There is no denying the fact that reading about a particular country when you are in it somehow enhances your travel experience. Details come into focus much faster, you gain a better perspective into what you are observing, and even though you might not necessarily be more educated about a certain country, somehow you feel you are.

This has been no different for us, so here are just a few of books that we've read in the last year that we'd very much recommend to those interested in some of the countries we've visited, whether you're traveling there soon or not.

"Beyond the Sky and the Earth - A Journey into Bhutan" by Jamie Zeppa

At the young age of 24, Jamie Zeppa, a teacher from Canada, joined a teaching programme in Bhutan, a country known for being difficult to visit as a tourist. Her first months there were very difficult, as she seemed to be the figurative deer caught in the headlights, unable to cope with the dramatic difference in culture and lifestyle. She was incredibly homesick for her family and boyfriend back in Canada, and the spartan living conditions were trying to say the least.

However, the children she was teaching eventually taught her how to cook, while families showed their appreciation by providing her with food. Zeppa slowly makes a transition from being lonely and miserable to being incredibly grateful for the beauty and serenity of the country and its people. She writes about the challenges of living in a completely different world, and her eventual conversion to Bhuddism is enlightening. It's hard for any of us to imagine giving up everything we know to live in a foreign land; Zeppa not only does it but convinces the reader that it is a worthwhile and rewarding undertaking.

"A Passage to Africa" by George Alagiah

BBC journalist George Alagiah is no stranger to different lands and cultures, and his experience comes through in spades in this book. Written in fairly simple prose, Alagiah combines his facts with his sense of social outrage in a compelling read that stretches from Ghana to Rwanda to Somalia and back. He mixes hope with outrage, atrocities with miracles, corruption and integrity.

Alagiah draws upon his personal experience as an emmigrant from Sri Lanka to Ghana, as well as his experience as a journalist on the several stories he covered criss-crossing the African continent. Like many other books focussed on the challenges that Africans face, A Passage to Africa leaves the reader feeling shocked and somewhat outraged, but at the same time, there is a thread of hope and potential that runs throughout the chapters. Like the pride of the people portrayed in the book, Alagiah depicts his pride in his background and upbringing with clarity and wit.

"In Retrospect" by Robert S. McNamara

This book was one of the greatest insights into the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War that we have been exposed to. Being the age we are, we have no real social consciousness of the war and its impact, but this book provided some insight into the decisions that were made by the US government at that time. "McNamara's War" is given no excuses here, and with what we felt was compelling forthrightness, the author explains in detail critical decisions, how some of them led to disastrous consequences, and alternatives that could have been considered.

It was easy for us to read this without having any emotional tie to the event, being Canadian, and not really understanding the events that led to the United States sending troops to Vietnam. Floating along the Mekong river on the way to Saigon and reading this book only served to enhance the read. Most notable is McNamara's clear sense of "We were wrong," as he points out at several key junctures in his book.

"The Age of Kali" by William Darylmple

This is a series of essays that describe various snapshots of Indian culture using clearly written prose, incredibly informative examples, and beautifully turned sentences. Featured in the pages of The Age of Kali are fifteen-year-old guerilla girls and dowager Maharanis; flashy Bombay drinks parties and violent village blood feuds; a group of vegetarian terrorists intent on destroying India’s first Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet; and a palace where port and cigars are still carried to guests on a miniature silver steam train.

Dalrymple meets such all kinds of unique and colouful characters, experiences caste massacres in the badlands of Bihar and dines with a drug baron on the North-West Frontier. The picture he paints of modern-day India is somewhat bleak, but incredibly captivating; a must-read for anyone considering visiting this intense, but immensely rewarding country.

Just for fun, here are a few memorable quotations from various sources:

"Vietnamese plant the rice, Cambodians watch it grow, Laotians listen to it grow."

"[Cambodia is...] less a nation state than a conglomeration of tribes and languages... less a unified society than a multiplicity of feudal societies."

"We [Americans] do not have the God-given right to shape every nation in our own image or as we choose."

"I have grown sick at heart witnessing the cynicism and even contempt with which so many people view our political institutions & leaders."