# Some thoughts that books gave me.



## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

I've been reading some series of SHTF books. EMP and afterwards on the Going Home Series by A. American (Angry American). Very good story. Lots of bad, but Hope is there.

Then my favorites, Deep Winter series by T. Sherry. They go through a lot of crap and still have working together and hope.

Then just finished re-reading "One Second After". 

These seem to be the ones I read more than once.


Yesterday I finished crying thru the end of "One Second After".

I don't remember crying thru the other series.

"One Second After" seems darker in tone than what I remembered from reading it a few years ago. 
I think part of it is, that in this one, no one really was a prepper in the whole town. In the other series, the main characters are preppers. Even when caught on the road when the event happens (Going Home). 

Have any of the rest of you read the two series, and "One Second After"?

Do you see the extra darkness of "One Second After"? 

Do you think that current state of America has anything that would make "One Second After" seem darker than if you read it about 5 years ago?


So, I now probably will go and start rereading the "Going Home" series, the first book, now that I've read thru book 5 and need book 6, I can extra appreciate book 1.


Just some thoughts.


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## Roadking (Oct 8, 2009)

Haven't read One Second After...yet, but did finish Agenda 21 a week or two ago.
5 years ago, I would have called it pretty much fiction.
Now a days, I think of it as the nightly news and wonder when it will be complete...sadly.

Matt


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

Matt - read "One Second After". It will have an impact on you.

Especially since the people in the book were not preppers. It makes an impact.


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

"The Road" seems a bit much darker than "One Second After". Maybe it was the lonely despiration that there was no way to survive.

Other texts that I'd suggest are good reading are Nivel's "Lucifer's Hammer" about a comet striking the earth, and "Wolf and Iron, about a young man and a domesticated wolf wandering in the aftermath of economic collapse.

Both touch on the darker aspects of human nature and whom you should avoid to keep from being eaten.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

I may give them a try, just not sure I'm ready for darker than "One Second After".


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## halfpint (Jan 24, 2005)

I have read the Sherry series and One Second after. To me One Second after was more sad due to losing one of the main characters. In most of the other books, while a family member may die, it is usually a character not developed (usually just mentioned) in the story. It's also sad because there is pretty much no way to really prep for that situation, as her medicines don't last a long time, especially without refrigeration. 

Also, most of these stories are written about preppers, and of course they tend to have almost everything they need, or are able to get it. In the One Second after there was no previous preparation - which if an event occurred would be the situation for the majority of Americans. One disappointment to me is that there is a college in that area that grows the majority of the food used on campus, and no one tried to get there. But the author is a professor at another college so probably wouldn't mention it.

I don't think I've read the Going Home series.

Dawn


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

http://www.amazon.com/Going-Home-No...=1421875637&sr=1-1&keywords=going+home+series

It starts with this book. And there are 5 in the series, and now I need #6 to be written.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

halfpint said:


> To me One Second after was more sad due to losing one of the main characters.....It's also sad because there is pretty much no way to really prep for that situation, as her medicines don't last a long time, *especially without refrigeration. *
> 
> Dawn


That was the one thing I got from One Second After. Keeping food and supplies might be debatable by some folks, (not me) but NOT having a source of refrigeration for a diabetic child, to me, is simply grossly negligent.

A very small solar setup, and a small, 12v vaccine fridge used in 3rd world countries for just that purpose was WELL within the means of the Daddy in the story. He could have stockpiled years worth of insulin ahead quite easily in the period BEFORE the Second.

The clear message from OSA is: The supply chain works, *right up until it doesn't.*....and are you willing to bet your life, and the lives of your loved ones, that the chain will never break ?


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

The thing about insulin, is it doesn't keep forever, even with refrigeration. You can store most antibiotics and pain meds for decades, if stored correctly, but you're not going to have that with insulin.

I always cry at that part of One Second After...

I really like Tom Sherry's books, especially the first one, Deep Winter. I've been reading the one he's working on that runs concurrently with the Deep Winter series, but he doesn't write fast enough!


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

I've got the new T. Sherry book , bookmarked, but have not started it yet. I think I might get very frustrated waiting for it to get to the next event.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I check his blog about once a month....most of the time I'm disappointed, but when there is a new chapter, you should see my happy dance!


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

I like to wait until the whole series is out so I can buy/read them all at once.


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## Jupiter (Dec 30, 2012)

One Second After is kinda dark in places. There was one prepper family in the book. They lived up in the hills I think, & they were teaching the college students & towns people how to forage later in the book.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

I guess there could have been other prepping families as some help their food stores and did not go to the communal food lines for some time after the event happened.


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## NickyBlade (May 27, 2008)

Loved both One Second After and the Road. Both are really good reads. I loaned them both out to be passed around family and friends and One Second After never came back, but after asking, no one has it. So I bought a new copy. I should re-read it sometime soon.


