14 Peace Corps Resources To Help You Prepare For Service

This is one of the most important decisions of your life (for some of us anyway), so why not be 100% prepared for it? Lucky for you, there are many Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who have survived the Peace Corps life and lived to write a story about it just for your sake. There are tons of Peace Corps books out there, so which ones should you choose? The best practice is to read as many different perspectives as possible, which is why all the books below are not all focused on one specific countries of service. Based on a 4-star or higher review, these are some of the most popular Peace Corps Books on Amazon right now! Visit each link to learn more or share your favorite Peace Corps books!

1. River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler

Via amazon.com

Published in 2001

2. The Insider’s Guide to the Peace Corps: What to Know Before You Go by Dillon Banerjee

Via amazon.com

Published in 2009

3. Living Poor: A Peace Corps Chronicle by Moritz Thomsen

Via amazon.com

Published in 1990

4. The Peace Corps Volunteer’s Handbook: A Personal Field Guide to Making the Most of Your Peace Corps Experience by Travis Hellstrom

Via amazon.com

Published in 2016

5. It Depends: A Guide to Peace Corps by Kelly Branyik

Via amazon.com

Published in 2017

6. Service Disrupted: My Peace Corps Story by Tyler E. Lloyd

Via amazon.com

Published in 2017

7. Even the Smallest Crab Has Teeth: 50 Years of Amazing Peace Corps Stories: Volume Four: Asia and the Pacific (Peace Corps at 50) by Jane Albritton

Via amazon.com

Published in 2011.
Part of a larger series of Peace Corps books focusing on volunteers over 50 years of age.

8. When the World Calls: The Inside Story of the Peace Corps and Its First Fifty Years by Stanley Meisler

Via amazon.com

Published in 2012

9. A Couple in the Corps: A Peace Corps Journey From A Couple’s Perspective by Eric Starr

Via amazon.com

10. Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years With a Midwife in Mali by Kris Holloway

Via amazon.com

Published in 2006

11. At Home on the Kazakh Steppe: A Peace Corps Memoir by Janet Givens

Published in 2015.

12. Ponds of Kalambayi: A Peace Corps Memoir by Mike Tidwell

Via amazon.com

Published in 2011.

13. A Land Without Time: A Peace Corps Volunteer in Afghanistan by John Sumser

Published in 2006.

14. Kosher Chinese by Michael Levy

Via amazon.com

Published in 2011