Book Suggestions

[610Alpha]

I just finished "How to Survive TEOTWAWKI" and I am wondering what others are reading.

Also want to know which books to avoid.

I enjoyed the book, found that JWR recommends the dry ice method even though we all have learned from Lowdown3 that even the big guys don't do that. Lots of links (working on a compiled list will post that later) and other good info. Got it from the UK on amazon for $12. I felt it was worth the read and gives me something to refer to later.

[eeyore]

From Survival Blog, i have read a lot of these, and some you can download and have for free. Practice what you read, it should give you a starting place at least. One of the books i think is a must is Bruce LaRue's book "how to survive a catastrophe on a budget" and another called the "Badtimes Primer" CG Cobb. Ken Kern's books on homesteading and his workshop book are good also.

Jim's Non-Fiction "musts":
KJV Version Reference Bible with Apocrypha
First Aid -- (American Red Cross Handbook) Responding To Emergencies
Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook by David Werner
Where There Is No Dentist by Murray ****son
The Encyclopedia of Country Living (Tenth Edition) by Carla Emery (See review, below)
Making the Best of Basics - Family Preparedness Handbook by James Talmage Stevens
Ball Blue Book of Preserving
Cookin' with Home Storage by Vicki Tate
Nuclear War Survival Skills by Cresson H. Kearney (Available for free download.)
The Alpha Strategy by John Pugsley. (Out of print, but a PDF is available for free download.)
Boston's Gun Bible by Boston T. Party (See review, below)
Survival Guns by Mel Tappan
Tappan on Survival by Mel Tappan
Jim's "Second Tier" List of Recommended Specialty Books:

Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables by Mike Bubel
Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition by Abigail R. Gehring
Putting Food By (Plume) by Janet Greene
Stocking Up: The Third Edition of America's Classic Preserving Guide by Carol Hupping
Emergency Food Storage & Survival Handbook by Peggy Layton
Gardening When It Counts: Growing Food in Hard Times by Steve Solomon
All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew
Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners by Suzanne Ashworth
Small-Scale Grain Raising by Gene Lodgson
How to Find Your Ideal Country Home: A Comprehensive Guide by Gene GeRue
Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and with (Almost) No Money by Dolly Freed

Starting a New Life in Rural America: 21 Things You Need to Know Before You Make Your Move by Ragnar Benson
The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book by Mike Oehler
Emergency War Surgery (NATO Handbook:- Third United States Revision, 2004) by Dr. Martin Fackler, et al.
PDR for Nonprescription Drugs, Dietary Supplements, and Herbs, 2008 (See review, below)
Physicians Drug Handbook
Physicians' Desk Reference 2009 (PDR, 63rd Edition)
The Merck Veterinary Manual
Where There Is No Vet by Bill Forse
The ARRL Operating Manual For Radio Amateurs (ARRL Operating Manual)
Passport to World Band Radio, 2009 Edition
Outdoor Survival Skills by Larry Dean Olsen
Essential Bushcraft by Ray Mears
SAS Survival Handbook by John "Lofty" Wiseman
Ultimate Sniper 2006 : An Advanced Training Manual for Military and Police Snipers (2006 Updated Edition) by Maj. John L. Plaster
Total Resistance by H. von Dach
The Survivor book series by Kurt Saxon. Many are out of print in hard copy, but they are all available on DVD. Here, I must issue a caveat lector ("reader beware"): Mr. Saxon has some very controversial views that I do not agree with. Among other things he is a eugenicist.
Other Nonfiction Books Recommended by SurvivalBlog Readers:

