# Recommended books



## ffparamedic

For starters I'm an avid reader and have hundreds of books on multiple subjects and in formats (physical and ebooks)

What I'm looking for is everyone's recommendations on a complete SHTF book collection, yes I've searched and written down a bunch buy I also chose to start a thread.

So what do you think is important?
I've got some books on natural remedies, raising animals, fruits, gardens.

Just looking to see which exact ones you like. Post up!


----------



## Illini Warrior

ffparamedic said:


> For starters I'm an avid reader and have hundreds of books on multiple subjects and in formats (physical and ebooks)
> 
> What I'm looking for is everyone's recommendations on a complete SHTF book collection, yes I've searched and written down a bunch buy I also chose to start a thread.
> 
> So what do you think is important?
> I've got some books on natural remedies, raising animals, fruits, gardens.
> 
> Just looking to see which exact ones you like. Post up!


I'm a big advocate of learning from the past and if necessary doing it the forefather's way ..... The Survival Library is a great compilation along that thought & belief ....

About Us | Survivor Library


----------



## Oddcaliber

Old school books I read Survival Guns by Mel Tappin,also Tappin on Survival. The information is a bit dated but the premise is there.


----------



## Mad Trapper

I've three bookcases full that runs the spectrum, USGS topos for about 200 mile radius, a hardbound encyclopedia, manuals for all my machinery, and all my college texts. Also collections of magazines like: fur fish game, mother earth news, etc.....

Don't count on your digital stuff if shtf.


----------



## Auntie

Old cookbooks. If any recipe calls for a can of anything it is not old enough


----------



## Medic33

foxfire books and back to basics also the home do it yourself popular mechanics


----------



## sideKahr

Not a complete collection, that would take pages, but here are some I like:

“In the Gravest Extreme” by Massad Ayoob
THE primer on self defense.

“Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why” by Lawrence Gonzales

“Invention by Design: How Engineers get from Thought to Thing” by Henry Petroski

“The Atlas of Past Times” by John Haywood
How the Romans built almost anything with wood and rope.

“Life in the Cold: An Introduction for Winter Ecology” by Peter Marchand


----------



## TacticalCanuck

I'm currently reading a guide to practical pistol shooting techniques for the modern competitive pistol shooter. Quite good.


----------



## OctopusPrime

I am reading "I Ching" The Book of Change. Eastern philosophy is of great interest to me.


----------



## ffparamedic

Sounds like great suggestions, thanks and keep them coming!


----------



## Medic33

OctopusPrime said:


> I am reading "I Ching" The Book of Change. Eastern philosophy is of great interest to me.


you do understand what the I-ching is don't you? - my wife is Chinese and we have like 10 of those laying round from various authors and generations.
it is a lot like the throwing of bones.


----------



## OctopusPrime

Medic33 said:


> you do understand what the I-ching is don't you? - my wife is Chinese and we have like 10 of those laying round from various authors and generations.
> it is a lot like the throwing of bones.


Yep, just got started on it. So my understanding of it is limited. So far I see philosophy in it tho.


----------



## Farva

Besides a bunch of arty farty books and books about books, I have 

Books on flying
Books on first aid, land navigation, weapons maintenance I got while I was in
The old library bound yearlys, or half yearlys of national geographic magazine
1911-1955-1972 encyclopedia sets
Atlases from the last 150 years
Turn of the century school textbooks
Turn of the century books about growing things, pattern design, surveying, General farm knowledge, ect
Navy cruise books
A lot of the Horizon books
Audubon Trees and Wildlife handbooks
Lots of exotic places books, mostly natgeo and mostly islands
Lots of US war books, the big picture book kind
Sci Fi books
Lots of magazines, probably 30 years of the swimsuit issue, my wife got me a sub to Dwell magazine a hundred years ago, got almost all of them, sci fi mags I've carrying around forever, and a bunch of 1 offs
Almanacs
Piles of paperbacks

I'll stop. I really like books. They are awesome, except when you have to move.

(My wife is Chinese too. No real religion or philosophy, just "work your ass off and save your money and stop buying those stupid books and guns.")


----------



## Plumbum

Prepper's long-term survival guide by Jim Cobb. Its the first prepper book ive read and I loved it! I strongly recomend it to anyone just starting out or thinking about doing so. Its an eye opener for sceptics as it explains possible senarios aswell as all covers all the basics for a long time solution.


----------



## GTGallop

Art of War ==> http://www.amazon.com/Art-War-Histo...1455927307&sr=1-2&keywords=art+of+war+sun+tzu

Book of five rings ==> http://www.amazon.com/Book-Five-Rin...&keywords=book+of+five+rings+miyamoto+musashi

It IS about Islam ==> http://www.amazon.com/About-Islam-E...=1455927250&sr=1-1&keywords=it+is+about+islam

The Next 100 years ==> http://www.amazon.com/Next-100-Year...1455927226&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Next+100+years

You don't need a title to be a leader ==> http://www.amazon.com/You-Dont-Need...927206&sr=8-1&keywords=You+don't+need+a+title

My little Pony - Princess of Friendship ==> http://www.amazon.com/My-Little-Pon...455927461&sr=8-3&keywords=My+Little+Pony+Book

There was a book that looked at the military conflicts of the bible. I don't recall it right now. I think The History Channel did something similar in a show. If you can find that, GREAT! And the MLP book was just a test to see if you were reading. Unless... Well what happens in YOUR bunker had better stay in your bunker. Mmmm-Kay?


