Please choose me . . . I’m free!
Click the title to learn more about each of the books at Amazon.com.
If you find a book you are interested in reviewing, email me and I will send you the book (at no cost) along with some brief reviewing instructions. If you prefer to review a book on a Kindle (if available), let me know.
If you see a book of interest on our bimonthly listing “New Books by Peace Corps Writers…” page that interests you, contact me and I will get a review copy of it if we haven’t received one.
Thanks!
Marian at marian@haleybeil.com
The Fallen: A Novel
Edna G. Bay (Malawi 1965-68)
Peace Corps Writers
220 pages
The daughter of a Peace Corps volunteer killed in a fall in Malawi researches her mother’s experience and divines her killer’s motive.
St. Petersburg Bay Blues
Douglas Buchacek (Russia 2001-03)
Independently published
2021
201 pages
A memoir of a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Group Nine of the Western Russia Program, from 2001 to 2003.
You Try Paa: A Love Song in Translation
(poetry)
Cynthia Ann Caul (Ghana 2008–10)
Independently published
85 pages
A Peace Corps memoir detailing Caul’s time in Ghana in a series of episodic poems that explore white saviorism and U.S. American exceptionalism in the Peace Corps.
Called by Another Name: A Memoir of the Gwangju Uprising
(Peace Corps memoir)
David Lee Dolinger (Korea 1978–80) with Matt VanVolkenburg
Goggas/Gaek Publisher
274 pages
The American who walked into the turmoil of Korean History
Ships in the Desert
Jeff Fearnside (Kazakhstan 2002–04)
Santa Fe Writer’s Project
136 pages
This books explores universal issues of religious bigotry, cultural intolerance, environmental degradation, and how a battle over water rights led to a catastrophe that is now being repeated around the world
Janina Marie Fuller (Philippines 1978-80)
Peace Corps Writers
178 pages
In encounters with an array of creatures, from both domesticated and wild animals inhabiting my Louisiana backyard to denizens of the Amazon, I present these stories to illuminate our inseparability from the life around us by capturing peak moments in the natural world.
Goats: And Other Stories
(Short stories)
Martin Ganzglass (Somalia 1966–68)
Peace Corps Writers
305 pages
Ten Imaginative stories that weave together the mundane and the supernatural to reveal relationships that are at once humorous and humane.
The Price of Freedom
(Historical novel)
Martin R. Ganzglass (Somalia 1966–68)
Peace Corps Writers
370 pages
This sixth and last novel of the American Revolution by Martin Ganzglass begins after the crucial victory at Yorktown in October 1781, and ends in the summer of 1784 in liberated New York City when Patriots and former Loyalists begin to overcome their wartime differences.
Finding Our Way: A Newlywed Couple’s Peace Corps Odyssey in 1960s Korea
(Peace Corps memoir)
Steven Gallon (Korea 1967-69)
288 ages
A young couple recounts adventures, discoveries and lessons accrued while living and teaching as Peace Corps Volunteers in 1960s Korea.
Dear Michelle, — Letters from an Old Friend in a New Life
Samuel Gerard (Luebbers) (Ukraine 2018-20)
Peace Corps Writers
233 pages
A collection of letters I wish I’d sent. The narrations are raw, intimate depictions of the world she was promised.
Building Community: Answering Kennedy’s Call: Answering Kennedy’s Call
Harlan R. Green (Turkey 1964-66)
Peace Corps Writers
137 pages
A memoir of life-affirming adventures in public service. A Peace Corps Volunteer answers Kennedy’s call to build peaceful communities at home and abroad.
Beyond The Road to Sinyea: A Peace Corps Memoir – Liberia 1981–83
Ann Hales (Liberia 1981–1983)
Peace Corps Writers
173 pages
When a young woman strides into her dream adventure as a Peace Corps Volunteer, she gets more than she bargained for — the experience transforms her life. As a nursing instructor in Liberia, West Africa, in the early 1980’s, she witnesses gut-wrenching life circumstances of the Liberian people and their systems of education and health care. While living in a traditional village, she discovers that her neighbors believe she has magical powers, encounters the ‘devil’ from the Secret Bush Society, and finds ‘family’ when she least expected to do so.
Discovering Tunisian Cuisine
(Cookbook)
Judith Dwan Hallet (Tunisia 1964 – 66) and Raoudha Guellali Ben Taarit, Hasna Trabelsi
Spirit Of Place/Spirit Of Design, Inc, 2019
148 pages
Judy Dwan Hallet has assembled a terrific collection of delicious and healthy Mediterranean Tunisian recipes along with insightful accounts of the country’s distinctive culture, art, and history. No cook with an interest in the world’s distinctive cuisines should be without Discovering Tunisian Cuisine.
