This is a huge book list culled from other websites, which I’ve collected on my Sustainable Living & Common Sense board.
Topics including Housing, Permaculture, Gardening, How-To, Self-Sufficiency, Survival, Fuel, Home Power and much, much more. If you’re ‘prepping’, these are the kind of books you need.
Apologize in advance if there are duplicates, I just don’t have much time anymore, we’re swamped with business (if you’re planning on ordering food, please hurry up before the lines get too long).
Housing
The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book - Mike Oehler The Complete Book of Underground houses - Roy The Hand-Sculpted House - Evans, Smith & Smiley Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks and Techniques - Kaki Hunter, Donald Kiffmeyer Cordwood Building: The State of the Art (Natural Building Series) - Rob Roy Complete Book Of Cordwood Masonry Housebuilding: The Earthwood Method - Robert L. Roy How to build a Chemical-Free house - 1994 Environmental Control Systems by F. Moore (1993) ISBN 0–07–042889–1 Covers thermal performance of buildings, with much attention to climate, microclimate, passive and active solar. Filled with easy to understand graphics, with beginner-level explanations. Also includes many well explained reference charts, data, and load sizing worksheets. I consider this book a must-have for designing any off-grid building, unless trial and error is your cup of tea. The only downside is that plumbing and electrical systems are not covered, except for lighting.
A Shelter Sketchbook: Timeless Building Solutions Amazing resource for desigining sustainable homes in all climates, drawn from time-tested, vernacular solutions.
Self Sufficiency
The Complete Guide to Self Sufficiency by John Seymour This is a brilliant book, full of practical advice for Homesteaders and Survivalists. It is considered the bible of Self Sufficiency.
The Encyclopedia of Country Living: An Old Fashioned Recipe Book The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It: The Complete Back-To-Basics Guide Crisis Preparedness Handbook: A Complete Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance and Planetary Survival Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills (Hardcover) Extreme Simplicity: Homesteading in the City The River Cottage Cookbook - More than just a cookbook, as it relates directly to Hugh’s novice efforts at self sufficiency.
Country Living
Solar Gardening – Poison Making the Best of Basics – Stevens The New Independent Home – Michael Potts Solar Living Source Book – Schaeffer Storey’s Basic Country Skills – John & Martha Storey The Bread Builders – Masonry Ovens and bread baking.
Permaculture
One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka : Another bible, this time for permaculture. This book also has a philosophical potency that is refreshing. It has just been reprinted and should be available quite cheaply on abebooks.com. Permaculture: A Designer’s Manual - Bill Mollison, Mollison is consider the father of permaculture.
Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability, by David Holmgren
Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway and John Todd - Developing systems that work together to produce food with less water, less time, less effort: using perennials, swales, rain barrels, greywater, correct siting, easier to read then Mollison.
How to Make a Forest Garden - Patrick Whitefield - Goes a lot farther than Gaia’s Garden on Forest gardening.
How To
Windpower Workshop by Hugh Piggotts Complete home Wiring The Complete Home Improvement Manual Backwoods Home Magazine-Best of the First Two Years Backwoods Home Magazine Subscriptions Mother Earth News Subscription Backwoods Home magazine The Self Sufficient Life and How to Live It Back Home magazine Solar Gardening Poison The New Independent Home Michael Potts
New Home Workshop Encyclopedia by the editors of Popular Science (1944) How to deal with rationed materials and how to repair lots of items from less-electronic times.
Fortunes in formulas for home, farm, and workshop by Hiscox & Sloane (1939) covers inks, waterproofing, soap, and how to make boiled linseed oil (don’t let it boil). It’s 900 pages are more encyclopedic than the Pop Sci encyclopedia.
Complete Idiot’s Guide Big Book of Needle Arts and Crafts When Technology Fails How Was It Done? Weaving Country Baskets The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible volume 3 Deerskins into Buckskins: How to Tan with Brain, Soap or Eggs New Complete Self-sufficiency: The Classic Guide for Realists and Dreamers Animal Traps and Trapping Home Smoking and Curing The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible Volume 2 The Traditional Bowyer’s Bible volume 1 Always Coming Home by Ursula LeGuin The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
Medicine
Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook from David Werner Translations - http://www.hesperian.org/translations.shtml Where There Is No Dentist For those unable to buy them, i’ve found online version (in pdf) of these two books - http://www.healthwrights.org/booksonline.htm Helping Health Workers Learn Disabled Village Children Ditch Medicine The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook: A Home Manual - by James Green Complete how-to make herbals remedies and a lot around it, a good book but you will NOT find a lot of pictures, so you will need a botany book. Do-It-Yourself Medicine: How to Find and Use the Most Effective Antibiotics Where Women Have No Doctor: A Health Guide for Women by Ronnie Lovich Wilderness Medicine, Beyond First Aid, 5th Edition The Natural Remedy Bible John Lust. PDR (Physicians Desk Reference) for Herbal Medicines Ageless Remedies from Mother Kitchen Hanna Kroeger Instant Herbal Locator Hanna Kroeger The Healing Herbs Michael Castleman Healing Wise Susan Weed Medical Reference Library, Nutrition and Vitamins. A series of books on Chinese Herbal medicine. Home Remedies Editors of Prevention Magazine Being Your Own Wilderness Doctor Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers by Stephen Buhner. Tactical Medicine by Ian McDevitt The Survival Nurse Benson Red Cross 1st Aid Asthma and Bronchitis treatment by natural therapies Herbal Antibiotics : Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug-Resistant Bacteria (Storey Medicinal Herb Guide)
Food Preservation
Canning & Preserving for Dummies from Karen Ward.