The Little Black Book of Violence by Lawrence A. Kane and Kris Wilder
Engineer Field Data (FM 5-34) (U.S. Army manual)
U.S. Army Ranger Handbook (U.S. Army manual)
Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival by Jack A. Spigarelli
The Foxfire Book series (in 11 volumes, but the first five are the best)
When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency by Matthew Stein
Preparedness Now!: An Emergency Survival Guide (Expanded and Revised Edition) by Aton Edwards
Five Acres and Independence: A Handbook for Small Farm Management by Maurice G. Kains
How to Stay Alive in the Woods by Bradford Angier
The New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman
Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival
Tom Brown's Field Guide to Nature Observation and Tracking
Tom Brown's Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants (Field Guide)
Ditch Medicine: Advanced Field Procedures For Emergencies by Hugh Coffee
Living Well on Practically Nothing by Ed Romney
The Secure Home by Joel Skousen
Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life, by Neil Strauss
98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your *** Alive by Cody Lundin
When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikesby Cody Lundin
The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO's Contribution to Warfareby John Poole
Camping & Wilderness Survival: The Ultimate Outdoors Book by Paul Tawrell
Engineer Field Data (US Army FM 5-34) --Available online free of charge, with registration, but I recommend getting a hard copy. preferably with the heavy-duty plastic binding.
Great Livin' in Grubby Times by Don Paul
Just in Case by Kathy Harrison
Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance by John & Martha Storey
Adventure Medical Kits A Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness & Travel Medicineby Eric A. Weiss, M.D
Rodale's Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: The Indispensable Green Resource for Every Gardener
Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook (it superceded the very out-of-date ST 31-91B)
Wilderness Medicine, 5th Edition by Paul S. Auerbach
Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Longby Elliot Coleman
Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition by Abigail R. Gehring
The Weed Cookbook: Naturally Nutritious - Yours Free for the Taking! by Adrienne Crowhurst
The Modern Survival Retreat by Ragnar Benson
Last of the Mountain Men by Harold Peterson
Primitive Wilderness Living & Survival Skills: Naked into the Wilderness by John McPherson
LDS Preparedness Manual, edited by Christopher M. Parrett
The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century by James H. Kunstler
Principles of Personal Defense - Revised Edition by Jeff Cooper
Survival Poaching by Ragnar Benson
The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses by Eliot Coleman
Jim's Recommended "Be Ready to Barter" Reference Book List:

Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms and Their Values
Blue Book of Gun Values
The Official Red Book: A Guide Book of United States Coins 2009

2009 Standard Catalog of World Coins 1901-2000
2010 Standard Catalog of World Coins 2001-Date

Antique Trader - Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide

Wristwatch Annual 2009: The Catalog of Producers, Prices, Models, and Specifications
Jewelry & Gems the Buying Guide: How to Buy Diamonds, Pearls, Colored Gemstones, Gold & Jewelry With Confidence And Knowledge


Note: If you enjoy reading my blog, you will also likely enjoy reading these books that I authored:

"Rawles on Retreats and Relocation" -- this book has details on selecting the locale for a self-sufficient survival retreat.
The "Rawles Gets You Ready" preparedness course (co-authored by JWR)
"How to Survive the End of the World As We Know It". A detailed guide to family preparedness for turbulent times

Recommended Books on Current Events and Economics

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nick Taleb
Government By Emergency by Dr. Gary North
Crash Proof 2.0: How to Profit From the Economic Collapse by Peter Schiff
Financial Armageddon: Protecting Your Future from Four Impending Catastrophes by Michael J. Panzner
When Giants Fall: An Economic Roadmap for the End of the American Era by Michael J. Panzner
The Ultimate Depression Survival Guide by Martin Weiss
Financial Reckoning Day Fallout: Surviving Today's Global Depression by Addison Wiggin and Bill Bonner
The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century by James H. Kunstler

Fiction with Survival and Preparedness Themes (Some of these are out of print but usually available via inter-library loan):

Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank (A classic nuke scenario)
The Rackham Files by Dean Ing (includes the text of "Pulling Through" a more modern nuke scenario + a mini nuke survival manual) Not to be confused with my screenplay--also titled "Pulling Through".
Some Will Not Die by Algis Budrys (Plague total wipe-out scenario)
No Blade of Grass by John Christopher (Massive crop disease/social breakdown scenario, from the British perspective.)
Enemies Foreign and Domestic by Matthew Bracken
Molon Labe! by Boston T. Party
Earth Abides by George Stewart
Vandenberg by Oliver Lange (Invasion scenario. Note: It was later republished under the title: Defiance: An American Novel)
The Weapon by Michael Z. Williamson (SurvivalBlog's Editor at Large)
Unintended Consequences by John Ross (This otherwise excellent novel was marred by some vulgarity and gratuitous sex scenes. Beware!)
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Wolf And Iron by Gordon ****son
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
Fire and Ice, by Ray Kytle
Note: If you enjoy SurvivalBlog, I believe that you will also enjoy reading my novel "Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse" and my screenplay "Pulling Through".The latter is currently available for free download.

Survivalist Fiction Recommended by SurvivalBlog Readers:

One Second After by William R. Forstchen (An EMP scenario.)
World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler
Last of the Breed by Louis L’amour
Survivors by Terry Nation
Conquistador: A Novel of Alternate History by S.M. Stirling
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Warday: And the Journey Onward by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka
Malevil by Robert Merle
Farnham's Freehold by Robert Heinlein
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
Tunnel in the Sky by Robert Heinlein
King Rat by James Clavell
Footfall by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

The Rawles Kids' Favorite Books for Young Adults:

Nonfiction:

Boy Scouts Handbook: The First Edition, 1911
The Dangerous Book for Boys
The American Boy's Handybook of Camp Lore and Woodcraft
How to Stay Alive in the Woods
Fiction:

