Starting a Library (late) What 5 Books MUST BE IN MY LIBRARY

rockdoc123 · Light Sweet Crude Joined: May 16, 2005 Posts: 1676

Dharma Bums - Jack Kerouak
Tao Te Ching - definitive edition - J. Starr
Pocket guide to butchering and field dressing deer - M. Burch
American Fly tying manual - Skip Morris
The Alaskan bootleggers bible - L. Kania

BigTex

PrairieMule

1.Tough minded optimist-Norman Vincent Peale
2.Long Emergency-Kunstler
3.SAS survival manual-John Wiseman
4.Trailsafe:A verting threatening human behavior in the outdoors-Dr John Bane
5.My giant reference book from on Soil and Cattle Management workshop from Texas A&M
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In other words, it's a huge sh*t sandwich, and we're all gonna have to take a bite.-from Full Metal Jacket

AnIowan

Thank you for starting this thread! I'd done some searching for a thread like this and not come across it, so this info is truly of interest!

FLFireman

Finally got my books I ordered from Amazon, took 5 days for them to ship, then only 2 business days for delivery. Not sure why 5 days to ship, but anyway, have them now!

The Encylopedia of Country Living, I have already flipped back and forth through this book, and can see it will be a book I reference often, packed full of great info, could not become self sufficent with out it for sure! What an awesome book, packed full of knowledge!

I wonder how long it would take to read that book front to back, 900 pages, WOW !
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FL Fireman new_ukliam2

Pops

There are also a few suggestions here:
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Make a plan and work it:

SpringCreekFarm · Intermediate Crude Joined: Mar 03, 2006 Posts: 884

bobaloo · Heavy Crude Joined: Oct 14, 2004 Posts: 476

The one book I'd want to have is Carla Emery's, simply the best all in one homesteading reference ever written. In addition to being chock full of useful information, there's a lot of good philosophy, stories and entertainment mixed in with the facts. Wish I would have had a copy 30 years ago when I started all of this...would have saved a lot of time, energy and money. Apparently there's some kind of dispute with the estate and they're no longer publishing new copies (or so I've heard) so snatch one up while they're still cheap on the used market.

I have a copy of the "Boston Cooking School Cookbook" from the 1890's or so, amazing cookbook, the kid where the recipes start with "first, kill a chicken..." It's the cookbook I use more than any other, good simple recipes with basic ingredients.

AnIowan

Just as kind of an add on to this, for those who are looking to purchase books, I'd highly recommend Half.com (http://www.half.com).

Many of the books on this list are there, and usually less then what you'd pay at Amazon.com, and I've never had a problem with a shipper.

Just a little help for those on a book buying budget. Smile

FLFireman

ARGH !!!!!! Just bought and received Carla Emery's Encyclopedia, and for the heck of it, I was on Amazon to see what I just paid, and LO and BEHOLD a 2008 version can NOW BE PRE ORDERED. ARGH !!!!! Another 28 pages........ argh...

# Paperback: 928 pages
# Publisher: Sasquatch Books; Tenth Edition edition (July 28, 2008)
# Language: English
# ISBN-10: 1570615535
# ISBN-13: 978-1570615535

ARGH ! for only $0.50 MORE !!!!!!!!! Twisted Evil

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FL Fireman new_ukliam2

Pops

Yea my Encyclopedia is a pre-internet version - not one www. in the whole thing.
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Make a plan and work it:

jbrovont · Intermediate Crude Joined: Jun 16, 2006 Posts: 654

You might find this useful:

Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia
Copyright © 2002 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

I have a copy from the 80s, and it's a wealth of information about chemistry, physics, biological processes etc. Some might find it useful if you were in a situation you needed to make something, produce a replacement part for something, make fuel, etc. The book weighs about 25lbs though lol

Also, I was looking at the advances in miniSD cards - looks like you can get 8GB for around $100 or less - if you have a PDA, I think you can download most of the wikipedia to a miniSD with some software called webaroo. There are probably other software packages available that do the same thing. Not sure how logistical that would be, but worth considering combined with a solar charger or something.

TreeFarmer · Heavy Crude Joined: Jun 26, 2007 Posts: 319

Somewhere along the way everyone should read Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. FWIW, "rich" is accomplishing whatever it is you want to accomplish in life, it is not "money".

Currently Amazon.com has Your Magic Power to be Rich by Napoleon Hill at a very attractive price. This book is a compliation of three of Napoleon Hill's works including Think and Grow Rich. I would recommend this book to everyone.

TF

socalspeck · Coal Joined: May 25, 2008 Posts: 2

Okay, so I'm new here and am enjoying already... I would add my two cents, for what they are worth... Another good Country Living Book is Storey's Guide to Country Living... Lots of good practical stuff inside and the US Army Survival Guide. Excellent presentation, pics and basic vocab. Especially good for those of us who grew up in the city and are now living in the country. I also have several Field Manuals of Medicinal Plants, both Eastern and Western States, numerous Herbal Medicinal Books. There is absolutley no way to limit yourself to 5 books, so my suggestion would be familiarize yourself with the info in a lots of books. Maybe have the wife and kids become "specialists" in a particular area. My husband is a former Marine, grew up in Northern Idaho, hunts, fishes, makes useful stuff out of nothing, but I still feel the need to have a basic understanding of everything he knows. My specialty is medicinal stuff, food preservation, etc, but I couldn't build a fire if my life depended on it, so he's giving me and one of our daughters lessons... learn as much as you can as fast as you can and make sure the family is on board... Best of luck and I'm glad I found this place.

Pops