Recently I’ve seen several intriguing references to books of various types. Let’s collect recommendations here. Reading material DOES NOT have to be directly related to H5N1 or pandemic, for instance someone mentioned a book about post-nuclear apocalypse sounded interesting.
I would personally like to know about fiction that’s related to global warming, partly to scare myself ;-) but also as a tool to think about what life might be like during or after a pandemic, since they share some characteristics such as lack of utilities. Also am interested in other books that y’all have found valuable.
To start off, here are a couple of books I have read and recommend:
Of course, John Barry’s book, The Great Influenza. Not enough in it about community life for me, but it covers the 1918 pandemic that we look to for clues on what to expect.
MFK Fisher, The Art of Eating. In particular, the section ‘How to Cook a Wolf’ has commentary and recipes for shortages during WWII in England. Well written.
One more that I have not read yet is David Arora’s book All that the Rain Promises, and More… a pocket guide to Western Mushrooms. Purchased as a guide to picking them without poisoning myself.
What are you reading, and what’s good (or not) about it?
Dr Gregers book the title escapes me. He explains the mechcanics of transmission and mutation in easy to understand terms. I found the book to be concise informative and frightening.
Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching by Michael Greger - ?
Thank you blackbird!
One series of books that would be useful and entertaining is the Foxfire series. Lost of info on how to live minus modern conviences
You’re welcome, janetn. I couldn’t resist doing a little checking to see if I could find the book.
Here is a recommendation for another book from Lugon’s Forum.CoverNeedsStoringLess thread, from Jane – at 22:46:
I found something like that in The SAS Survival Handbook, p. 283. By John Wiseman.
Filtering: Allow water to stand in its container so that sediment settles to the bottom. Then siphon it into a filter made up of a nylon stocking (or other porous material) stuffed with layers of sand (bottom), charcoal and moss (top).
Then sterilize with bleach or iodine, (Don’t know if I should copy any more of his book.)
It’s a great book, btw. The food section covers smoking food, making flour, insects. Also fish narcotics made from plants! So you can catch the fish! (In the disaster section, he recommends storing a year’s worth of food.)
The Bird Flu Pandemic: Can it happen? Will it happen? by Dr. Jeffrey Greene I really liked chapter 4 because it covered breifly, yet concisely the current evolution of H5N1.
Backpacker Wilderness 911, by Eric A. Weiss, MD
A book I have, but haven’t read yet… FLU, by Gina Kolata.
Also, have not read (only skimmed) MFK Fisher’s book, “How to Cook a Wolf.”
The Book of Yogurt, by Sonia Uvezian. Another book I haven’t read yet… ummm… I just got a book order in!
I think the post nuclear book you`re refering to is probaby;
Alas,Babylon by Pat Frank.
It`s an oldie but goody.
Also;
Lucifer`s HAmmer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
And,
Earth Abides by George Stewart
I just reread The Stand by King. MAn, talk about reading with new eyes ! Like, How in **** did they have running water that was fit to drink in Boulder, with no electricity ? And, if they could get the PA system going for a meeting, why couldn`t they just have hooked up gennies so at least the first folks could of had lights? LOL
EnoughAlready - would you say more about Backpacker Wilderness 911 — does the material apply to household pandemic needs or truly widerness (worst-case) scenarios.
cactus - will check out the titles you suggest, thanks for posting them. The post-apocolypse book was The Road by Cormac Mccarthy. I haven’t read it but it sounds very grim. Interesting, but grim.
Here’s another one that I found but have not yet read. It’s fiction, here is the review and url from Amazon (I have no connection with these books or vendors):
Wow. This stunning book succeeds on so many different levels—as an engrossing story, a character study, a history lesson, a modern day political allegory—I don’t even know where to begin the praise. The Last Town on Earth centers on the inhabitants of a small logging town in Washington and what happens when they take drastic measures (quarantine) to try and protect themselves from the virulent and deadly flu epidemic of 1918. When a deserting WWI soldier demands sanctuary, events are set in motion that change the town forever.
blackbird – at 02:50
I already had several books dealing with household emergencies— Red Cross, Army Survival Manual, Where There’s No Doctor, Tom Browns Triology, and some stuff I snagged from my children who are nurses.
I picked up the Wilderness 911 book at the library because there have been so many suggestions on taking that level of training on this website… and on others. There were some unique things in it that I hadn’t seen anywhere else… like what to do it you puncture or pop an eyeball out. I know that sounds extreme, but it caught my attention because when I was a kid a friend was changing a tire on his bike and the spoke broke loose and punctured his eye. He grabbed it, as any child would… and it pulled his eyeball out of the socket! It is things like that I felt would be important to know in a situation where medical services may be lacking (at best.) So, although it doesn’t necessarily pertain to household pandemic needs… you never know what you may be faced with.
