7 New books by Peace Corps writers: March–April 2021

To purchase any of these books from Amazon.com — CLICK on the book cover, the bold book title, or the publishing format you would like — and Peace Corps Worldwide, an Amazon Associate, will receive a small remittance from your purchase that will help support the site and the annual Peace Corps Writers awards.

We now include a one-sentence description  for the books listed here in hopes of encouraging readers  1) to order a book and 2) to VOLUNTEER TO REVIEW IT. See a book you’d like to review for Peace Corps Worldwide? Send a note to Marian at marian@haleybeil.com, and we’ll send you a copy along with a few instructions.

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Transformation: The 60-second Mind-body Practice Integrating Tai chi and Yoga to Manage Stress and Unlock Your Potential
Robert R. Abbott, Ph.D. (Nigeria 1965-67) and Zochi Young
Peace Corps Writers
January, 2021
110 pages
$22.00 (paperback), $9.99 (Kindle)

Transformation has 20 chapters of text and 30 illustrations that generally conform to Tai Chi movements linked to powerful social value affirmations such as; share, be of service, speak your truth etc.

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Goats: And Other Stories
Martin Ganzglass (Somalia 1966–68)
Peace Corps Writers
March, 2021
305 pages
$10.00 (paperback)

Ten Imaginative stories that weave together the mundane and the supernatural to reveal relationships that are at once humorous and humane.

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Oliver’s Travels
Clifford Garstang (Korea 1976–77)
Regal House Publishing
May 2021
300 pages
$18.95 (paperback), $9.49 (Kindle) — can be preordered

With wry humor and finely wrought prose, Oliver’s Travels is a shimmering coming-of-age story that explores enduring questions: What do we know? How do we know it?

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Risk and the State: How Economics and Neuroscience Shape Political Legitimacy to Address Geopolitical, Environmental, and Health Risks for Sustainable
by Phillip G. Lebel (Ethiopia 1965-67)
Brown Walker Press
April 2021
340 pages; $34.95 (Paperback)

The January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection in Washington, D.C. reminds us of the need to establish a common understanding of scientific evidence and how this shapes our views of democratic governance. This book comes at a time when such an analysis is needed now more than ever.

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The G–K Project: A Peace Corps Experience 
Carl Murry (Pakistan 1962–64)
A Peace Corps Writers Book
184 pages
$7.95 (paperback)

THE G-K PROJECT is a personal account of the historical beginnings of the Peace Corps and the process of selecting, training and placement of volunteers, with an introduction to the small, highly populated, Islamic nation of East Pakistan before its independence to become Bangladesh.

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The Giant Tangerine Sunball: Poems from a Peace Corps Volunteer
Katie Speicher (Senegal 2016-2018)
Peace Corps Writers
March, 2021
72 pages
$19.95 (paperback)

In her literary debut, Katie Speicher invites readers to join her in Senegal with her poems on beauty, strength, questioning, nostalgia, heartbreak, and contentment. Her poems have sprung from her Peace Corps service and from reaching deep into memory.

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Under the Wave at Waimea
by Paul Theroux (Malawi 1963-65)
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
416 pages
April 2021
$15.99 (Kindle); $$24.21l (Hardback); $28.00 (Audio CD)

Although he’s traveled the world, he lived the longest in Hawaii, whose complexity has fascinated him all that time. He connected with people from different social classes and places in the world, he asked, “So why are the islands so difficult and why is a place like Hawaii, one of the 50 U.S. States so uncooperative, so complex in its division?”

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