Book Sources
http://www.seedsofchange.com Chelsea Green in Vermont (http://www.chelseagreen.com) www.seedballs.com http://www.amazon.com
Fuel Manufacturing
From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank, by Joshua Tickell. It explains all you need to know to run a diesel engine on vegetable oil, including how to convert your engine to burn it directly, or how to chemically modify the oil to make biodiesel, which will burn in any unaltered diesel engine.
http://www.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/batesmethane.htm http://www.ees.adelaide.edu.au/pharris/biogas/beginners.html http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/farmmgt/05002.html
The Alcohol Fuel Manual for Home and Farm. by Stephen W. Mathewson, ISBN 0–89815–029–9. Available online : http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_manual/manual_ToC.html
Gardening
The Self-Sufficient Gardener by John Seymour The Organic Garden Book by Geoff Hamilton Growing Unusual Vegetables by Simon Hickmott Roses Love Garlic
Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening (ISBN 1580170277) Using compatible plants for natural pest control and to enhance yield.
Five Acres and Independence New Seed Starters Handbook How to Grow More Vegetables… (by Jeavons) One Circle (How to Grow a Complete Diet in Less than 1000 sq. ft.) Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza The New Organic Grower: A Master’s Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Insect and Disease Control The Rodale Book of Composting : Easy Methods for Every Gardener Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners Cubed Foot Gardening: Growing Vegetables in Raised, Intensive Beds Square Foot Gardening Gardening for Food and Fun (1977 USDA Yearbook of Agriculture). One of the best books on vegetable gardening, fruit and nut raising, and food preservation. The Natural Way of Farming - Masanobu Fukuoka.
There’s a nice book on preserving food by a French group, Terre Vivante.The French title is Conserves naturelles des quatres saisons. The English translation is Keeping Food Fresh: Old World Techniques and Recipes.
An important figure in gardening, Emilia Hazelip, wrote in French and Spanish (and some English). She applied the ideas of Fukuoka to vegetable gardening in temperate climates. A wise and knowledgeable person who, sadly, recently passed away. More at http://www.fukuokafarmingol.net/faemilia.html.
Woodworking
Traditional Woodworking Methods and Techniques The Woodwright’s Shop by Roy Underhill’s The Woodwright’s Companion Old Ways of Working Wood - Bealer’s
Metalworking
Metalwork for Craftsmen The Blacksmith Anvilfire is a great resource for the blacksmith. The New Edge of the Anvil by Jack Andrews The Art of Blacksmithing by Art Bealer. Building Small Cupola Furnaces Foundrywork for the Amateurs and Foundry Work: a Text on Molding, Dry-Sand Coremaking, Melting and Mixing of Metals Suppliers- Kayne and Son and Centaur Forge Welding Aluminum: Theory and Practice (professional level book) from The Aluminum Association, Washington, DC.
The Complete Handbook of Sand Casting - C. W. Ammen Iron Melting Cupola Furnaces for the Small Foundry - Stephen D. Chastain Metal Casting: A Sand Casting Manual for the Small Foundry - Stephen D. Chastain Metal Casting: A Sand Casting Manual for the Small Foundry, Volume 2 - Stephen D. Chastain The Complete Modern Blacksmith - Alexander G. Weygers
Survival
Ultimate Desert Handbook SAS survival manual - John Wiseman Urban Survival Handbook - John Wiseman US Army Survival Manual Edible and Medicinal Plants of the Rockies (Rocky Mountains) by Linda Kershaw Illustrated Guide to Edible Wild Plants Medicine for Mountaineering The Mountaineers Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants Bradford Angier Most of John Muir books Psychology of Wilderness Survival - similar to SAS Survival Guide,specific to Boreal forest survival Participating in Nature: Field Guide to Primitive Living Skills by Thomas J. Elpel Food for Free by Richard Mabey. Edible plants of Eastern and Central North America - Peterson Books. Field Guide to Ontario Plants and Wildflowers - Full color pictures and details to help ID plants Most of John Muir’s books – I have had these for some 30 years.
