Have you checked out Living Homes by Thomas J. Elpel ?
He covers log building methods as well as other alternative types of construction.
I found the book very interesting.
Here's a link http://www.hopspress.com/Books/Living_Homes.htm

I read Thomas Elpels book. It was pretty good. I would recommend it.

We're big Kiyosaki fans. :) I even have his board game, which is just great!

"ONE MANS WILDERNESS" amazon has it for about 12.00 bucks Its the book about the show alone in the wilderness were the guy builds a log cabin in alaska and lives in it for 32years

Here's another good book you can read free online (you can also buy the paperback):

The Underground History of American Education

It's way more interesting than it sounds... Spend five minutes reading the first chapter and you'll be hooked. ;)

Out of curiosity, has anybody read this one? The Bargain Hunter's & Smart Consumer's Field Guide: How To Buy Almost Anything For Next To Nothing

Someone pointed that one out to me and I've been wondering if it was any good.

Steve

A good book for wiring your home is Practical Electrical Wiring by Richter. Part of the book covers industrial wiring as the book is for electrician students, but there is a great section for residential wiring. It has good, detailed pictures of how to wire multiple light switches, receptacles. how to run power to smaller buildings from your main box, etc. It helped me to wire my and my friend's basement when I finished them. I'm not an electrical wizard....I just followed the book. I have had the book for 20 years and still find it useful. Not much has changed. It doesn't have code info, so one would want to contact their local building department for that.

Luthgarden

Steve, I followed your link to the underground history of american education and I almost couldn't find time to reply. This is scaring the crap out of me. We were already planning on home-schooling our kids but there's no question now. HOLY CRAP. It all makes sense now....

Ian

Not very practical but one of the earliest american back-to-nature book is Walden by Henry David Thoreau (an enviromental philosopher). This story about a spiritual awakening by returning to a simple life in the Massachusetts woodlands is an absolute classic.

One caveat: Thoreau is kinda crazy for ancient dead languages. Otherwise a nice easy fire-time read.

Here's a book about a Cleveland couple who had their $350,000 house built and the horror that insued! From 1st phone call with the GC to the judge's verdict, find out how bad things can get and what chance you have in court of getting your money back.

And They Built a Crooked House
by Ruth S. Martin
ISBN 1879653028
Amazon price: about $7

just received a great book from Amazon's bargain used department. paid $9.99 for a $40 book! Hands-on Log Homes - Cabins built on dreams.....Cindy and Art Thiede. nice read lot's of nice pics. (Inside Log Homes, another by Cindy, is good eye-candy to keep on the coffe table for visiting family and friends) Also, I really like The Cabin, Dale Mulfinger,Susan E. Davis - sketches of the footprints and building details.
We actually, coincidentally hooked up with someone whose work is featured in this one for our logs purchase. small world...........

Reb:

Another good book along those lines is "Rich Dad's Prophecy".

Kevin

Reb:

Yes, it is a Robert Kyosaki book. Robert's rich dad (actually his friend's rich dad that mentored the both of them with their finances) warned them of America's growing debt and disappearing retirement benefits and the danger of investing in the market..........boy was he right! The book paints a doom and gloom picture, but it dives deeply into the reasons why the stock market and retirement plans are flawed and offers viable options. According to Rich Dad, the last stock market correction was a warning. Honestly, I stopped my 403B after reading this book.

Kevin

Steve L:

Thanks for the book tip. I'll check it out. I was also looking over the book by Gatto that Steve White mentioned. My wife has been open minded about the subject, so we'll see where it goes.

How are things on the New York homestead?

Take Care,

Kevin

Luthgarden, the "homestead" is going slowly but surely! Thanks! Steve L.

I have an old book that I turn to time and again for general homesteading knowledge-- "Gene Logsdon's Practical Skills." Logsdon treats construction, maintenance, preservation of buildings; furniture repair and finishing; farming and gardening; animal husbandry; butchering, cooking; fencing; woodlots; coggling; heating with wood, etc. Even radio reception. Published by Rodale, 1985. I don't know if it's still in print, but there are some available.