The Color of the Elephant: Memoir of a Muzungu
Christine Herbert (Zambia 2004–06)
GenZ Publishing
January 2022
$15.99 (paperback), $5.99 (Kindle)
Joining the Peace Corps in her 30s was an attempt to rewrite the story of her life, but she never guessed the story would read like Bridget Jones Goes to Africa!
Through Grateful Eyes: The Peace Corps Experiences of Dartmouth’s Class of 1967
Charles A. Hobbie (Korea 1968–71; staff: trainer 1971, PCDC 1972-78, 2011-18)
iUniverse Publishing
300 pages
This book features the incredible stories of nineteen Dartmouth classmates and five spouses who served in fifteen countries in the early years of the Peace Corps, describing what they did, where they lived, whom they met, what they learned, and how they were challenged and changed by their experiences half a century ago.
Awkward Stumbles and Fuzzy Memories: Memoir of a Peace Corps Volunteer: Memoir of a Peace Corps Volunteer
(Peace Corps memoir)
Kathy Ivchenko (Ukraine 1994-96; 2000-01)
Independently published
192 pages
This book focuses on my first stint in the Peace Corps from 1994-96. It follows the ups and downs of training, teaching and romantic stumbles as I left my small home town and traveled down my Peace Corps path filled with love, laughter and libations.
Angels of Bastogne: A Remembrance of World War II
Glenn H. Ivers (Liberia 1974-1976)
Peace Corps Writers
February 2022
Angels of Bastogne is a remembrance of World War II that is based on the true story of a U.S. Army doctor, Jack Prior, and two heroic Belgian nurses, Renee Lemaire and Augusta Chiwy, who volunteered in his aid station that was bombed on Christmas Eve, 1944.
The Life of a Nepali Village Boy
Ambika Mohan Joshee (Peace Corps staff/Nepal 1971–2001)
Peace Corps Writers
267 pages
“He is talented: able to secure work, develop schools, and convince others to aid these selfless efforts, especially in education. And he is responsible: responsible to the farmers in the co-ops he led, responsible to the students he taught, responsible to the volunteers he prepped and supported, and responsible to his family above all. His work touched the lives of thousands.” — Will Newman, former Director, Peace Corps/Nepal.
Fast Food for Thought: Poetry to Ponder
(Poetry) Eldon Katter (Ethiopia 1962–64)
A Peace Corps Writers Book
178 pages
The idiomatic title is meant to suggest that the words are something worth thinking about. It is a selection of the author’s poems, old and new, on a wide range of subjects. Identity, choice, change, aging, and the environment are just a few of the topics touched upon.
Lucky: An African Student, An American Dream, and a Long Bike Ride
Brooke P Marshall (Malawi 2013–15)
Atramental Publishing
257 pages
Brooke Marshall rode her bicycle from Raleigh to Seattle, and visited 17 universities and colleges to tell them about the potential of Malawi students from an African village who are unable to afford to attend college because of the prohibitive cost.
In the Amber Chamber: Stories
(Short stories)
Carrie Messenger (Moldova 1994–96)
Brighthorse Books
260 pages
In the Amber Chamber combines dark fairy tales with disturbing history: a dust bowl, some famine, and some dessert.
A Cup of Stars: Stories
(Short stories)
Joseph Monninger (Burkina Faso 1975–77)
Wood Heat Press
458 pages
Joseph Monninger has been publishing novels, non-fiction, and short stories since 1978. This is a collection of 25 of his short fiction.
…I meant those other people. A Snapshot/Memoir of an HIV Tester
Corella Payne (Ecuador0
Booklocker.com
137 pages
Conversations about HIV disease can bring forth reactions ranging from comprehension, to fear. This book seeks to encourage having honest discussions to reach a clearer, fact-based understanding of the virus, as well as ensuring fair, respectful treatment for all those impacted as well as affected by HIV/AIDS, everywhere.
‘The Mystical Land of Myrrh
(short stories)
MaryAnn Shank (Somalia 1967–69)
Dippity Press
222 pages
Stories of a young Peace Corps Volunteer who stretched her senses to soak in every story, every song that was around her, but her missteps tossed a beautiful young woman into a whipping circle, and denied her students the futures they had worked so hard to obtain.
Back to the Future in Bandipur
Chin Kumar Shrestha’; translated by Mike Gill (Nepal 1967-70); English version edited by John Comings
Book Art /Nepal
350 pages
This autobiography by a Nepali provides all RPCVs a window into the impact they had on the people who trained them, worked with them and were their friends.
Tropical Ecstasy: A Nostalgia Trip to Brazil
Norman Weeks (Brazil 1968-70)
Independently published 2020
282 pages
The author returns after an absence of twenty-five years to his old haunts in Brazil.retracing his unforgettable journey to this huge South American country to take a second look at a place he has known quite well.