Recommended Survival Books for Your Collection

These are my most recommended survival books to keep as resources in your home library. We’ve written reviews of some of these over the years and included links. There is also a quick list with links if you want to go straight to Amazon to learn more about the book and see reader reviews.

Books by The Survival Mom

Do you mind if I include my books in this list of recommended survival books?

• The first is Survival Mom: How to Prepare Your Family for Everyday Disasters and Worst Case Scenarios. It’s a great resource to have for many scenarios; I basically wrote the book I wish I’d had when I first began to prep. Read more details about it here, plus a link to buy it.
• And if there’s a chance you could have to leave your house quickly, also get Emergency Evacuations: Get Out Fast When It Matters Most. Click to read all about it, plus a link to purchase.

Go Straight to Amazon Using These Links

Those with an * beside them have reviews that can be accessed below.

1. Last Light by Terri Blackstock
2. Lights Out by David Crawford
3. One Second After by William Forstchen*
4. Patriots by James Wesley Rawles
5. Stacey’s Quest by AK Steele*
6. Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzalez*
7. The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker
8. The Survivors Club by Ben Sherwood
9. The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley*
10. Bug Out: The Complete Plan for Escaping a Catastrophic Disaster Before it’s too Late by Scott B. Williams
11. Survive! Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere – Alive by Les Stroud
12. Will to Live by Les Stroud*
13. The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan
14. Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag by Creek Stewart*
15. Crisis Preparedness Handbook by Jack A. Spigarelli
16. The Doom and Bloom Survival Medicine Handbook by Joseph and Amy Alton
17. The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery
18. Gardening When It Counts by Steve Solomon
19. How to Survive the End of the World as we Know it by James Wesley Rawles
20. LDS Preparedness Manual (free download)
21. The Modern Survival Manual by Fernando Aguirre
22. The Prepper’s Pocket Guide by Bernie Carr
23. Prescription for Herbal Healing by Phyllis A. Balch
24. When There is No Doctor by David Werner
25. Where There is No Dentist by Murray Dickson
26. Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving by Judi Kingry
27. Cookin’ with Home Storage by Peggy Layton & Vicki Tate
28. Dinner is in the Jar by Kathy Clark
29. Food Storage 101 by Peggy Layton
30. Mary Bell’s Complete Dehydrator Cookbook by Mary Bell

My Recommended Survival Books Grouped Into Categories

If you have an idea of the topic you’re wanting, I’ve sorted my recommendations into these groups:

• Books for Motivating You to Prepare
• Mental Preparedness
• Wilderness and Outdoor Survival
• SHTF and TEOTWAWKI Survival
• Medical Readiness
• Food Storage and Preservation

Wake Up, People! Books for Motivating You to Prepare

• Last Light by Terri Blackstock
• Lights Out by David Crawford
• One Second After by William Forstchen describes life in a North Carolina town following an EMP attack. This permanently destroys everything that relies on electronics: cars, airplanes, all communication, medical equipment, etc.  I finally forced myself to read it, and, yes, it was dismal, depressing, and discouraging. I much prefer an economic collapse to a post-EMP world. Note from The Survival Mom: I don’t believe this is a realistic scenario anymore. It’s too widespread and renders critical infrastructure useless to the attacker as well. Instead, localized EMP events, sabotage, and, to a lesser extent, Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are what we need to be prepared for. Still, the information contained within is useful and enlightening. Read more of this review of One Second After.
• Patriots by James Wesley Rawles
• Stacey’s Quest by AK Steele tells the realistic story of a teenage girl whose life revolves around high school, her friends, and shopping trips to the mall.  In every way, her life is that of any other American girl.  In a moment, though, that world completely changes with an EMP burst.  Stacey and her friends find themselves at the mall when the lights and heat go out, and a blizzard rages outside the mall doors.  They have nothing on but the flimsy shoes and fashionable outfits they left home with that morning. Read more of this review of Stacey’s Quest.

Mental Preparedness

• Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzalez digs deep into questions like why some people survive, and others perish after experiencing the same set of circumstances. He looks at specific cases to scientifically examine why people tend to survive. His motivation stems from his father’s own survival in both a military plane crash and being a prisoner of war. Maybe survivalism can be passed down through the genes. Read more of this review of Deep Survival.
• The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker
• The Survivors Club by Ben Sherwood
• The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley investigates how humans respond to major disasters and what they did that gave them the ability to survive. Do you know your disaster personality? Survival lessons from The Unthinkable help teach everyday people about their disaster personality, among other survival lessons. Read more of this review of The Unthinkable.

Wilderness and Outdoor Survival

• Bug Out: The Complete Plan for Escaping a Catastrophic Disaster Before it’s too Late by Scott B. Williams
• Survive! Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere – Alive by Les Stroud
• Will to Live by Les Stroud centers around real-life survival stories.  As Les recounts the stories, he interjects his opinions of the decisions and actions of those who lived through horrendous trials and tragedies.  He also inserts survival lessons and tips relevant to the narrative. Read more of this review of Will to Live.

TEOTWAWKI and SHTF Survival

• The Backyard Homestead by Carleen Madigan
• Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag by Creek Stewart is interesting to read, contains photos illustrating important concepts (uses for an emergency blanket, for example), and is comprehensive. Stewart zeros in on one single narrow topic, bug out bags, and then wrote THE BOOK on the topic. Seriously. Nothing more needs to be said about bug out bags. He covers every possible angle of these bags, from choosing the right style and size to how to organize the contents, which type of lighting and communication devices to carry, considerations for food, and tons more. Read more of this review of Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag.
• Crisis Preparedness Handbook by Jack A. Spigarelli
• The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery
• Gardening When It Counts by Steve Solomon
• How to Survive the End of the World as we Know it by James Wesley Rawles
• LDS Preparedness Manual (free download)
• The Modern Survival Manual by Fernando Aguirre
• The Prepper’s Pocket Guide by Bernie Carr

Medical Readiness

• The Doom and Bloom Survival Medicine Handbook by Joseph and Amy Alton
• Prescription for Herbal Healing by Phyllis A. Balch
• When There is No Doctor by David Werner
• Where There is No Dentist by Murray Dickson

Food Storage and Preservation

• Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving by Judi Kingry
• Cookin’ with Home Storage by Peggy Layton & Vicki Tate
• Dinner is in the Jar by Kathy Clark
• Food Storage 101 by Peggy Layton
• Mary Bell’s Complete Dehydrator Cookbook by Mary Bell

Recommended Survival Books: Which Do You Recommend?

This isn’t an exhaustive list of the best survival resources, but it’s a good beginning to a valuable library you’ll need when survival is the issue.