Simple living / Self sufficiency links and lists

book list from a local reading group:


A People's History of the United States
Zinn, Howard
1999

A Place for Us: How to Make Society Civil and Democracy Strong
Barber, Benjamin
1998

A Plain Life: Walking My Belief
Savage, Scott
2000

A Reasonable Life: Toward a Simpler, More Secure, More Humane Existence
Pete Seeger and Helen Caldicott said nice things.
Mate, Ferenc
1997

A Simple Choice: A Practical Guide for Saving Your Time, Money, and Sanity
Taylor-Hough, Deborah
2000

A Woman's Guide to a Simpler Life
Van Steenhouse, Andrea
1996

Affluenza
De Graaf, et al
2001

Awakening Earth: Exploring The Evolution of Human Culture and Consciousness
Elgin, Duane
1993

Believing Cassandra
Atkisson, Alan
1999

Beyond Beef
Rifkin, Jeremy
1992

Beyond Civilization
Quinn, Daniel
1999

Beyond the Limits
Meadows, Donella
1992

Biblical Sources of Stewardship
Swartley, Willard

Biologic: Designing to Protect the Environment
Wann, David

Bioshelters, Ocean Arks, City Farming: Ecology as the Basis of Design
Todd, Nancy Jack and Todd, John
1984

Can't Buy My Love (how advertising changes the way we think and feel)
Kilbourne, Jean
1999

Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday
Life
Moore, Thomas
1992

Celebration of Discipline (Chapter 6 is a thoughtful and concise description
of inner and outer simplicity written by a Quaker theologian who practices
what he preaches.)
Foster, Richard J.
1978, 1988

Choosing Simplicity: Real People Finding Peace and Fulfillment in a Complex
World
Pierce, Linda Breen
2000

Circle of Simplicity (The): Return to the Good Life
Andrews, Cecile
1997

Clutter's Last Stand
Aslett, Don
1984

Compassionate Universe: The Power of the Individual to Heal the Environment
(Author was a successful writer, lecturer, & professor in India when he came
to the U.S. as a Fulbright scholar in 1959. Moved from "education for
degrees" to "education for living". Founded a meditation center in Northern
CA.)
Easwaran, Eknath
1989

Complete Idiot's Guide to Simple Living (The)
Lockwood, Georgene
2000


Conquest of Mind
Easwaran, Eknath
2001


Consumer Society (The)
Goodwin, Neva, ed.
1997

Consumer Society Reader (The)
Schor, Juliet, ed. and Holt, Douglas B., ed.
2000

Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices (The): Practical Advice
from the Union of Concerned Scientists
Brower, Michael and Leon, Warren
1999

Continuing the Good Life
Nearing, Scott & Helen
1979

Corruption of American Politics (The): What Went Wrong and Why
Drew, Elizabeth
1999

Crystallizing Public Opinion (written by a master manipulator) (See P. 24)
Bernays, Edward
1923, 1961

Culture Jam: The Uncooling of America
Lasn, Kalle (founder of Adbusters)
1999

Deep Design: Pathways to a Livable Future
Wann, David
1996

Deep Ecology
Devall, Bill and Sessions, George
1985

Die Broke
Pollan, Stephen M.
1997

Diet for a Poisoned Planet
Steinman, David
1990

Different Drum (The): Community Making and Peace
Peck, M. Scott
1987

Doing Less and Having More: Five Easy Steps for Discovering What You Really
Want, and Getting It
Wieder, Marcia
1998

Downscaling: Simplify and Enrich Your Lifestyle
Babbitt, Dave
1993

Downshifting: How to Work Less & Enjoy Life More
Drake, John
2000

Downshifting: Reinventing Success on a Slower Track
Saltzman, Amy
1991

Downwardly Mobile for Conscience' Sake: 101 Sketches
Anderson, Dorothy N.
1995


Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
Gatto, John Taylor
1992, 2002

Dupont: Behind the Nylon Curtain
Zilg, Gerald Colby
1981


Eco-Economy
Brown, Lester Russell
2001

Ecology of Commerce (See P. 76)
Hawken, Paul
1993

Education of Little Tree (The)
Carter, Forrest
1986


Embracing the Earth: Choices for Environmentally Sound Living (steps you can
take for survival of the earth; includes reduce, reuse, recycle, eliminating
toxics, conserving water, saving energy)
Harris, D. Mark
1990