Pertinent information included shock, breathing rescue, burns and life saving techiniques. Like I said, I checked it out of the library. The illustrations were very helpful, and although much of the information I hope never to use, it is a book I plan to purchase.
Hope this answered your question!!
Blackbird, if you want post nuclear survival book (fiction & new) try “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy…very bleak, about a man trying to survive with his young son.
Nuclear War Survival Skills- Online version
Has lots of “survival” information that would apply to a great number of situations.
I didn’t read the book ‘The Stand’ but I saw the movie (was a miniseries). I rented it at Blockbuster Video. It’s 8 hours long, many famous actors in it.
JWB- Ditto here. I was quiet impressed how it started off, but really didn’t like the rest of the movie. The story line just seem to drift on about these people who had to get to that elderly woman, and the deal with the corn field, like there was demons there. Had nothing to do with the biohazard that got out.
cottontop – at 12:53
It’s been a few years since I watched it. I may rerent it and watch it through my new fluwiki eyes. ;-)
JWB- If King had just stayed with the biohazard theme through out the book, it would had been a really good book/movie.
For your children, even if they’re not scouts…The Scout Handbook. Excellent skills for every young person to learn.
‘The Coming Plague’ by Laurie Garrett. A scary but comprehensive, easy-to-understand book about how the way we live has helped microbes to be successful. Very well-written and covers a wide range of diseases(AIDS, Ebola, TB, Malaria, and much more) and geographical locations.
I found it fascinating.
EnoughAlready – at 03:20 Thanks, yes that helps. Sounds like you have quite a first aid library!
There are so many manuals around, I am trying to sort out what I want and need. Wilderness 911 sounds like it covers a broad spectrum of things.
I have a fear that in an emergency, I’ll be looking for the right book to tell me what to do. Was reading my first aid manual this morning for just that reason: to familiarize myself with what’s in it so I can find it more easily if it is ever needed.
It’s hard for me to sit down and read this stuff, because I keep thinking about how much I *don’t* want the situations they describe to happen. Along with wanting to be able to deal with them if they do.
I am presently reading a book entitled “Americans at Risk: Why We Are Not Prepared for Megadisasters and What We Can Do Now” by Irwin Redlener, MD. It is fascinating and presents different scenarios of megadisasters (Panflu is the first one!). It outlines two different scenarios for a massive chemical leak after a train wreck also - in the first scenario, the fictional family is clueless and ill-prepared. In the second, the family has a plan, a bugout bag and some other basic knowledge and equipment. The book does a great job of contrasting what happens to the two families. The author presents some things that government at all levels needs to change and also what individuals can do. Disturbing and highly recommended.
Thanks all for your comments, I’m looking forward to looking up the books listed here. Must do some chores — will check back later and respond.
There are all kinds of books recommended on the Must Have Family Reading thread from a few months ago (from children’s books to adult catastrophe sci-fi and non-fiction, and more). For more escapist reading, I like S. M. Stirling’s books: Island in the Sea of Time, where Nantucket Island is thrown back about 3000 years in time, and Dies the Fire, where some laws of physics somehow change and electricity, gasoline engines, and gunpowder no longer work. Also the Assiti Shards series by Eric Flint, David Weber and others, 1632, 1633, 1634, and the anthologies, with a W. Va. town sent back to 1632 Germany.
I second cactus’ recommendation of Lucifer’s Hammer (and the other books). Much of it takes place in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophe, so it can be read as a warning about what not to take for granted.
Bump
China Syndrome by Karl Taro Greenfeld was a great read and informative to boot. It’s the “true” story of the SARS epidemic in China as told by a visiting American journalist. It lent some insight into Chinese culture which helped me better understand H5N1 current events. It also shed some light on Maragret Chan’s career. However, I do take it with a grain of salt, but I recommend the book.
The Boy Scout Handbook, maybe especially the older ones, and the merit badge series are excellent. I have the First Aid and the Emergency Preparedness ones from a long time ago. Now, I don’t even know where they are sold, or if they’ve been over-modernized. My copy of Emergency Preparedness is copyright 1972, and lists other pamphlets for Rifle Shooting, Shotgun Shooting, Gardening, Radio, Cooking, Electricity, Wilderness Survival, Farm Mechanics, and Home Repair, among dozens of others.
closed for speed -restart thread if needed