The ISBN is 0878575774. If you go to Allbookstores.com and enter that number it will find some. I think there is one being auctioned on Ebay now.

Walker

Here's Logsdon's explanation "'Coggle' is not a word you will find in any ordinary dictionary. It's a folk word that, as far as I know, came out of the Kentucky hills where survival depended on the ability to coggle. It means to improvise a method of doing something when the proper tools or materials are not available. The word usually applies to a makeshift repair job. The idea is that one will redo the repair or improvisation properly when there is more time later--but such a time never arrives."

When your car heater isn't working and you heat up a couple of rocks on your woodstove to put on the floorboard to warm your feet, you're coggling! But he says that if you're wanting a convertible and you cut of your hardtop with a welding torch, you've carried coggling too far.

More "The true coggler values only the kind of coggling that saves money, but there is a lesser genre of the art where money is not the issue. One of my sisters dries her children's winter boots out with a blow dryer, and another defrosts her freezer with it. I have a third sister who washes her apples in the dishwasher, but that's another story."

One cannot succeed as a homesteader without this skill. Happy coggling, everybody. )

And to THINK! We've been coggling all these years and just didn't know it! :lol: :D

Sounds like our kind of book, Walker!

Sara :D

Hi, Badsign--

I wouldn't buy anything until AFTER you go, now. Just go and absorb and enjoy. When you get home, there'll be plenty of time to start charting new courses and getting new ideas. :D

Sara

A book I very highly recommend and is also almost
impossible to find just came up on half.com. They
have three copies of:

A guide to preserving food for a 12 months harvest
by Mariel Dewey

This is a Sunset book. Not too thick but incredibly
rich in information. This is closer to a survival book
than a book about drying and canning. Should be on
top of your must have list.

I'm really hoping all three copies will be bought up by
members...helps to give us a wider resource base.

If I remember I'll bring my copy to the June meeting.

-Rick

Just previewed, "Dare to Prepare" by Holly Deyo.
Haven't read the book but it appears to be very
insightful. Planning to buy it.

-Rick

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So this thread has been quiet for a while, but I just found it - much to my demise :shock: - I now have an exponentially mushroomed reading list!

I posted this in the member's forum, but thought I'd also copy/paste it here since it seemed to fit well in this virtual library.

I just picked up this awesome book called Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonzales. It focuses on how people react in extreme / disaster / survival situations, but the information is useful for any stressful or intense circumstance. It really digs into how the brain works, the psychology of survival, the reasons even intelligent people and "experts" some times make stupid decisions that lead to grave consequences, the characteristics common to those who survive extreme scenarios, etc.

It is actually teaching me a ton; giving me new ideas on how to think about safety in any situation - whether I'm building or camping or 4 wheeling or whatever. I highly recommend it – especially if you like to pursue risky recreation (skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, Log Home building anything). I can also see how it would be invaluable information for any self-reliant individual.

Another great book is 'Pocket Ref' by Thomas J. Glover. This book is full of facts, formulas, charts, tables, etc. on just about anything you can imagine. I actually take it with me while travelling some times, its small enough to carry around, and I don't get tired of reading it very quickly. :D

Glover has authored and co-authored several other reference books that look interesting as well.

This is a dangerous thread for me because I'm completely addicted to books. Here are some good ones:

Cabins: A Guide to Building Your Own Nature Retreat by David and Jeanie Stiles.
It made cabin building seem very accessible to me (I have no construction experience at all). They briefly cover a wide variety of topics, including different styles of cabin-building, simple cabin designs, building own log furniture, and—my favorite—building your own windows. And more. Not in-depth, but a great place for ideas.

The Cabin by David Mulfinger and Susan E. Davis.
Photos and descriptions of cabins <1200 sf. Great for ideas on overall design and saving space.

Andrew Henry's Meadow by Doris Burn.
A children's book. Kids run away from home and build their own homes. A great variety of different structures. The inspiration for my username.