A Prepper Library For Every Emergency

Build a library of general knowledge, first aid, homesteading, emergency preparedness, home, and machine repair, gardening, and more. Keep your family prepared for emergencies.

Mom with a PREP - My PREParedness Library -- a list of books from Preparedness, Homesteading, Medical, Food Storage, Fiction and children's books to keep your family PREPared. #readingisfun #library #preprare4life

What’s In My Preparedness Library?

This is my preparedness library. This is not exhaustive, but it’s a list of the books, films, and other media I think are important. These are books that I’ve read or that are well-respected in their fields. I’ve read most of them or have them on my immediate to-be-read list (that stack of books by my nightstand or on the read first list on my Kindle). Some may be available as a digital file only. I do not link to a free .pdf version of a book still in print as these are often pirated, so check your local library if you can’t afford to purchase it! Check out this post on all the free ways to read books.

Don’t have an e-reader? Check out the Kindle apps for your PC, Android, i-products, and more.

NOTE: Do not rely on your library to be electronic only. Long and short-term power outages make our electronics unavailable. Keep the most important books in a physical form in your home that you can grab and learn from in need. I never mind having novels or books I’m researching in electronic formats because they may be more readily available for me to read in the bank line, etc. But keep physical copies of your preparedness library available.

NON-FICTION LIBRARY

Survivalism/Preparedness

 

When you hit the jackpot at the used bookstore! #foxfire #homesteading

A photo posted by Mom with a Prep (@jane_momwithaprep) on

Gardening

  • Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew – how we garden.
  • Texas Gardening the Natural Way by J. Howard Garrett – while this book is specific to Texas climates (there is a vast difference in climates in TX..take your pick!) the basic information on organics is useful everywhere.

Homesteading/Animals

Food Preservation & Storage

Medical

Natural Living

FICTION

  • One Second After by William Forstchen – the book that opened our eyes as adults and set us on this new path (READ MY REVIEW HERE)
  • Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank – the book that got me started thinking about what if a nuclear disaster happens
  • Going Home by A. American – available in book format or slogging through a forum for free (you’ll have to skip other people’s posts to get to the next installment as you go) – #2 on my list of must-reads. There are now 4 sequels to the book, as well.
  • Lights out by David Crawford – post EMP/nuclear world where a community has to survive
  • 77 Days in September by Ray Gorham – following a man as he has to trek cross-country to his family after being stranded by an EMP
  • Patriots:  A Novel of the Coming Economic Collapse – (followed by Survivors). I’m gonna be truthful – I found this book sexist and focused more on the military than the practical, but I did learn a few things because of the military perspective.
  • Restoration Series – Terri Blackstock – EMP type disaster and how a community survives it (you can get the entire series for Kindle for $1.99 here)
  • Collapse: New America Book One by Richard Stephenson – This is a 3-pronged story arc as America collapses from financial and meteorological disasters.
  • Alpha Farm A Prepper Chicks Series vol. 1 – Annie Berdel – Imagine a network set up where preppers help each other and those in need. (READ MY REVIEW HERE)

