Best Books on Homesteading for Preppers (2026)
Homesteading books cover growing food, keeping animals, preserving the harvest, and the traditional skills that tie it together. The big general references come first, then more specialized books.
10 books, ranked. Affiliate links.
#1
The Encyclopedia of Country Living
Carla Emery
Carla Emery's massive reference on growing, raising, preserving, and cooking food. If you only keep one homesteading book, many people pick this one. Beginner level, 928 pages, 40th Anniversary Edition (2012).
beginnerLarge reference
#2
The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It
John Seymour
John Seymour's illustrated classic on running a small self-sufficient holding, from gardening and livestock to crafts. Beginner level, [6th ed.] (2009).
beginnerLarge reference
#3
The Backyard Homestead
Carleen Madigan
What you can produce on a quarter acre: vegetables, fruit, chickens, and more. A friendly overview. Beginner level, 2009 edition.
beginner
#4
Back to Basics
Abigail R. Gehring
A broad illustrated guide to traditional skills: building, growing, preserving, and crafts. Covers a lot of ground without going deep. Beginner level, 464 pages, 2014 edition.
beginnerLarge reference
#5
Mini Farming
Brett L. Markham
How to produce most of a family's food on a quarter acre. Beginner level, 2010 edition.
beginner
#6
The Foxfire Book
Eliot Wigginton
Appalachian students recorded their elders' skills: hog dressing, log cabins, soap making, and more. The first of a long series. Beginner level, 384 pages, 1972 edition.
beginnerAppalachia
#7
The Backyard Beekeeper
Kim Flottum
A beginner's guide to keeping bees in small spaces. Honey keeps for a very long time. Beginner level, 256 pages, 5th edition (2024).
beginner
#8
Foxfire 2
Eliot Wigginton
The second Foxfire volume, with more traditional Appalachian skills from spinning to wagon making. Beginner level, 410 pages, 1973 edition.
beginnerAppalachia
#9
Foxfire 3
Eliot Wigginton
The third Foxfire volume, covering animal care, hide tanning, and more mountain skills. Beginner level, 511 pages, 1st ed. (1975).
beginnerAppalachia
#10
Just in Case
Kathy Harrison
Kathy Harrison's family-centered guide to being ready for emergencies, with practical lists and a calm tone. Beginner level, 239 pages, 2008 edition.
beginner
This list shows our top 10 of 13. See every homesteading book in the directory.
How we picked
Every book here is a print reference you could actually use during an emergency, and every edition, ISBN, and page count was checked against Open Library or the publisher. If we couldn't verify a detail, we left it out. The order is our editorial judgment: books a beginner can use come first, then specialist references. Free legal copies are flagged, and we never link to pirated PDFs. Affiliate commissions don't decide what gets listed or where it ranks.
More buying guides: Survival Medicine · Wilderness First Aid · Water Storage and Purification · Food Storage and Preservation · Canning · Foraging · Ham Radio · Off-Grid Power · Survival Gardening · Bushcraft · General Survival