Book Review Monday

On last week’s Book Review Monday post, a reader posted the following comment: “My daughter and her husband have purchased small acreage and are beginning their homestead journey. Both are city kids with no gardening or farm experience. Can you recommend a good book for beginners? Thanks.“

Oooooh boy, do we have books we can recommend! Don and I went through our library and selected volume after volume after volume until we realized we would be overwhelming people, especially a young couple just beginning their homestead journey. So this particular subject might get spaced out over a couple of weeks.

The hands-down all-around absolute BEST book any novice (and experienced) homesteader should have in their home library is Carla Emery’s “The Encyclopedia of Country Living.” This was the seminal work by Carla Emery (now, sadly, deceased) and has never been out of print in the fifty years since it was first published, with good reason. Instead it has been upgraded and amended over and over, adding more and more information, until it can be called THE single-most useful reference any homesteader can have in their home library. In fact, if I was limited to owning 100 books, this would be one of them.

“The ‘Encyclopedia of Country Living‘ presents an exhaustive overview of virtually every topic relevant to homesteading and self-sufficiency,” notes Wikipedia, and that’s no exaggeration.

The 2012 issue I own has a hefty 922 pages.

It covers, literally, everything a homesteader needs to know.

Just choosing a random page shows the depth of information it covers.

While it’s possible to read this volume cover to cover, “The Encyclopedia of Country Living” is best used as just that – a reference book. How to make acorn flour? Look it up. How to make French-fried dandelion blossoms? It’s there. Planting potatoes? Oui. How to install and use a wood cookstove? Yep. How to prune fruit trees? Of course.

So yes, this is the best book for beginning homesteaders.

Don’s choice for novice homesteaders is “Tools for Survival” by James Wesley, Rawles. This is a superb overview of a wide variety of homesteading tools, everything from food preservation to wood cutting.

“My first book recommendation for the new homesteader or small-farm dweller is a densely packed paperback written by James Wesley, Rawles, entitled ‘Tools for Survival,’” he says. “While Rawles has pitched this book at the prepper community, it’s just as useful for anyone new to county living, whether they’re homesteaders, small farmers, or even just rural retirees.”

It’s an in-depth reference with an impressive 306 pages.

Here’s the Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 Setting Up Shop
Chapter 2 Food Preservation and Cooking Tools
Chapter 3 Gardening, Farm, and Ranch Tools
Chapter 4 Sewing and Leatherworking Tools
Chapter 5 Shop Tools and Tool Making
Chapter 6 Electrical and Electronics Tools
Chapter 7 Mobility and Countermobility Tools
Chapter 8 Welding and Blacksmithing Tools
Chapter 9 Fire Prevention and Firefighting Tools
Chapter 10 Timber, Firewood, and Lumber Tools
Chapter 11 Rifles, Shotguns, and Handguns
Chapter 12 Archery
Chapter 13 Medical and Sanitation Tools and Supplies
Chapter 14 Knives and Traditional Hand Tools
Chapter 15 Lifelong Learning and Skill Building

Don also says, “A good blend of hand and power tool descriptions, uses and even limitations makes this book incredibly useful for putting together a shopping list or wish list for the new ruralite. It’s also a great reference for writers. You can’t go wrong with a copy of this book on your book shelf.”

(Obligatory disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate, if you purchase through those links, I earn a small commission. Thank you!)

So these are our two top recommendations we can give for new homesteaders. Next week we’ll cover some additional valuable resources.

Source: http://www.rural-revolution.com/2025/03/book-review-monday_17.html