End of Nature (The)
McKibben, Bill
1989

End of Work (The)
Rifkin, Jeremy
1995

Environmentally Significant Consumption
Stern, Paul, et al
1997

Extreme Simplicity: Homesteading in the City
Nyerges, Christopher and Nyerges, Dolores Lynn
2002

Fast Food Nation
Schlosser, Eric
2001

Food First: Beyond the Myith of Scarcity
Lappe, Frances Moore and Collins, Joseph
1977

Food Revolution
Robbins, John
2001

Fourth Instinct (The): The Call of the Soul
Huffington, Arianna
1994

Freedom of Simplicity
Foster, Richard J.
1981

Frugal Luxuries: Simple Pleasures to Enhance Your Life and Comfort Your Soul
McBride, Tracey
1997

Gandhi's Seven Steps to Global Change
de Mallac, Guy
1989

Gaviotas -- A Village to Reinvent the World
Weisman, Alan
1998

Getting a Life: Real Lives Transformed...
Blix, Jacqueline and HeitMiller, David
1997

Gift from the Sea
Lindbergh, Anne Morrow
1955

Going Green (It's about how companies fool you into thinking they're green,
written by one of their own.) (See P. 124-125)
Harrison, Bruce

Good Life (The): Helen and Scott Nearing's Sixty Years of Self-sufficient
Living
Nearing, Helen
1989

Graceful Simplicity: Toward a Philosophy and Politics of Simple Living
Segal, Jerome M.
1999

Green, Cheap, and Happy
Hacker, Randi
1994

Greenpeace Guide to Antienvironmental Organizations (See P. 127)
Boren, Frank
1993

Guerrilla P.R.
Levine, Michael
1993

Guerrilla P.R. Wired
Levine, Michael
2002

Hidden Persuaders (The) (lambasts advertising)
Packard, Vance
1957

Hope's Edge
Lappe, Frances Moore and Lappe, Anna
2002

Hope, Human and Wild (Hungry Mind Press, 1648 Grand Ave., St. Paul MN 55105)
McKibben, Bill
1995

How Much Is Enough? The Consumer Society and the Future of Earth
Durning, Alan
1992

How the Public Relations Industry Writes the News (See P. 183)
Biyskal, Jeff & Marie

How to Get What You Want in Life with the Money You Already Have
Keeffe, Carol
1995

How to Survive Without A Salary: Learning How to Live the Conserver
Lifestyle
Long, Charles
1992

If You Love This Planet
Caldicott, Helen
1992

In Search of the Simple Life: American Voices, Past and Present
Shi, David
1986

In the Absence of the Sacred. Sierra Club Books (comprehensive presentation
of the impact of technology with separate chapters on television and
computers)
Mander, Jerry
1991

In the Footsteps of Gandhi: Conversations with Spiritual Social Activists
Ingram, Catherine
1990

Inner Simplicity: 100 Ways to Regain Peace and Nourish Your Soul
St. James, Elaine
1995

Ishmael
Quinn, Daniel
1995

Joy of Simple Living (The)
Davidson, Jeffrey P.
1999

Keeping It Simple: Sorting Out What Really Matters in Your Life
Aumiller, Gary S.
1995

Keeping Life Simple
Levine, Karen
1996

Kitchen Table Wisdom
Remen, Rachel Naomi
1996

Knowledge Value Revolution (The): A History of the Future (about the
expanding demand for experimental & customized products that define who we are based on their qualities ‹ set in the context of Japanese history &
culture)
Sakaiya
1991

Living Cheaply With Style
Callenbach, Ernest
1993

Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment
Steingraber, Sandra
1997

Living Machines
Todd, John

Living More with Less
Longacre, Doris Janzen
1980

Living the Good Life
Nearing, Scott & Helen
1954, 1970

Living the Simple Life: A Guide to Scaling Down and Enjoying More
St. James, Elaine
1996

Loving and Leaving the Good Life
Nearing, Scott & Helen
1992

Luxury Fever: Why Money Fails to Satisfy in an Era of Excess
Frank, Robert H.
1999

Mad Cowboy
Lyman, Howard
1998

Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways for Creating Work That You Love
Winter, Barbara
1993

