Category: books

What to Expect When the SHTF: An FAQ Guide to Systemic Collapse Preparedness

Read free online. You can also download the free pdf. This is a guide born of a conversation I had with AI, mostly ChatGPT. (I also had Claude do a quick double-check.) I don’t know how complete some of the info is – AI tends to leave holes big enough to drive a truck through — but I found it really useful. It helps me consider things I hadn’t thought about before, and it helps me understand some of the bigger systems that come into play, as well as the daily attentions to detail that are going to be crucially important in various societal collapse scenarios. I was impressed with the recurrent focus on community as the driving force in survival of so many types of challenges. Hopefully, AI isn’t just hallucinating that theme! I do believe that the time for urgently forming intentional communities and the time for neighborhoods urgently getting together (and getting it together) is now.

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Ongoing List of Additional Books to Read Free

A list of books we like that you can read for free. Most of these books don’t have their own posts on this site. All can be read online for free. Some can be freely downloaded. Others can be borrowed (usually via archive.org) to read online.

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Mastery: Interviews with 30 Remarkable People

Read free. “There were a number of core questions that I wanted to cover in each interview. You will find the basic six or seven in each chapter: Do you have a definition of mastery? What qualities and practices lead to mastery? How did you discover your passion for ‘X’? Did you have an important teacher or mentor? What are the pitfalls on the road to mastery? What importance does luck (or risk taking) play? Is there a situation in which you felt most like a master?…”

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The Autobiography of Mother Jones

Read free. You can read it online or download it. From the Introduction by Clarence Darrow: “Some of the fiercest combats in America have been fought by the miners. These fights brought thousands of men and their families close to starvation. They brought contests with police, militia, courts and soldiers. They involved prison sentences, massacres and hardships without end. Wherever the fight was the fiercest and danger the greatest, Mother Jones was present to aid and cheer. In both the day and the night, in the poor villages and at the lonely cabin on the mountain side. Mother Jones always appeared in time of need. She had a strong sense of drama. She staged every detail of a contest. Her actors were real men and women and children, and she often reached the hearts of employers where all others failed. She was never awed by jails. Over and over she was sentenced by courts; she never ran away. She stayed in prison until her enemies opened the doors. Her personal non-resistance was far more powerful than any appeal to force.”

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Where There Is No Doctor

Read free. “Where There Is No Doctor was first written in Spanish for farm people in the mountains of Mexico where, 27 years ago, the author helped form a health care network now run by the villagers themselves. Where There Is No Doctor has been translated into more than 50 languages and is used by village health workers in over 100 countries.”

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Agricultural Engineering

Read free. “This volume has been written primarily as a text for secondary schools of agriculture, and for colleges where only a general course can be offered. Claim is not made for much new material concerning the subjects discussed; but rather an attempt has been made to place under one cover a general discussion of agricultural engineering subjects, which hitherto could not be secured except in several volumes and hence impractical for text-book purposes.”

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Essentials of Public Speaking

Read free. “First and last, public speaking is a practical art, a means, not an end. It is a purposive activity, not a mere vehicle for the exhibition of skill. The only excuse for studying the art is that we may fashion a tool that will help us turn a vision into a reality. But if we are to make it a useful tool, we must always speak with a definite purpose in mind. No speaker ever attained his goal without subordinating his art to his subject.”

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Paths to Power

Read free. “It is almost universally conceded that each one carries a certain atmosphere that may be felt by all who come in contact with him; but how that atmosphere is formed and held by each individual is an open question…. That the proposition may be clearly understood, it will be best to state it boldly. It is this: Man controls absolutely his own atmosphere.“

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Beginners’ Botany

Read free. “If one compares any two plants of the same kind ever so closely, it will be found that they differ from each other. The difference is apparent in size, form, color, mode of branching, number of leaves, number of flowers, vigor, season of maturity, and the like; or, in other words, all plants and animals vary from an assumed or standard type. If one compares any two branches or twigs on a tree, it will be found that they differ in size, age, form, vigor, and in other ways.”

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Rational Living

Read free. “There seem to the writer to be four great inferences from modern psychology, and each with suggestions for life and character—that is, with direct suggestion of the conditions of growth, of character, of happiness, and of influence. These four inferences are: Life is complex; man is a unity; will and action are of central importance; and the real is concrete.”

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Seventy Years Young

Read free. “The idea that the writer has tried to present, simply and practically, is that man’s responses and reactions to life are virtually within his own control; that the quality and number of his responses and reactions determine, to a large degree, his oldness or youngness.”

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Play, Naturally

Read free. “One of this book’s fundamental messages is the value and importance of nearby nature, for children’s play in particular and for human health and well-being in general. Therefore we need to ensure that our human environments allow the natural habitats of children to survive and thrive. Indeed, the very survival of natural spaces in the future may well depend on providing children with opportunities to play naturally today.”

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The Locavore’s Handbook

Read free. “Saving the World by Eating Great Food: The good news is that all you have to do to stop participating in the litany of horrors that is industrial agriculture is to eat the most delicious, healthiest food on the planet; the food that was harvested in its prime right before you brought it home and that was raised humanely and safely.”

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The Ultimate Bushcraft Survival Manual

Read free. “If our ancestors didn’t succeed at the task of surviving in the wilderness, we wouldn’t be here talking about it—but it’s never been easy. It takes knowledge, skill, and talent to live off the land. This is a book about that kind of survival, but it’s also a blend of history and philosophy. Here you’ll learn about primitive survival techniques for their historical value and as a set of last-ditch plans for survival when your gear is gone. And we’ll explore the philosophy of the bushcraft movement. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, don’t worry. It’s not witchcraft or “arts and crafts.” Bushcraft is all about thriving in your native environment: the great outdoors.”

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Helping Nature Heal

Read free. “Righting wrongs is inherently ennobling, and in the process, these restorationists are discovering how to live lives that are more connected and rewarding. Their stories display the sense of accomplishment that can come when we align our actions with forces larger than ourselves. I hope their examples serve as an invitation for you to join in and get your own hands dirty.”

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