Recommended Survival Books-Required Reading-Fiction & Guides - Beginners

I thought Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" was great (book, not the movie). It isn't a how to novel it is more about the drive and will to survive. It takes place in a bleak, cold, gray post apocalyptic world and shows what a father will go through to keep his child alive. Some of my friends and family feel that was it was one of the most depressing books ever written but I found the ending quite uplifting.

 

Seeds of Deception: Exposing Industry and Government Lies About the Safety of the Genetically Engineered Foods You're Eating. Jeffrey M. Smith

'Genetic Roulette' The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods

'Life in the Soil', Amazon.com: Life in the Soil: A Guide for Naturalists and Gardeners : James B. Nardi

AMA Handbook of First Aid and Emergency Care

 

Tacmotusn. Wow, almost 1000 cookbooks...I am turning green as I type. What are your favorites?

 

Great list thanks for posting it

 

Reader's Digest Back to Basics: How to Learn and Enjoy Traditional American Skills

 

read it this week

 

Thanks for the book list guys, I just finished Lights Out and I'm looking for more! I am hoping for a "Lights Out II" to come out in the future to find out how the new sheriff handles his new responsibilities!!

 

Lots of good stuff.. .

. . .in the "Foxfire" series of books, lots of folklore, but also practical stuff: how to set up and use a forge, beekeeping, lots of lo-tech skills. . .

I've got the first 9 or ten of them, think there are 12 volumes all in total. ..

 

I know this is off topic, but since you Read "On the beach", perhaps you you might take an hour and a few minutes and watch a movie called "Testament. It will make you think.

 

Directive 51 by John Barnes

Daybreak Zero (A Novel of Daybreak) by John Barne

Both interesting reads, more from a political view than an actual survival view...

 

Fiction : Last Light by Alex Scarrow
Its a British based story based on a Peak Oil scenario.
It paints a scarily plausible picture of how quickly things would go bad if the oil supply went.

 

Truly, no home should be without:

Into The Forest by Jean Hegland
The World Ends In Hickory Hollow by Ardath Mayhar
Total Resistance by Major H. Von Dach
Civil War Two by Thomas W. Chittum
The Third Revolution & Middle America by Anthony F. Lewis
Domestic Enemies, Enemies Foreign and Domestic & Foreign Enemies and Traitors by Matthew Bracken

 

Well obviously I am a minority here, but I do not care for Ralwes books, especially PATRIOTS. The book is out in at least five versions, the first was THE GREY NINETIES. This was the original shareware version and FILLED with WILL get you KILLED in real life, WON'T WORK in real life, DON'T WORK like that in real life screw ups. I sent (and am sure many others did too) Rawles a list of dozens and dozens of screw ups. The "heroes" were murderous millionaires and highwaymen and thugs.

The next shareware was TRIPLE OUGHT and filled with more WILL get you killed, WON'T/DOESN'T work screw ups and the "heroes" were murderous millionaires highwaymen and thugs.

Private printing of PATRIOTS by Rawles and sent to his supporters for comments (not me). See above.

First commercial printing of PATRIOTS. See above.

Second commercial version of PATRIOTS. Better, but STILL filled with WILL get you killed in real life, WILL NOT work in real life, DOES NOT work in real life, but now with WILL get you thrown in jail in real life screw ups. The murderous millionaire thugs are SLIGHTLY softened, but STILL murderers, robbers, thugs and highwaymen. I loved where THEY jump out of spider holes and hold at gun point anyone who walks by so they can loot them, but when THEY are traveling and hit a road block whine "But it's a public road!" Yeah, like that mattered to THEM when THEY were murdering and looting anyone walking by!

Of course Rawles is a REMF and that was on his site before too many sheeple were catching on and he removed it.

FAR better books would be:
JET STREAM by Muhlenberg (Amazon),
HEAR THE CRADLE SONG
CIVIL WAR TWO.
BROTHER IN THE GROUND
TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
NO BLADE OF GRASS (the movie was too horrible for words)
DAY OF THE TRIFEDS (good book, decent movie)
MALEVEL


BOOKS TO AVOID!

ANY Duncan Long book! Long on BS, short on facts!
THE SECOND AMERICAN REVOLUTION by Ridenour (too horrible for words)
END OF DAYS (I quit reading when I hit the talking sea going water rats again about page 29. Unreadable up to that point anyway)

 

SURVIVORS

Read SURVIVORS by Rawles. Typical Rawles book and again filled with misinformation, disinformation and out right lies and BS. Want new ID? Just go to the grave yard and get the name of a kid that died and get their birth certificate. Yeah, right! THAT one was going out in the 1970s, and by the 1980s it was a sure trip to the jail. Rawles either doesn't know or doesn't care (my guess? Both!) and pushes it. Another doesn't work/will get you put in jail lie from Rawles. Like PATRIOTS, it was filled with doesn't work, won't work, will get you killed BS. Yes, I know everyone loves his books, but I have no idea why.

Get Kurt Saxon's books, Ken Royce/Boston T. Party books, etc. if you really want some good reading.

 

I'm into Military SciFi for "pleasure" reading, but The Last Centurian by John Ringo is my all time favorite book... the book is "near-fiction" (tomorrow to a couple years from now)... it's military but the socio-political-economic aspects are both eye-opening and chillingly prophetic... besides, it's a damn good action read... as always, YMMV. elf

I do everything in FREE .pdf... have about 3 gig in both fiction and non-fiction backed up to disk.

 

OK, minor mix up. The book SURVIVORS did not have the "go to a grave yard and look for a young child's grave and get their birth cert." BS that WILL get you thrown in jail, that was in PATRIOTS. Otherwise the book is as stated. The "hero" is in the military in Afghanistan and gets a military plane to Germany as things collapse and then just amazingly enough has just enough of gold and silver in the currency of each country, and just amazingly enough happens to run into the right people just when he needs them, etc., etc., etc. Full of useless info, mis/dis/will get you killed BS, typical Rawles book.

John Ringo is also a favorite writer and I agree THE LAST CENTURION is a good read.

 

Melbo thanks for the list. I have read all but three. I notice AlanZ mentioned the hunger games. I actually have found quite a few SHTF books for teens.

Teen SHTF books:
Life as we knew it- Susan Beth Pfeffer (3 books in series)
Ashfall- Mike Mullin (new book coming out soon)
The Girl who owned a city- O.T. Nelson
The way we fall- Megan Crewe

I do like the Rawles books but I tend to feel panicked after reading them. His character are very well prepared whether in rice & beans or stashes of gold.

 

ASHFALL by Mullens is a fairly decent read. A few minor mistakes and "toning down" of some things, like the Blackwater Group controlling the refugee camp the hero gets stuck in, but a decent read. The next book, ASHWINTER should be out in October or so.

Other teen books:

Tomorrow When the War Began (Aussie)
Brother In the Ground (English)

Other books:

DIRECTIVE 51 - good, but I get tired of the "super villain"/enemy and not some actual or realistic threat.

Can't remember the title of the second book in the series, but it was fairly good too, same problem as above.

 

Which book would easily be obtain via Interlibrary Loan? I'm afraid I don't got much money right now and got other priorities and survivalism seems to be a topic not really in the libraries participating in the Interlibrary Loan.

 

Actually, it was Unintended Consequences that had the false identity stuff.

We've gotten the idea...you don't like Rawles. Your opinion is duly noted...you can shut up now.