Material World
Menzel, Peter
1994

Media Monopoly (The) (See P. 181)
Bagdikian, Ben H.
1983

Millionaire Next Door (The)
Stanley, Thomas J.
1996

My Ishmael
Quinn, Daniel
1997

Natural Capitalism
Hawkin, Paul, Lovins, Amory, and Lovins, Hunter
1999

Next Hundred Years (The)
Chouniard, Yvon

Non-money: That "Other Money" You Didn't Know You Had
Egeberg, Olaf
1994

Nontoxic, Natural and Earthwise
Dadd, Debra Lynn
1990

Not in My Back Yard: The Handbook (See P. 201)
Morris, Jane Anne
1994

Nuclear Madness
Caldicott, Helen
1994

Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth
Fuller, Buckminster
1969

Ordinary Stuff: A Simple Guide for Abundant Living
Betts, Joan
1997

Organizing the Good Life
Rocks, Celia
2001

Our Ecological Footprint
Wackernagel, Mathis & William Rees
1996

Our Media, Not Theirs: The Democratic Struggle Against Corporate Media
McChesney, Robert W. and Nichols, John
2002

Overscheduled Child (The)
Rosenfeld, Alvin (Dr.)
2001

Overspent American (The)
Schor, Juliet
1998, 1999

Overworked American (The)
Schor, Juliet
1991

Place Matters
Dreier, Peter, Mollenkopf, John, and Swanstrom, Todd
2001

Plain and Simple (living for a time with the Amish)
Bender, Sue
1989

Plain Reader (The)
Savage, Scott, ed.
1998

Power House (The): Robert Keith Gray and the Selling of Access and Influence
in Washington (See P.49)
Trento, Susan B.
1992

Propaganda (written by the person who was expert at using it to fool the
public) (See P. 23-24)
Bernays, Edward
1928

Providence: The Story of a 50-year Vision Quest
Quinn, Daniel
1995

Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict
Klare, Michael T.
2001

Rich Christmas in an Age of Hunger
Sider, Ronald J.
1990

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (The)
Covey, Stephen
1989, 1997

Seven Money Mantras for a Richer Life
Singletary, Michelle
2003

Seven Wonders: Everyday Things for a Healthier Planet
Ryan, John
1999

Sharing the Work, Sparing the Planet
Hayden, Anders
1999

Shattering the Two-income Myth: Daily Secrets for Living Well on One Income
Dappen, Andy
1997

Silent Spring
Carson, Rachel
1962

Silent Takeover (The): Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy
Hertz, Noreena
2001

Simple Abundance
Ban Breathnach, Sarah
1995, 2000

Simple is Powerful: Anecdotes for a Complex World
Roads, Michael J.
1992

Simple Life (The)
Roth, Larry, ed.
1998

Simple Living Guide (The): A Sourcebook for Less Stressful, More Joyful Living
Luhrs , Janet
1997

Simple Living: One Couple's Search for a Better Life
Levering, Frank and Urbanska, Wanda
1992

Simplicity
Burch, Mark
1995

Simplicity Reader (The)
St. James, Elaine
1999

Simplicity: The New Competitive Advantage in a World of More, Better, Faster
Jensen, Bill
2000

Simplify Your Christmas
St. James, Elaine
1998

Simplify Your Life
St. James, Elaine
1994

Simplify Your Life With Kids
St. James, Elaine
1997

Simplify Your Work Life
St. James, Elaine
2001

Simply Organized: How to Simplify Your Complicated Life
Cox , Connie and Evatt, Chris
1988

Slowing Down to the Speed of Life: How to Create a More Peaceful, Simpler
Life
Carlson, Richard and Bailey, Joseph
1997

Socially Responsible Investing
Domini, Amy
2001

Soul of A Citizen: Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time
Loeb, Paul Rogat
1999

Status Seekers (The) (lambasts keeping up with the Joneses)
Packard, Vance
1959
Story of B (The)
Quinn, Daniel
1996

Stretching Lessons: The Daring that Starts from Within
Bender, Sue
2001

Stuff: The Secret Lives of Everyday Things
Ryan, John and Durning, Alan
1997

Sustainable Planet
Taylor, Betsy, ed. and Schor, Juliet, ed.
2002

Take Back Your Life: Smart Ways to Simplify Daily Living
Pollar, Odette
1999

Taking Back Our Lives in the Age of Corporate Dominance
Schwartz, Ellen and Stoddard, Suzanne
2000

Taking Care of Business: Citizenship and the Charter of Incorporation, a
pamphlet (Order from Charter, Inc./CSPP c/o POCLAD, POB 246, S. Yarmouth MA
02664-0246. $4 plus SASE with 2 stamps.)
Grossman, Richard and Adams, Frank T.
1993