----------



## Slippy

GTGallop said:


> Art of War ==> http://www.amazon.com/Art-War-Histo...1455927307&sr=1-2&keywords=art+of+war+sun+tzu
> 
> Book of five rings ==> http://www.amazon.com/Book-Five-Rin...&keywords=book+of+five+rings+miyamoto+musashi
> 
> It IS about Islam ==> http://www.amazon.com/About-Islam-E...=1455927250&sr=1-1&keywords=it+is+about+islam
> 
> The Next 100 years ==> http://www.amazon.com/Next-100-Year...1455927226&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Next+100+years
> 
> You don't need a title to be a leader ==> http://www.amazon.com/You-Dont-Need...927206&sr=8-1&keywords=You+don't+need+a+title
> 
> My little Pony - Princess of Friendship ==> My Little Pony: Meet the Princess of Friendship (Passport to Reading Level 1): Lucy Rosen: 9780316282307: Amazon.com: Books
> 
> There was a book that looked at the military conflicts of the bible. I don't recall it right now. I think The History Channel did something similar in a show. If you can find that, GREAT! And the MLP book was just a test to see if you were reading. Unless... Well what happens in YOUR bunker had better stay in your bunker. Mmmm-Kay?


Lets play, "Which one of these is not like the other ones?" :?:


----------



## stevekozak

Medic33 said:


> foxfire books and back to basics also the home do it yourself popular mechanics


My sister got me a set of the old Foxfire books for my B-day this past year. One of my favorite gifts ever.


----------



## SittingElf

Here is a partial list of books that I keep in PDF form on an older iPad, stored in a Faraday Cage, and used ONLY for this purpose. In addition to the books in the images below. There are also extensive books on gardening, DIY, Defense, Cookbooks, Fiction and Non-Fiction books for enjoyment, Financial and Family documents, etc....all stored on the iPad. I also have hard copies of many of these books, but those could potentially be lost in a number of situations. Having them stored on a protected iPad insures that we will have the references permanently, and with mobility.

I can recharge the iPad when the grid goes down, both by portable solar, or with my BioLite camp stoves. Adding more all the time to fill the 64GB unit. There are also very few APPS on the iPad...those that are specifically useful in SHTF, like TOPO Maps.

Examples:


----------



## Medic33

I think about one of the best book collections to have for bartering is playboy or girl depending on your preferences 
surprised nobody said anything about those yet.
anyway most of my books are fiction like star wars or dragon lance or something tech manuals and FM's get kind of boring after a while.


----------



## Plumbum

SAS Survival handbook (third edition) by John Wiseman a 26y veteran SAS operative- 672 pages of anyhing there ever was to know about survival anywhere in this earth. I love it, its like a paperback encylopedia on survival!


----------



## Grim Reality

From Grim’s Survival Library:

Modern Livestock & Poultry Production (by James R. Gillespie)
Veterinary Books of all types. (animals you contemplate owning)
Survival Medical Books (look up the Doom & Bloom website and buy theirs)
Where There Is No Doctor (every survivalist should get these two books!)
Where There Is No Dentist (unless you already know it all…doubtful!)
The American Medical Assoc. Home Medical Encyclopedia ( 2 Volumes)
Emergency War Surgery
The Doctor’s Book of Home Remedies (Prevention Magazine Editors)
Introduction to Splinting (Coppard & Lohman)
Tabers Medcal Dictionary
Gray’s Anatomy (a world standard)

Let’s go to a different subject: Firearms

Any Reloading Manuals (of the last 20 years. Learn how to do it!)
Owner’s Manuals for All your firearms.
Survival Gunsmithing (lists spare parts to have for many guns…J. B. Wood)
ANY of the Gunsmithing Books by Jerry Kuhnhausen

Farming / Gardening / Homesteading

Square Foot Gardening (I learned a lot from this book)
Carrots Love Tomatoes (Louise Riotte)
Grow Cook Eat (Willi Galloway)
Let It Rot! The Gardener’s Guide to Composting (Stu Campbell)
Books on using hand-powered woodworking tools
Food Drying At Home (Bee Beyer)
The A B C’s of Home Food Dehydration (Barbara Densley)
Stocking Up (Organic Gardening Editors)
I Can’t Believe It’s Storage Food (Crystal Godfrey)
Canning Preserving Freezing and Drying (Consumers Guide Editors)

Outdoor Survival

ANY Survival Books by Greg Davenport
Survival Poaching (Ragnar Benson — use only AFTER the apocalypse!)

There! That’s something to get you started…and that’s just a small part of the 2,389 books 
I have…some of which may no longer be easily found. If you can’t locate them try 
Abebooks.com

If you want more…I can give you more…titles that is

Grim


----------



## ffparamedic

Really enjoying this thread, I've got a lot of the books already listed....picking up some of the ones I don't.

Thanks again.


----------



## tango

Carla Emery, Encyclopedia of Country Living is a must have.


----------



## Real Old Man

Copies of the best of The BackWoodsman Magazine.


----------



## Real Old Man

page7

This is a very good site that allows the downloading - mostly of PDF files - of all sorts of manuals (a lot military) and on firearms


----------



## Rebels1875

Alas, Babylon, One Second After, Going Home by A. American, Survival Mom, The Survival Savvy family, The Backyard Homestead, The Prepper's Pocket Guide, The Boyscout book, First Aid book, Other Canning, homesteading book always adding more


----------



## Butler Ford

"BACKYARD MARKET GARDENING" Andy Lee and Patricia Foreman
http://www.nh-tems.com/documents/Manuals/SOF_Medical_Handbook.pdf

BF


----------