Peak Oil
Resource Wars Michael Klare. The Party’s Over Richard Heinberg Power Down Richard Heinberg The Coming Oil Crisis CJ Campbell Hubbert’s Peak, The impending world oil shortage K.S. Deffeyes The Oil Age is Over Matt Savinar The End of Suburbia, the Movie The End of Oil Paul Roberts See No Evil Robert Baer Policy actions in the Middle East and Central Asia Sleeping with the Devil Robert Baer. US dealings with the corrupt House of Saud. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed Powerdown : Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World Beyond Oil : The View from Hubbert’s Peak Peak Oil
Miscellaneous
Strategic Relocation Cooking With the Sun Encyclopedia of Dressmaking. Gazettes Atlas Maps Trailsafe:Averting Threatening Behavior - Michael Bane How To Build & Operate Your Own Small Hydroelectric Plant On The Road of the Winds by Patrick Kirch Anarchy, State & Utopia by Robert Nozick Analysis of methods of human organization in a post-peak world Coming Home to the Pleistocene, by Paul Shepard Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder Heart and Hands by Elizabeth Davis The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable by Juliette de Bairacli Levi Who Dies? by Stephen Levine The Pagan Book of Living and Dying by Starhawk Anything by Tom Brown, John Seymour, John Jeavons The Future of Money: Creating New Wealth, Work and a Wiser World by Bernard Lietaer Community currencies and how they are used to drive a sustainable local economy.
Beekeeping
The Queen and I (beekeeping book)
Root Cellar
Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits and Vegetables- Mike Bubel, Nancy Bubel
Childbearing
Spiritual Midwifery (and other childbirth books) The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by Le Leche League The Baby Book by Dr. Willaim Sears The Successful Child By Dr. Sears Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin Homebirth by Sheila Kitzinger Breastfeeding Your Baby by Sheila Kitzinger Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron Birthing From Within by Pam England Herbs for a Healthy Pregnancy - Penelope Ody Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler Herbal for the Childbearing Year by Susun Weed Healing Wise by Susun Weed
LIVESTOCK
The Complete Book of Raising Livestock and Poultry Goats Produce Too! by Mary Jane Toth Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens Storey’s Guide to Raising Poultry: Breeds, Care, Health Chickens In Your Backyard : A Beginner’s Guide Chicken Tractor Small Scale Aquaculture Chickens in Your Backyard: A Beginner’s Guide (ISBN 0878571256) Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens (ISBN 158017325X) Backyard Livestock: Raising Good Natural Food for Your Family This book will help you raising your own livestock! Xhickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, rabbits, sheep, goats, pigs, veal and cattle.
PRESERVING & BREWING
Putting Food By Ball Blue Book of Preserving Lore of Still Building The Alaskan Bootlegger’s Bible The Joy of Pickling: 200 Flavor-Packed Recipes for All Kinds of Produce from Garden or Market Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers by Stephen Buhner
COOKING
The Taste of Country Cooking by Edna Lewis Woodstove Cookery : At Home on the Range The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 1 Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 2 A Taste of Russia: A Cookbook of Russian Hospitality Please to the Table : The Russian Cookbook (Paperback) The Cuisine of Armenia A Cook on the Wildside by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall : This book deals with foraging for wild food and what to do with it.
MORE ‘recommended’ books
The Foxfire Books - I think there’s ten of them, all with detailed info
Earth Ovens by Kiko Denzer
How to Grow More Vegetables : And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine Crisis Preparedness Handbook : A Complete Guide to Home Storage and Physical Survival Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Wilderness Survival Windpower Workshop Freed, Dolly. Possum Living: How To Live Well Without A Job and With (almost) No Money. Logsdon, Gene. Small-Scale Grain Raising How to Develop a Low Cost Family Food Storage System by Anita Evangelista Five Acres and Independence: A Handbook for Small Farm Management by MG Kains How to Grow Vegetables and Fruits by the Organic Method by the Rodale Press Ball Blue Book The self-sufficient life and how to live it : The complete back-to-basics guide from John Seymour The forgotten Arts & Crafts from John Seymour.. When Technology fails : A manual for self-reliance & Planetary survival from Matthew Stein.. The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure by Joseph Jenkins The Earthship books (See www.earthship.com) Serious Straw Bale: A Home Construction Guide for All Climates by Paul Lacinski Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook
Deerskins Into Buckskins: How To Tan With Brains, Soap, Or Eggs by Matt Richards Blue mountain buckskin: A working manual, dryscrape, brain-tan by Jim Riggs Homesteading: a Practical Guide to Living Off the Land by Patricia Crawford New Independent Home by Michael Potts Smoking Salmon and Trout Plus Pickling, Salting, Sausaging and Care by S Whelan The Alcohol Fuel Manual, Stephen W. Mathewson - Available online: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_manual/manual_ToC.html
Earthbag Building : The Tools, Tricks and Techniques (Natural Building Series) by Kaki Hunter, Donald Kiffmeyer
At Amazon
http://www.newsociety.com/bookid/3842
Here a couple of links on methane generation and uses for methane : http://www.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/batesmethane.htm http://www.ees.adelaide.edu.au/pharris/biogas/beginners.html http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/farmmgt/05002.html
The Natural Remedy Bible – John Lust. PDR for Herbal Medicines Ageless Remedies from Mother’s Kitchen – Hanna Kroeger Instant Herbal Locator – Hanna Kroeger The Healing Herbs – Michael Castleman Healing Wise – Susan Weed Medical Reference Library, Nutrition and Vitamins. A series of books on Chinese Herbal medicine. Home Remedies – Editors of Prevention Magazine Being Your Own Wilderness Doctor The Survival Nurse – Benson Red Cross 1st Aid
“The Complete Handbook of Sand Casting” C. W. Ammen; Paperback; $12.21 “Iron Melting Cupola Furnaces for the Small Foundry” Stephen D. Chastain; Paperback; $19.95 “Metal Casting: A Sand Casting Manual for the Small Foundry” Stephen D. Chastain; Paperback; $19.95 “Metal Casting: A Sand Casting Manual for the Small Foundry, Volume 2″ Stephen D. Chastain; Paperback; $19.95
I’ve read some of these books and have heard good things about all of them, so on that basis, they come recommended.