There's Nothing in the Road But Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos
Hightower, Jim
1997

This Place On Earth
Durning, Alan Thein
1996

Tightwad Gazette I-III
Dacyczyn, Amy
1993, 1995, 1996

Time Bind (The): When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work (study of
workers' lives in a large corporation)
Hochschild, Arlie Russell
1997

Timelock: How Life Got So Hectic and What You Can Do About It
Keyes, Ralph
1991

Top Heavy -- A Study of the Increasing Inequality of Wealth in America and What You Can Do About It
Wolff, Edward N.
2002

Toxic Sludge is Good For You
Stauber, John C. and Rampton, Sheldon
1995

Trust Us: We're Experts
Rampton, Sheldon
2001


Two Incomes and Still Broke?
Kelley, Linda
1996


Unplug the Christmas Machine (a planned approach for simplifying the
holidays)
Robinson, Jo
1991

Unreliable Sources: A Guide to Detecting Bias in the News Media (See P.
171)
Lee, Martin H. and Solomon, Norman
1990

Use Less Stuff: Environmentalism for Who We Really Are
Lilienfield, Robert M. and Rathje, William
1998

Voluntary Simplicity (includes anecdotes from people who have moved to
simple and ecological lifestyles)
Elgin, Duane
1993

Walden
Thoreau, Henry David

Waste Makers (The) (lambasts planned obsolescence)
Packard, Vance
1960

Wealth Addiction
Slater, Phillip
1980

Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of t he American Rich
Phillips, Kevin P.
2002

When Corporations Rule the World
Korten, David
1995

Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
Kabat-Zinn, Jon
1994

Whistleblowers (The): Exposing Corruption in Government and Industry (See P..
101)
Glazer, Myron and Glazer, Penina
1989

White Collar Sweatshop
Fraser, Jill Andresky
2001

Work Less and Play More
Catlin, Steven
1997

Working Harder Isn't Working
O'Hara, Bruce

Yankee Way to Simplify Your Life (The)
Heinrichs, Jay
1996

Your Money or Your Life
Dominguez, Joe and Robin, Vicki
1992

 

There are many counterculture and self-help books on that list but I am not sure I would pigeonhole them as self-sufficiency books.Here are a list of what I would call useful self-sufficiency books.

Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison and Reny Mia Slay. Tagari Publications. Australia. ISBN 0-908228-08-2.
This is more about the layout of bush block or even a home garden to produce the highest yeild but with the minumum of daily effort such as suggesting the herb garden by close to the kitchen instead of being at the back of the garden. The use of animals is strongly encouraged. The essence of permaculture is to work with nature instead of against it.However he does not go into the nuts and bolts of gardening.

Hard Times Handbook. Keith & Irene Smith. Viking, Australia. ISBN 0-670-92075-6 . This is a general reference covering the basics of self-sufficiency, such as keeping warm making your grocery dollar go further, low energy cooking, bottling tomatoes and home made detergents. I would have to disagree what the authors had to say about gas verses electricity especially L.P.G for home use, but my edition was printed in 1984.

The Encyclopedia Of Wood Working Techniques. Jeremy Broun. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0 7318 0396-5. This woodworking book has many improvisation techniques and shows how to get the most out of the tools that you have. Unlike some other woodworking books this book does not suggest you buy many more tools -especially power tools- than you really need. Instead he shows the ones that you really need and instead of step by step projects it concentrates on the fundamentals of working with wood concisely but clearly. It even shows methods of bending wood.


Reader's Digest Do It Yourself Manual. First published 1965.Now out of print but is sometimes found in secondhand bookshops. There were different versions for Australia and UK (presumably USA).This book starts right with the basics such as of how to hammer a nail correctly. Although it has become a bit dated - e.g. self drilling screws had not been thought of - it is still well worth having. The authors had no regard for architectural heritage which makes it interesting to see what the ideal 1960's house was like but now largely out of fashion just as federation house was out of fashion when the book was printed. What I like about this book is that is does not assume that you have an unlimited bidget.There is a considerable amount of improvisation ideas such as managing without a workshop work bench and even how to build your own wheel barrow.

 

opinions on Sun Bear Tribe's Self Sufficiency book?

 

had it long ago. the traffic was lame and a bunch of wannabes and political arguments.
anyway, forum requests are handled in suggestions. read the sticky about it.

 

E magazine is a waste of trees. lame writing, on topics other magazines have covered first and better.