Turpentine by Stefan Hertmans
Borneo: Stranger in the Forest by Eric Hansen
Cuba: Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton; Cuba Diaries by Isadora Tattlin; The Passion According to Carmela by Marco Aguinis
Easter Island: The Statues that Walked by Terry Hunt; Wide as the Wind by Edward Stanton
Egypt: The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George; Cleopatra A Novel by Stacy Schiff; Sipping from the Nile: My Exodus from Egypt by Jean Naggar; Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz
Germany: Your Perfect Year by Charlotte Lucas; The First Mrs. Rothschild by Sara Aharoi; In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson; The Book Thief by Markus Zusak; Night by Elie Wiesel; The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch
Greece: The House by the River by Lena Manta
Haiti: Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende
Iceland: A Fist or a Heart by Kristin Eiriksdottir
Iraq: Memories from Baghdad: Memos from Iraq by Ramzi Jawad; Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea; The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity by Nadia Murad
Israel: About the Night by Anat Talshir; Goodbye Paris, Shalom Tel Aviv by Marco Koskas; The Art of Leaving by Ayelet Tsabari; Bethlehem: Biography of a Town by Nicholas Blincoe; The First Mrs. Rothschild by Sara Aharoni; Rise and Kill First by Ronen Bergman
Italy: From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily and Finding Home by Tembi Locke; Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
Japan: The Great Passage by Shion Miura; The Diplomat’s Daughter by Karin Tanabe; Go by Kazuki Kaneshiro
Kazakhstan: The Dead Wander in the Desert by Rollan Seisenbayev
North Korea: Without You, There is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea’s Elite by Suki Kim; Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick; Somewhere Inside by Laura and Lisa Ling; An American Spy Inside North Korea
Norway: This Life or the Next by Demian Vitanza
Palestine: About the Night by Anat Talshir; A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
Russia: A Train to Potevka by Mike Ramsdell; Beyond Siberia by Sharon Dirlam; The Big Green Tent by Lyudmila Ulitskaya; True Memoirs of Little K by Adrienne Sharp
Saudi Arabia: Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson; Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea
Spain: All This I Will Give to You by Delores Redondo; The Imposter: A True Story by Javier Cercas
Singapore: The Moonlight Palace by Liz Rosenberg
Sweden: The Dark Heart by Joakim Palmkvist; A Drop of Midnight: A Memoir by Jason Timbuktu Diakite; The Man Who Played with Fire by Jan Stocklassa
Switzerland: Portrait of a Girl by Dorthe Binkert
Syria: Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar
Taiwan: Green Island by Shawna Yang Ryan
Tajikistan: Don’t Go Out After Dark: A Memoir of Civil War by Mike Kendellen
Tibet: Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer; Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama by Dalai Lama XIV
+Vietnam: A Short Ride in the Jungle: The Ho Chi Minh Trail by Motorcycle by Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent; The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen; Paradise of the Blind by Duong Thu Huong; So Happiness to Meet You by Karin Esterhammer
UAE: My Vision by Mohammed Rashid Al Maktoum
*Indicates a former PC Country
^Indicates written by a PCV regarding their service
italics books indicates on my To Read list
italics country indicates I’ve traveled there
+indicates countries I’ve lived in
alicrain 