Book Club?

[Well-Prepared Witch]

Is anyone interested in starting up a prepping book club?  All read the book on our own, have a monthly thread to discuss?

Here are my suggestions for the first few books:

* The Resilient Gardener by Carol Deppe
* Prepping for a Suburban or Rural Community: Building a Civil Defense Plan for a Long-Term Catastrophe by Michael Mabee
* The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch by Lewis Dartnell
* Just in Case: How to be Self-Sufficient when the Unexpected Happens by Kathy Harrison and Alison Kolesar
* Lights Out by Ted Koppel
* Deep Survival Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonzales
* Five Acres and Independence: A Practical Guide to the Selection and Management of the Small Farm by Maurice G. Kains

What do you think?  Anyone interested?  Any other book suggestions?

[Erick]

I think its a great idea! 

[Kbop]

here is a short article that made me understand modern food in a new light.
The impracticality of a cheeseburger. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-impracticality-of-a-cheeseburger/

[JohnyMac]

Awesome idea Wellie!

May I add to the list: Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver?

[Well-Prepared Witch]

That's a great book!  I do recommend the paper (or ebook) version rather than the audio book, though.  She's a much better writer than she is a narrator.   Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan is a great option, too.

[JohnyMac]

@ Kbop. Interesting short read. While reading it I though of other articles I had read along similar lines. Is it possible for the people of the world to outgrow earth? Sure why not. Can I see man in an ever increasing need to feed itself in the end destroying our environment - Sure why not.

With man needing to feed more & more people, the clearing of land has a detrimental result on other parts of the environment like oxygen. With less & less tree's and plants absorbing carbon monoxide and more & more water being used to grow food; I could defiantly see problems in the future.

On another note but keeping this stream of consciousness going: Mother nature tends to self correct herself too. The plagues, world war, lemming's jumping into the sea come to mind. Not to mention man's inhumanity to man as we see in many parts of the world.

@ Wellie: Even if Omnivore's Dilemma is not picked I will add it to my library order list. After all, a man can't live on Ham Radio text books alone.

By the way, I never have a problem falling asleep which seems to annoy MrsMac for some reason or other. However I am one to wake up in the middle of the night and can not get back to sleep. I found that Ham text books are great for that.  Diodes, resisters, capacitors OH MY!
     

[Well-Prepared Witch]

lol!  I have a few books on my Kindle that are *great* for falling asleep.  Alas, they're on my Kindle because I actually want to read them.

[Kbop]

@ Kbop. Interesting short read. While reading it I though of other articles I had read along similar lines. Is it possible for the people of the world to outgrow earth? Sure why not. Can I see man in an ever increasing need to feed itself in the end destroying our environment - Sure why not.

I have noticed that every time someone starts shouting that Malthusian times have arrived, it seems to have been postponed.  I have also noticed that if you go to some places at some times you can see it in action.  The increasing size of the Sahara desert causing droughts in Ethiopia causing continuing famine.  With our support web getting more and more intricate the cascading events caused by a normal drought or disease can result in an asymmetrical world wide effect.  I used to think of this like rope being pulled too tight on the verge of breaking.  Now i like the rubberband and watermelon analogy - link below. 
Mother nature will adjust things and even clean up the mess.  I just like to remember that if we humans do it, the effects are generally more palatable.  Mother nature tends to throw rocks and go boom.

Diodes, resisters, capacitors OH MY!

you need to add a speaker and a wire to your mix you can have a Xtal radio
http://www.techlib.com/electronics/crystal.html

FF to 1:20 for the fun part.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK8dsAeMmPk

[Well-Prepared Witch]

So we have one vote each for Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, the Resilient Gardener, and Prepping for a Suburban Community. For those of you interested in participating, any preference as to which we start with? I figure we can do those three books for the first three months and it's just a matter of which goes first.

[rah45]

When I get the money to start participating, count me in! One of my biggest weaknesses is not starting to read such books because I don't always understand even some of the basic stuff, and it feels too much like work. This way, when I'm finally able to read them with you guys, I can interact and ask questions.

[JohnyMac]

Don't forget Rah...Your Local Library.

MrsMac and I use our local library so much, we never even have to pull out our Library cards anymore. The only bummer is that our local library is so poor, we have to order books which get pulled from other libraries around the state.

[rah45]

Don't forget Rah...Your Local Library.

MrsMac and I use our local library so much, we never even have to pull out our Library cards anymore. The only bummer is that our local library is so poor, we have to order books which get pulled from other libraries around the state.

I haven't used the library in so long that, even though my kids go all the time, I never considered using it. How dense I can be...LOL.

[JohnyMac]

LOL... Rah

[Well-Prepared Witch]

I've just recently started using the library again, too!  It's an awesome resource.  Our system actually even has ebooks and audio books available via a smartphone app or online.

[JohnyMac]

OK Wellie we have given everyone a chance to participate. What book should be the first one to chat about 

[rah45]

How about Prepping for a Suburban or Rural Community? That would actually be somewhat relevant for me.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Well-Prepared Witch]

Done! We'll start there. I'll make a separate post with specifics.

[JohnyMac]

Cool beans