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

Discussion in 'Survival Reading Room' started by melbo, Oct 1, 2010.


  1. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    We have a great collection of survival books both fiction and non fiction posted throughout the Reading Room. Here is a list of the best - required reading for those new to survival and freedom:

    Please add your favorites to this thread and I'll add them here: [monkeyeating]

    Fiction:
    Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse James Wesley Rawles
    Lights Out - David Crawford
    Alas, Babylon - Pat Frank
    Lucifer's Hammer - Larry Niven
    Enemies Foreign and Domestic - Matthew Bracken
    Dies the Fire: A Novel of the Change - S. M. Stirling
    Out of the Ashes (Ashes Series #1) - William W. Johnstone
    Unintended Consequences - John Ross
    One Second After - William Forstchen

    Non Fiction:
     
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  2. Quigley_Sharps

    Quigley_Sharps The Badministrator Administrator Founding Member

    Anything by Rawles
     
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  3. hedger

    hedger Monkey+

    Thanks!

    Melbo,

    Thanks for the list; I'll get started.
     
  4. Hulka73

    Hulka73 Monkey+++

    john316, Dallanta, STANGF150 and 2 others like this.
  5. Witch Doctor 01

    Witch Doctor 01 Mojo Maker

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  6. AZJEFFRO

    AZJEFFRO Monkey+

  7. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    I read the Ashes Series by Johnstone, years ago, while Traveling in alaska, on summer working trips. I would check the Anchorage Airport Bookstores, for a new book, every time I went thru, on my way to a different part of the state. It got a bit "Old" by the tenth or eleventh book, but was a good treatise on what the author saw as the ultimate SHTF senerio....
     
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  8. tjeffries

    tjeffries Monkey+

  9. capt45

    capt45 Monkey+

    Is there a projected date for its release?

    Amazon's got some used copies but the least expensive is about $100. I'd love a copy but can't swing that price!
     
  10. alanz

    alanz Monkey+

    Halvist likes this.
  11. unzenful

    unzenful Monkey+++

    Ok don't laugh but The zombie survival guide by max brooks will give you some good ideas if you take out the zombie reference. the lists of what to carry are a good place to start IMHO. Books a million carries a non-fiction book on the art and skills of the backwoodsman. I found it quite interesting don't have the author or title but it can't be that hard to find. The backwoodsman magazine is a great place on DIY ideas for when times get hard.
     
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  12. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    It's currently not in print, and there is no new printing release I can find. It is available online in .pdf at various locations, including this forum's download section (for now), and it will be pulled as soon as it ever goes back into print.
     
    Sassenach likes this.
  13. melbo

    melbo Hunter Gatherer Administrator Founding Member

    We have a thread on Brooks' book here somewhere. I thought it was great.
     
  14. findit357

    findit357 Monkey+

    Thanks you learn somthing new every day Im told.
     
  15. Drumbo

    Drumbo Monkey+

    I consider The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress one of Heinlein's best. The premise is that the Moon is used as Earth's penal colony, but after several generations the inmates are tired of living under a warden and shipping all their wealth and natural resources to earth.

    In 2005, Tim Minear wrote a movie script based on the novel and though I posted the link in another topic I thought I'd stick it here too, you might enjoy reading it. The screen-play condenses the story out of necessity and makes a few plot changes to update the 1965 story, but it captures the feel of the original, including the unique speech patterns of the "Loonies" and it's a fun read dealing with the nuts and bolts of revolution: http://socalbrowncoats.com/images/moonfriday.pdf
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 6, 2015
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  16. Hulka73

    Hulka73 Monkey+++

    I just finished Alas, Babylon yesterday and loved it. I read On The Beach right before that and while it was good, definitely liked Babylon better. Maybe it was because it had a little more action, or that it wasn't so depressing. The part in "Beach" where the guy gave his daughter the shot was brutal. I have a 2 year old and can't even grasp the thought of it. I started Lucifer's Hammer yesterday, and I'm jumping back and forth to Dies The Fire. I'm about half way through that. I like the Mike Havel story line, but I kind of zone out when I'm reading about "Lady Juniper" and her coven.
     
