People who have spent much time with me in person will attest that I am a devoted devourer of books. I read constantly. Our personal library is in the vicinity of 7500 volumes, and with the exception of probably a dozen of them, that I haven’t gotten to yet, every one of them has been read. Finding me anywhere without a book in hand, is rare. I posted a comment on my personal FB page the other day, in which I quoted from a book I was reading. It evolved into a discussion about the book itself (A Pattern Language, see below). A friend, who is also a reader here, commented, asking if I would consider occasionally recommending a reading list. My wife happened to see the comment and thought it was a spectacular idea. Being the incredibly intelligent man that I am, I decided I should probably listen to my wife, so I decided that, along with my weekly Monday article posting, I would begin just listing what I had read in the previous week, and offering brief commentary on it. Some readers may be surprised to discover that there tends to be very little in the way of “Prepper” or “firearms” or “tactical” reading material in these lists, as we go on. There will occasionally be, but not often. While I’ve read most of the “doctrinal” prepper literature, it’s not something I spend a lot of time on. I don’t consider what I do “prepping,” even though I know most do. I just consider it life at the decline of the empire. Most of the information covered in prepper literature can be found in more detail, by more experienced experts, elsewhere. If I’m reading “prepper” literature, it’s because someone asked me to comment on a specific book or article, and I’m trying to either become familiar enough with it to do so, or I’m refreshing my memory of something I’ve already read. I also don’t really read much in the way of firearms or tactical stuff anymore. If someone I really respect has a new book out, I’ll read it, and glean it for every bit of knowledge I can get. Otherwise, I’m probably looking through something I’ve already read, trying to find a particular nugget, to refresh my memory. Occasionally, you will see Field Manuals or other DoD publications on these lists. That is almost invariably going to be because I am looking for a doctrinal quote for an article, a book project, or a class I am teaching. With that intro, here’s what I read last week: A Pattern Language: Towns-Buildings-Construction by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein (I wish I had read this before I built our house. It would have made a significant impact on where I built on our farm, as well as how I designed the house. This is not a read-through book. It’s more like a Choose Your Own Adventure for designing livable spaces. For folks building, or trying to build, communities and/or communal retreats, this is highly recommended. For folks looking to build a family residence, this is highly recommended. For folks stuck living in a crackerbox house in a subdivision, only read this if you want to be driven to kill yourself in despair at how miserable your life is compared to what it could be.) The Theory and Practice of Historical Martial Arts by Guy Windsor (As a general thing, I think most “experts” on historical martial arts need to get punched in the mouth for real, a few times. There’s too much bullshit being spewed by guys who have zero context for frame of reference. I don’t know Mr. Windsor, but he seems to be slightly less nerdy than most of them. I really like this book, and even got a few ideas for firearms training out of it.) When my wife saw this sitting on the dash of my truck, driving into town, she picked it up, looked at the cover, then looked at me, and drawled, “Neeeerrrrrdddd!” She’s not wrong. Lights Out by Tedd Koppel (Nothing really new here, for people who are aware of exactly how fucked up our electrical grid infrastructure is, but it’s probably a good loan out book to get people thinking about things. And, it’s written by someone they probably know and are familiar with, so it wont seem so “extremist.”) Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks, and Techniques by Kaki Hunter Essential Earthbag Construction by Kelly Hart Earthbag Achitecture: Building Your Dream with Bags by Kelly Hart (I started researching earthbag building when I decided I needed to build a root cellar and a storm shelter before spring. I came across a couple articles online about earthbag building, got my curiosity aroused, and started diving deep. I’m definitely digging the potential, and will be building a couple of earthbag structures on our farm this year.) Woodland Craft by Ben Law Woodland Workshop: Tools and Devices for Woodland Craft by Ben Law Roundwood Timberframing by Ben Law Ben is one of my heroes. Dude makes a living, in the modern world, as a no-shit forester, in England, in the traditional sense of the word. I got some cool ideas for projects out of his books. DragonLance: The Second Generation by Weis and Hickman (I’m a geek. Occasionally I even let my geek flag fly proud.) Dies the Fire by SM Stirling (I’ve mentioned this book on the blog before. I discovered it in like 2005 or so. It’s one of my very favorite novels, and I read the entire original trilogy at least once or twice a year. I HIGHLY recommend reading it for a fictional example of the power of community in grid-down scenarios.) Beyond Brawn by Stu McRoberts (One of the first fitness/weight training books I ever bought, back in my teens, was Brawn. I’ve owned a copy of it and this sequel as long as I can remember. I pulled this out, looking for a specific quote in it, and ended up re-reading the whole book.) Continue reading...