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## DW (May 10, 2002)

I've read One second after a couple of times but too sad for me. Now, Deep Winter is the best...read it lots as I think it helps get preps together. I'm going to have to check into the other series you mentioned.


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

We really liked the 299 Days series by Glen Tate. All 10 books are done now  Books 1-9 are the story, book 10 is "follow up" I guess. I haven't read 10, yet, but it's in the house....I'll get to it. Book 10 can also be a stand alone, I hear....but I don't know. Book 1 starts with a guy who's eyes are beginning to open, and how he starts prepping behind his wife's back. She never really "get in" on the prepping, even after "the event" happens; she doesn't really get that life will never go back to exactly what it was before. Lots of good thought provoking ideas in that book.

I'm currently reading Harbinger. Not a prep book per se, but a look at what's happening and why today. It's Christian based....but I've read that non Christians are reading it and accepting it, too. It's presented as fiction, but is non-fiction. If your interested look into it....but....it could also turn into a nasty fight (very Bible based....which some people are VERY not interested in or like to tear apart). Let's not go there.....if you're not interested in it, then don't read it and let it go, please.


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## sniper69 (Sep 23, 2007)

I have T. Sherry's first three books (all autographed by the author  ). I like them. I haven't read One Second After - yet. A good read is Unintended Consequences by John Ross. 
Of course Lights Out by Halffast is a great read (I remember reading it online before he got it published. Also IIRC they are going to make a movie based on the book, at least if I remember correctly.) Alea Jacta Est is another good read.

An interesting book (maybe not for everyone) is Danielle Kidnapped by John Silveira (the guy from Backwoods home magazine. He also wrote the original time travel ad that the movie "Safety not guaranteed" is based on, the ad was written in BHM in 1997). The book has some very dark moments and some of the language might not be appreciated.


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## Rainy (Jan 21, 2010)

i have read One Second After several times.... that book just about did me in the first time.....the nursing home situtation in that book had never occured to me and it was very hard for me to read that.... I love the book and read it to refresh some things from time to time...and of course the deep winter series is just amazing...


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## Glade Runner (Aug 1, 2013)

I've read both series and One Second After. One Second is dark, no question, and to be honest the author is a much better writer than you typically get in SHTF books so I think it has more impact. It also seems very 'real' somehow. It had enough effect on me that I visited the town, walked around some of the locations in the book, etc. Creeped me out to be honest.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

That town sounds like such a pretty place, before it got to be a fortress. And the location and water situation is good for that area.

Sometimes I think the 2nd and 3rd, and more reads of these books we find more details and impacts. And the news these days has a real impact on how much those books kick us in the gut.

After reading them, you stand in the kitchen/living room and say, what needs to be gone, and what needs to replace it. And what would I do if it happened RIGHT NOW.


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## Jupiter (Dec 30, 2012)

I know it was just a book (One Second After), but the emp happened in spring. Why didn't they start planting food? I've wondered that since I read it.


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Jupiter said:


> I know it was just a book (One Second After), but the emp happened in spring. Why didn't they start planting food? I've wondered that since I read it.


Denial, lack of knowledge, supplies, water....


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## plowhand (Aug 14, 2005)

I suppose I started with a dog-eared copy of Alas Babylon, along came wolf and Iron, One Second After, and various other tales of such times, and ages after........

Do I think it's a possible situation............yes...........more than I ever have.........Just think, think how uncaring the bulk of humanity is becoming ...........If the right scenario developed, be it war, plauge or cataclysm..........just how will folks act........will they act like those in One Second After..........will there be a group with some aid after the fact...
Drag out your history books and read........the nations and ages of mankind have risen and fallen like the oceans tide.........Are we arrogant enough to think that our time be any different.......People are just as mean, just as kind, just as foolish, and still think.....No, that won't happen to us!


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## plowhand (Aug 14, 2005)

Jupiter said:


> I know it was just a book (One Second After), but the emp happened in spring. Why didn't they start planting food? I've wondered that since I read it.


Well in my neck of the woods........only a few of us have older tractor that could run after an EMP......much less draft animals, and even hand tools stout enough to hold out to such work.........besides if the local stores hadn't received their allotment of seeds most folks wouldn't have nothing to plant, and few places to get any


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## InTownForNow (Oct 16, 2008)

I liked Alas, Babylon until the end when they got into the attic and found everything they had wanted/ needed- manual sewing machine, eyeglass kit, a bunch of other stuff. It just seemed like a big coincidence. But the rest was good.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

I've read Lucifer's Hammer and Alas Babylon. As for the rest, I just get too depressed reading this type of book. I already know how it ends, I've read Revelation. Of course, for a prepper its the time between the "event" and "the end" that we're prepping to survive.

Watching the world news is enough to send a person hiding under their bed. Myself, I'd rather use under the bed for storing preps.