  17. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    In the non-fiction category I would suggest the following:
    The "Have-More" Plan
    The Good Life: Helen and Scott Nearing's Sixty Years of Self-Sufficient Living
    The Encyclopedia of Country Living
    Five Acres and Independence: A Handbook for Small Farm Management
    the Homesteader's Manual, by the editors of Farmstead Magazine (circa 1983)

    These are a few I wouldn't want to part with. As you can see by the links they are all readily available today (Jan 23, 2011) Additionally IMO no better relevant magazine exists than, Backwoods Home Magazine. A subscription to this magazine, and eventual acquisition of all the back issue Yearly Anthologies is highly advised.
     
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  18. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    I have pirated copies of most of that, Tac.

    I don't support the Chinese marketing zombie campaign and our disposable society. If I can find knowledge for free, I will acquire it. To hell with other people's morals and pride. When it comes to survival, all bets are off - I do what I must.
     
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  19. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    That is just the tip of a huge iceberg my friend. I know I have over 3000 books. I hate being inbetween houses right now. My books for the most part are in climate controlled storage. Very few are fiction. Maybe 100 or so. 800 to 1000 are cookbooks. I suspect you have a few of those, considering some of the nightly menus you have posted in the chatbox. The rest are reference books on all kinds of subjects I deemed essential for survival. I will die before my books are scattered or lost to humanity. I acquire most of my hard copies at much much less than the original suggested market price. Quite a few at $1 or less. I just picked up a copy of "The Joy of Cooking", a classic, for $1. I already have two other copies. I gifted the new one to a newly retired relative without a copy. Bon Appetit.
     
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  20. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    THAT'S AWESOME! [boozingbuddies]

    Good job Tac ;)
     
  1. Grand58742
  2. DKR
  3. sharkman6
  4. john316
    GREAT STORIES BY FLEATAXI So Sue Me
    Thread by: john316, Oct 6, 2018, 6 replies, in forum: Survival Reading Room
  5. Asia-Off-Grid
    Resource

    Never Too Young 2008

    Survival Fiction, By Jerry D Young. [IMG]
    Posted By: Asia-Off-Grid, Sep 20, 2018 in category: Survival Fiction
  6. Asia-Off-Grid
  7. Asia-Off-Grid
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    One Man Alone 2008

    Survival Fiction, By Jerry D Young. [IMG]
    Posted By: Asia-Off-Grid, Sep 20, 2018 in category: Survival Fiction
  8. Asia-Off-Grid
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    China Gamble 2008

    Survival Fiction, By Jerry D Young. [IMG]
    Posted By: Asia-Off-Grid, Sep 20, 2018 in category: Survival Fiction
  9. Asia-Off-Grid
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    Dude 2007

    Survival Fiction, By Jerry D Young. [IMG]
    Posted By: Asia-Off-Grid, Sep 20, 2018 in category: Survival Fiction
  10. Asia-Off-Grid
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    Cowboy 2007

    Survival Fiction, By Jerry D Young. [IMG]
    Posted By: Asia-Off-Grid, Sep 20, 2018 in category: Survival Fiction
  11. Asia-Off-Grid
    Resource

    Claude 2007

    Survival Fiction, By Jerry D Young. [IMG]
    Posted By: Asia-Off-Grid, Sep 20, 2018 in category: Survival Fiction
  12. Asia-Off-Grid
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  14. Asia-Off-Grid
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    Haroldsville 2007

    Survival Fiction, By Jerry D Young. [IMG]
    Posted By: Asia-Off-Grid, Sep 20, 2018 in category: Survival Fiction
  15. Asia-Off-Grid
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    The Fifth Key 2009

    Survival Fiction, By Jerry D Young. [IMG]
    Posted By: Asia-Off-Grid, Sep 20, 2018 in category: Survival Fiction
  16. Asia-Off-Grid
    Resource

    Clueless 2011

    Survival Fiction, By Jerry D Young. [IMG]
    Posted By: Asia-Off-Grid, Sep 20, 2018 in category: Survival Fiction
  17. Asia-Off-Grid
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  19. Asia-Off-Grid
    Resource

    Stretch 2009

    Survival Fiction, By Jerry D Young. [IMG]
    Posted By: Asia-Off-Grid, Sep 20, 2018 in category: Survival Fiction
  20. Asia-Off-Grid
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