You can also check on half.com- as good or better than ebay.
A little aside from shelter/survival slant, but perhaps allowable under this broad title:
“Project Gutenberg” (hit Google first) has some 18 000 absolutely free ebooks you can download to your hard-disc and, as electricity available, read on your monitor. Pick those in HTML format, for easier on the eyes.
Only drawback, these are exclusively ‘out of copyright’ and so not the latest bestsellers! If you like classics, adults and teens have some good picks. And at ‘Free’ you have to admit, they’d be cheap at half the price!
As expatriates, we have had to self-medicate since many years. I found “The Pill Book” The illustrated guide to the most prescribed drugs in the United States, from Bert Stern, L.D. Chilnick, G.I. Simon and H.M. Silverman, very valuable. From Bantam Books. It gives dosages, indications, contra indications, etc. There are many pages with plates of how the capsules and pills look like. Useful in this world of counterfeits. I know one can look up all this information on the internet these days, but we have so many power outages (and PC crashes) that I find it comforting to have this very thick book present.
For those in the UK, or northern Europe, there’s Johnny Jumbalaya’s ‘Really Wild Food Guide’, as well as Richard Mabey’s ‘Food For Free’. Both about finding and using wild foods.
Also the Plants For A Future database, which lists some 7300 edible, medicinal and useful plants, and what to do with them, along with where and how they grow (http://www.pfaf.org/) - I suppose that one should probably be printed off.
Bought this the other day:
Bought the Peterson field guide, “Edible Wild Plants, Eastern/Central North America” ISBN 0–395–92622-X
Sorry if this is a duplicate,no time to read the whole thread. “Back to Eden” by Jethro Kloss It does have alot of religous overtone as Dr. Kloss was a very religous man but has great old time remedies in it that could be really handy if our medical system isnt available.He describes treatment pretty in depth and refers to herbal and dietary treatment as well as descrption of Physical treatment that he used in the 1920′s.He refers to Influenza as Le Grippe.Old school…
The “Foxfire” series of books edited by Eliot Wigginton from the early 70′s. Still in print and available on Amazon. Informative and entertaining!
All you need are some spoons, a claw-hammer banjo, a fiddle, a guitar and maybe a bottle of Wild Turkey or a cup of cider to round off the books. And a rich loamy plot of earth. Fortunately, I have all of the above tho I can’t/couldn’t play worth a darm… maybe it was the WT. Need to improve the ‘plot’ too.
Just got two books from Amazon , both of which are good for newbies:
Apocalyse Chow by Jon Robertson: Long discussion about prepping, what to have, etc. and all recipes are with canned/on hand items. Assumes some ability to cook but that’s it - most food prep is all done by hand and cooking is only stove-top
Preserving Summers Bounty A Rodale Garden Book: Easy instructions on canning, freezing and drying fresh foods for use later. Easy recipes with uncomplicated ingredients.
The Foxfire series mentioned by bird-dog is excellent for basic outdoor skills. Some books even have a water-proof cover and binding.
In the Texas area, Half-Price Books always has copies.
i think this illustrates why people began to specalize,but let me add….”camping and woodcraft”,first published in 1917, fourth printing,1996.university of tennesee press.by horace kephart. literally everything for getting by in a pinch.
When it comes to firearms, Tappan’s “Survival Guns”, and “Boston’s Gun Bible” by Ken Royce are both good.
Closed to maintain Forum speed.