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

manygoatsnmore said:


> The thing about insulin, is it doesn't keep forever, even with refrigeration. You can store most antibiotics and pain meds for decades, if stored correctly, but you're not going to have that with insulin.
> 
> I always cry at that part of One Second After...
> 
> I really like Tom Sherry's books, especially the first one, Deep Winter. I've been reading the one he's working on that runs concurrently with the Deep Winter series, but he doesn't write fast enough!


A couple of things about this in the book bothered me. First off making insulin isn't rocket science. After all it was first produced in the early 20's. Seeing as how this was supposed to be a college town you'd think there'd be enough smarts and equipment to do it.

Second, making "cold" isn't that difficult. Ammonia absorption is old tech and you could rig an AC compressor off a car to make a cold box.


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## Jolly (Jan 8, 2004)

_One Second After_ and _Lucifer's Hammer_ are closer to the truth than most.

For those that haven't read LH, it's available on line for reading, for free, from Open Library.

I'm currently reading _Long Voyage Back_, which has thermo-nuclear war as its background and what ensues afterwards. Also available on Open Library.


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## fishinshawn (Nov 8, 2010)

I have read One Second After, and thats pretty much how I envision it happening, with a slight exception of more running vehicles. I'd also advise some to read _Dies the Fire_ by SM Stirling a little more sci fi since guns and anything explosive like gun powder doesn't work anymore. Both, I think, are fairly accurate portraits of how the hordes of people could react.

In the end I think the old days were best for man when we were all homesteaders...The world is so complex now, you can't help but wonder how it keeps from toppling over...


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## Bret F (May 4, 2004)

InTownForNow said:


> I liked Alas, Babylon until the end when they got into the attic and found everything they had wanted/ needed- manual sewing machine, eyeglass kit, a bunch of other stuff. It just seemed like a big coincidence. But the rest was good.


Looking at the year the book was written, this didn't surprise me. My mom still has tow of those sewing machines stored in the shed. Her and Dad never get rid of anything. No crank record player, though.


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## plowhand (Aug 14, 2005)

Bret F said:


> Looking at the year the book was written, this didn't surprise me. My mom still has tow of those sewing machines stored in the shed. Her and Dad never get rid of anything. No crank record player, though.


A great many folks of that generation didn'y cast off anything useful.....saved it for hard times.............Nowadays there are hour long TV shows about folks throwing away items they've worked to pay for....go figure!


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

watcher said:


> A couple of things about this in the book bothered me. First off making insulin isn't rocket science. After all it was first produced in the early 20's. Seeing as how this was supposed to be a college town you'd think there'd be enough smarts and equipment to do it.
> 
> Second, making "cold" isn't that difficult. Ammonia absorption is old tech and you could rig an AC compressor off a car to make a cold box.


How many people have the knowledge and supplies to do that?


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

I wonder about how that college library was not used too much, or so it seemed from what was not being tried.


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## watcher (Sep 4, 2006)

terri9630 said:


> How many people have the knowledge and supplies to do that?


For the insulin. . . Seeing as how this is based in a college town I'd think they have a science/chemistry lab which would have everything they'd need. Heck most high schools should have the hardware you'd need. I bit of time with a chemistry book, set of encyclopedias and/or medical text should give you the steps. The difficult part from the story would be getting the necessary volume live tissue. 

For the refrigeration. . . Almost anyone with a bit of auto repair should be able to take the AC out of a car and make it work using any type of rotary motion machine. 

And any HVAC guy worth his salt should have some knowledge and reference material on NH3 refrigeration systems. Ditto for an RV repair shop. If not there's the chemistry books and encyclopedias. Heck the odds are if you live in a city of over 1,000 people there's an RV somewhere with a propane operated frig in it right now.


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## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

AngieM2 said:


> Matt - read "One Second After". It will have an impact on you.
> 
> Especially since the people in the book were not preppers. It makes an impact.


I read this One Second After on a suggestion from someone here- about 3 yrs ago- I have literally re-read it when I don't have a book - I love love love that book!
That book gets you thinking-


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Becka03 said:


> I read this One Second After on a suggestion from someone here- about 3 yrs ago- I have literally re-read it when I don't have a book - I love love love that book!
> That book gets you thinking-


This is my go-to book when I'm getting in a prepping rut and burned out. Never fails to get my prepping mojo back, lol!


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## han_solo (Aug 31, 2014)

I have read One Second After,a few of James Wesley Rawles books, Going Home, and Alas Babylon. Reading JWR's newest book and also just got Surviving Home. Have read another one but can't remember the name it was about a EMP and a sheriff who was in the military and hackers and a sniper. Best one was One Second After read it 2 times got wife to took awhile and she liked it and scared her. Never thought about how bad it could get in places like rest homes. Have heard he is/did write a sequel to One Second After and was a movie that was made or going to be made


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## Becka03 (Mar 29, 2009)

manygoatsnmore said:


> This is my go-to book when I'm getting in a prepping rut and burned out. Never fails to get my prepping mojo back, lol!