Hatchet
My Side of the Mountain
Robinson Crusoe
Treasure Island
Kidnapped
The Swiss Family Robinson
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings
Little House on the Prairie Series
The Chronicles of Narnia Series
The Tripods Series
Johnny Tremain
Fiction for Young Adults Recommended by SurvivalBlog Readers:

The Tomorrow Series
Life As We Knew It
Escape from Warsaw (Original title: The Silver Sword)

The Late Memsahib's Top "Must Have" Book:

The Encyclopedia of Country Living (Tenth edition) by Carla Emery. Sasquatch Books. (Get the Ninth or later edition.) This book is 845 pages of valuable 'how-to' country survival knowledge. The Memsahib (1964-2009) wrote: "The first time that I butchered chickens, I used this book. When I needed 15 different ways to fix zucchini I turned to this book, when I wanted to make soap, pickles, jelly, bread from scratch, butter, and cream cheese, I found everything I needed to know in this book!"

Other Books Recommended by The Late Memsahib:

Gardening When It Counts by Steve Solomon
How to Survive Without a Salary: Learning How to Live the Conserver Lifestyle by Charles Long
Small-Scale Grain Raising by Gene Lodgson
The Family Cow by Dirk van Loon
Raising a Calf for Beef by Phyllis Hobson
Small-Scale Pig Raising by Dirk van Loon
Raising Rabbits the Modern Way by Bob Bennett
Raising Sheep the Modern Way. Updated and Revised Edition by Paula Simmons
Ducks and Geese in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide by Rick and Gail Luttmann
The Complete Medicinal Herbal by Penelope Ody

Recommended Magazine Subscriptions:
Backwoods Home
Countryside & Small Stock Journal
Home Power

[Longhunter]

Fiction: The Road, One Second After, A Land Remembered, Northwest Passage, The Change series by S.M. Sterling

Nonfiction: Survive by Les Stroud, The Forager's Harvest, Leadership and Training for the Fight, On Combat, The One That Got Away

Just a few of my favorites

[1Admin]

Bad times primer is excellent, pretty close to Tappan on Survival.

My laptop went to computer heaven recently but I was able to get some of the info on a hard drive. One of the only things I did with the laptop was put most of my book inventory on a spreadsheet in there. Some I don't mind publishing on the net, some I do. But it's a pile of books, some older, some new, a lot of hard to find and old school stuff. Everything from birthing babies to blacksmithing. I'll see it I can retrieve it and the feasability of posting it.

[huberal]

Thanks for the list. I have one question though: You say some of them you can download and have for free, but where? I like the idea of free books, but I am also a supporter of copyright (a person has a right to profit from his work). I try to balance this with the fact that I also like to take a look at a book before I buy it (and it is nice to have a pdf copy for ease of transportation). As an example, I recently bought Patriots after reading a few chapters of a downloaded version and deciding I liked it enough to finish it and have it in my library. Anyway, one major site for book downloading (studytemple)has recently blocked links to the downloading sites so I am at a loss. Can you provide any direction either here or at my email huberal@gmail?

[Petrson]

Hello everyone,
Thanks for sharing the list. I like the idea of free books, but I am also supporter of copyright.

[manowar]

excellent list, althought some themes are repetitive. i am dissappointed that there is only one book on wild edibles, that being "the weed cook book" i do not know that one not sure how it would be for identification, i would reccomend john kallas and sam thayer wild edible books and also peterson for you basic 4 or 5 books. not to hijack the thread, but it often dismays me when i post about wild edibles and invariably someone comes on and says you must really know what you are doing, so why take the chance.
my response to this usually is how much time to you spend learning other skills-weeds will be a renewable source of food-can that be said for anything else? wild edibles require a skill set like no other which is why i personally spend the most time on this topic.
anyhow as to the copyright issue....well i like to hold a book in my hands and have it at a moments notice for reference, while i have purchased many a book from amazon- a few were a dissappointment because i could not read thru them first, showing my age and tech ignorance here but i like books stores, of course this comes from a guy still on dial up
manowar

[Matt In Oklahoma]

excellent list, althought some themes are repetitive. i am dissappointed that there is only one book on wild edibles, that being "the weed cook book" i do not know that one not sure how it would be for identification, i would reccomend john kallas and sam thayer wild edible books and also peterson for you basic 4 or 5 books.

Manowar which one has the best illustrations for visual reference?
Also the digital books still can be printed, I hvae several that i printed to keep for further references

[jeffwheel]

I prefer paper editions instead of digital because paper don't damage in case of EMP, even if it's soaked it's recoverable and don't require electricity.
However, I store all the digital books of survival I can reach.