Suggested Reading

Books constitute capital. A library book lasts as long as a house, for hundreds of years. It is not, then, an article of mere consumption but fairly of capital, and often in the case of professional men, setting out in life, it is their only capital — Thomas Jefferson

1. Becoming Native to This Place – Wes Jackson: a thoughtful look at the concept of treating the earth with respect and loving care and how to major in what he calls “homecoming”.
2. The Tightwad Gazette – Amy Dacyczyn: the ultimate guide to the basics of frugal living while enjoying life to the fullest.
3. Your Money or Your Life – Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin: a money management book that makes you really think about what you truly NEED and helps you to achieve it.
4. Nourishing Traditions – Sally Fallon Morel and Mary Eng: why and how we should cook in the manner of our ancestors.
5. The Mood Cure/The Diet Cure – Julia Ross: learn to lose weight, manage your health and improve your moods through proper diet (and it’s not what you’ve always thought of as a “proper” diet!), supplements and amino acids.
6. The Long Emergency – James Howard Kunstler: a chilling and very rational look at the impact of declining oil supplies on our way of life and the likely scenarios which will play out on the political, economic and social scenes. One very scary scenario is the possibility that someone like Bin Laden may wind up ruling the Arabian oil countries.
7. The Encyclopedia of Country Living – Carla Emery: a collection of varied how-tos related to living off the land and raising both food and animals. The primary focus is on food production but there are some other loosely related basics like having a baby when you’re alone, sharpening tools, or soap and candle making.
8. Collapse – Jared Diamond: thoughtful (if a little wordy) exploration of major societies that have collapsed under population pressure, climate change, war and other stresses, while similar societies have managed to survive; many parallels to what faces America today.
9. The End of Oil – Paul Roberts: a counterpoint to Kunstler’s book, which is less apocalyptic in tone but still paints a grim scenario about the energy problems facing us now and in the future.
10. Wild Fermentation – Sandor Ellix Katz: discover the fun of live cultured foods from breads to krauts to meads; you just let them sit and get great nutritious food!
11. Salad Bar Beef – Joel Salatin: how to grass feed those animals for the best meat you can get.  And quite frankly reading anything by Salatin is worth it if you are raising animals, or not.
12. Preserving Food Without Freezing Or Canning – Deborah Madison: the gardeners and farmers of Terre Vivante tell you how to use time-honored and in some cases — ancient — methods to preserve your harvest
13. Everything I Want to do is Illegal – Joel Salatin: an excellent and thorough presentation of how difficult it is for small farmers to deal with the “food safety” laws and regulations, and how unreasonable the laws and the people who enforce them can be.
14. All Flesh is Grass – Gene Logsdon: good basic discussion of the hows and whys of grass feeding beef, sheep, hogs and poultry.
15. A Gift to My Children – Jim Rogers: Investment guru Jim Rogers writes about what he hopes for and wisdom he hopes to pass down to his daughters.
16. Myth of the Robber Barons – Burton Folsom: A new look at the entrepreneurs of the period 1850 to 1910 which compares market entrepreneurs (those who did it on their own) with political entrepreneurs (political animals who took subsidies and used government for their own benefit).
17. FDR: New Deal or Raw Deal? – Burton Folsom: FDR was a charismatic politician who knew little to nothing of economics and had never run a business. He was also less than honest. Read Folsom’s assessment of the FDR programs that nearly destroyed our country and are still having serious repercussions. Think we have too much government interference in our daily lives? Blame FDR.
18. End the Fed  & Liberty Defined – Ron Paul: What is the Fed? Why does it exist, who created it and  who does it really benefit? Before 1913 we didn’t have it or the debt monster it has created. Ron Paul is seemingly the only politician around to actually have a grasp of true economics.
19. The Dehydrator Bible – Jennifer Mac Kenzie: Want to preserve those veggies? What about some yogurt treats? It is amazing what you can dehydrate! Added bonus of recipes on how to use what you dehydrate.
20. The Creature from Jekyll Island -A Second Look at the Federal Reserve – G. Edward Griffin – One of the most fascinating books on how central banking was created, by whom and for what purpose. Written so you can understand the topic. Has some conspiracy theories that might not sit well, but are informational.
21. Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths That Are Destroying Your Prosperity – Garret B. Gunderson – A different look at savings, not for everyone but presents interesting alternatives to the normal 401k/mutual fund scenario.
22. Aftershock – Robert Wiedemer, David Wiedemer, Cindy Spitzer: So far, these folks have an enviable track record. They correctly called the housing bubble, mortgage bubble and bank bubble — and did it two years before the bubbles burst. Now they are looking at the two remaining bubbles: the dollar and government debt. How does 40-60% unemployment within the next few years grab you?
    
23. Cooked – Michael Pollan: An exploration of the different ways in which we alter the raw material of foods and a thoughtful commentary on why it matters to our health and the planet’s health.
24. In Defense of Food – Michael Pollan: Why should food need to be defended? Maybe because so much of what is in the marketplace today is not really food at all. Just look at a bread label sometime and consider how far it’s come from flour, yeast, salt and water.
25. Eating on the Wild Side – Jo Robinson: In the course of developing agriculture, humans have tended to select for qualities such as taste. In the process, we’ve bred some vital nutrients out of our food. Jo Robinson tells you how to select, store and prepare fruits and vegetables for maximum nutrition.
26. Blessing the Hands That Feed Us – Vicki Robin: Relational eating – consciously thinking about the relationships we make by eating locally, not only with the people who supply our food, but with the insects that pollinate it, the soil organisms and the whole ecosystem. Robin answers the “But what can one person do?” question by describing her own experience with relational eating on Whidbey Island in Washington.
27. The Big FAT surprise – Nina Teicholz: investigative journalist Teicholz got interested in the so-called “science” of the low-fat recommendations espoused by scientists, doctors, nutritionists, politicians, government agencies and professional organizations. She makes an excellent case for why those recommendations are not only as wrong as can be but are quite likely directly responsible for the obesity, diabetes and heart disease epidemics.