OMGosh- yes- that is it- and it is normally in the fall- when we are camping and the new season of TWD has not started- LOL- the lull of Sept and Oct- I usually re-read it in the fall camping sitting by a fire- 
that gets ya goin!


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## Glade Runner (Aug 1, 2013)

Alas, Babylon is what really kicked me off many years ago. I reread about once a year. I must say that prior to that I was a big fan of Swiss Family Robinson, Robinson Crusoe and The Mysterious Island, all of which have quite a bit to contribute to the prepper mind set. The movies are rubbish but the books are good.


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

I've read Alas, Babylon, The Deep Winter series, and One Second After. I've read some other random free kindle "prepping" fiction books but none really stand out. I'm in the middle of Lucifer's Hammer now. I was actually anxious for the comet to hit as I was tiring of reading about the immoral lives of some of the characters. I'm to the point that the comet has hit and its repercussions with each set of characters. 

Deep Winter is my favorite of the group so far. Dh couldn't get through One Second After because at the time I read it, our daughter had some serious health issues and it hit too close to home.


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## Space Cowboy (Apr 26, 2008)

The old Lucifers Hammer book was a favorite, along with Alas Babylon. A series I haven't seen mentioned here yet is "Holding their Own". Very good writing. As I have mentioned before on this site, I think the Glen Tate series is horrible. The writing is terrible, the characters unrealistic and the hero an arrogant tyrant. I would also recommend the "Going Home" series.

SC


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

When I was a kid, Robinson Crusoe was the seminal book for me.


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## Jupiter (Dec 30, 2012)

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder will make you think, & Farmer Boy never fails to motivate me to try to be more self sufficient.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

I need to try "The Long Winter". I've not read any of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books.

And I would think, while Robinson Crusoe was a good one. I think Swiss Family Robinson would be a good one, too.


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## jbo9 (Oct 30, 2012)

I read Lucifer's Hammer several years ago, and re-read it within the last year. It was the first prepper or doomsday-fiction that I had read. The first time it just seemed over the top. But the professor, and his attempts to save knowledge struck a chord with me. I can't imagine how much information we don't know any more, even though we think we have everything figured out with the internet.

I listened to One Second After as an audio book from the library. It did have some dark moments in it. And it did make you think. The nursing home was a little too real. I've been in lots of them, and they aren't all that nice of places. If something were to happen to the electricity or the supply of medications, the death loss among the elderly could be immense. Something not too many people think about. Have you ever been around people who have "gone off their meds"? The mental health issues involved could be really overwhelming for a while.

I started to return back here to HT because of T Sherry's book Deep Winter (and "We interrupt" and some of the others on an old 5 years later thread. I enjoyed his Deep Winter series and the other off-take. He's one person I'd like to sit down and drink a beer with. They are all very well written. He keeps spinning the story in a way that keeps you interested and wondering what else can happen. It was interesting to see how some of the current politics of the day were seeping into his books. It was easiest to see with the first book as it was on his blog. He says he has finished his last book Distance, but the story isn't done. I hope he is able to write some more for us.

I just finished up A. American's series the other day. Of those mentioned, his seemed the most technical and preachy, though there are much worse out there on Amazon. They were a good read and dealt with all kinds of situations. The character development was very well done. But, if I can say this, everything worked out almost too well for the main characters.

I agree that the Laura Ingalls Wilder books are worth reading, even though they are intended to be children's books. They show so much creativity in dealing with difficult situations. They are a good introduction to prepping and dealing with "what could happen?" A series of books that are a bit more advanced in reading level but still appropriate for kids, especially boys, is the Little Britches series, by Ralph Moody. They are more autobiographical than fiction, but still show the creativity and flexibility that helped make this country what it was.

I'm not an author. But some of those books have inspired me to think about possibly writing. But I don't have the time right now.


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## BlueRose (Mar 7, 2013)

Do you buy hardcovers, paperbacks or kindle editions?


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

I do most of mine on Kindle. Though I need to get a couple of the ones I read often on paperback or hardback, just in case the internet goes down or an EMP hits.


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

I second Ralph Moody's series of books. We used to read to our children every evening past supper (yes, even the teens) and these were a great hit. At one time the local public radio station actually read books on air at suppertime and we got in the habit of listening. Laura Ingalls Wilder's daughter Rose has several books out now in paperback on homesteading and the struggle to prove up title to the lands.


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## BlueRose (Mar 7, 2013)

In the last few days I have read One Second After and Going Home. Starting the 2nd one in the Going Home series tonight.

I spent 10 hours in a car yesterday all I could think about was how I would get home from where I was and what I had on my person and my friend had in her car that we could use?


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