PREPAREDNESS LIBRARY FOR KIDS

NON-FICTION LIBRARY

FICTION LIBRARY

  • Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George: She finds herself lost in the Alaskan wilderness, without food, without even a compass to guide her.
  • Hatchet by Gary Paulsen  Brian finds himself alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but a tattered Windbreaker and a hatchet.  NOTE: Anything by Gary Paulsen is great to read in this genre, but I only have so much room…can’t include them all).
  • The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss: A shipwreck; a deserted island; a single family, wondering if they can survive.
  • The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford: The tale of two dogs and a cat who are separated from their family and make an incredible journey cross-country to return to them. Remade as a Disney movie called Homeward Bound, it’s a survival tale from an animal’s perspective and a favorite of my kids.
  • Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Dafoe: This classic tale of shipwreck and survival on an uninhabited island.
  • Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare: Twelve-year-old Matt must try to survive on his own.
  • My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George: Young Sam Gribley lives a comfortable life in New York City, but tired of urban living, he, with his parents’ knowledge, runs away to the Catskills Mountains, determined to live on the site of his great-grandparents’ old homestead.
  • Island of the Blue Dolphin by Scott O’Dell: This story of Karana, the Indian girl who lived alone for eighteen years on an island off the coast of California.
  • Call it Courage by Armstrong Sperry: Mafatu’s name means “Stout Heart,” but his people call him a coward. Ever since the sea took his mother’s life and spared his own, he has lived with deep fear. And even though his father is the Great Chief of Hikueru–an island whose seafaring people worship courage–he is terrified, and so scorned. By the time he is twelve years old, Mafatu can bear it no longer. He must conquer his fear alone…even if it means certain death.
  • I Survived Series by Lauren Tarshis/Scholastic Press: A series of survival stories from the sinking of the Titanic to the Joplin Tornado, all told from a child’s perspective
  • Snook Alone by Marilyn Nelson: Snook must learn to fend for himself in the wild, all alone in a world of fierceness and wonder. This is an illustrated book of verse that is so perfect. Note: this is good as a read aloud for ages 4-8
  • Arrowhawk by Lola Schaefer: This is the true story of Arrowhawk-an endangered bird of prey who, with sheer determination and will, survives eight weeks in the wild with a poacher’s arrow through his thigh and tail. Note: A lovely picture book for ages 4-8
  • Jake & Miller’s Big Adventure by Bernie Carr – In Jake & Miller’s Big Adventure, young readers discover it’s never too early to start prepping. Learning how to use life-saving survival equipment like canned goods, water filters, first aid kits, Mylar blankets and emergency radios can keep you safe, healthy, and happy even in the scariest of adventures—whether you’re deep in the jungle or hunkering down at home. ages 4+  (Read my review here)
  • Stranded on Terror Island by Lee Roddy: Josh Ladd is suddenly stranded on a remote Alaskan island when the plane he is traveling in crashes. Note: Roddy has a whole series of mystery/adventure/survival books. I would consider these being a little easier to read, along the lines of Hardy Boys.
  • Shackleton’s Stowaway by Victoria McKernan: The story of a stowaway on the ill-fated journey to cross the Antarctic Continent by the famous explorer.
  • Castaways: Stories of Survival by Gerald Hausman: Six unforgettable tales of people who are set upon by raging weather, swooping seas, hunger, thirst, wild animals, overwhelming loneliness, and, harshest of all, thier own inner demons.
  • Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps by Andrea Warren: Forced to work for the Nazis, then torn from his family as they are herded into a concentration camp, Jack fights to survive.
  • A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park: Nya goes to the pond to fetch water for her family. She walks eight hours every day. Salva walks away from his war-torn village. He is a “lost boy” refugee, destined to cover Africa on foot, searching for his family and safety.
  • The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: The Capitol keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.  NOTE: This series is for the 12+ crowd, in my opinion.
  • If We Survive by Andrew Klavan: High schooler Will Peterson and three friends journeyed to Central America to help rebuild a school. In a poor, secluded mountain village, they won the hearts of the local people with their energy and kindness. But in one sudden moment, everything went horribly wrong. A revolution swept the country. Now, guns and terror are everywhere—and Americans are being targeted as the first to die. NOTE: Ages 13+
  • Into the Forest by Jean Hegland:  Two teenage sisters living alone in their Northern California forest home. Over 30 miles from the nearest town, and several miles away from their nearest neighbor, Nell and Eva struggle to survive as society begins to decay and collapse around them. NOTE: Ages 13+

Movies/Television Fiction

  • Book of Eli – starring Denzel Washington, a man travels with a mysterious book that will save mankind. Mad Max-esque feel to the movie. Liked it.
  • The Day After – I remember watching this and being completely shaken by it when it was broadcast.
  • Panic in the Year Zero – a 1962 movie about an LA family caught in the mountains and trying to survive until civilization can start again.
  • Red Dawn 1984 Who doesn’t love this movie? A bit campy, low-budget, but great movie – WOLVERINES!
  • Red Dawn 2012   A remake of an idea, not a movie. Don’t go into it thinking it’s the 1984 movie redone, because it is completely different, and I actually liked it (which, if you know me, I don’t like it when people mess with the stuff I love).
  • The Wall – Read my Review HERE  – Both a book (Die Wand) and a movie, it is the story of a woman who goes on a weekend retreat to a cabin in the woods with friends, and finds herself alone, trapped in the valley by an invisible wall, and the last living person on earth.
  • Right at Your Door  – Dirty bombs are released in LA. A man must choose his life or his wife’s when he has already sealed his house, and she shows up with obvious signs of suffering from the toxins. And then the government shows up…
Mom with a PREP - My PREParedness Library -- a list of books from Preparedness, Homesteading, Medical, Food Storage, Fiction and children's books to keep your family PREPared. #readingisfun #library #preprare4life