Feedback on a Couple of Books

[Diavolicchio]

Purely on a whim, I just ordered two books on Amazon.com about Homesteading. I'm curious who on here has these two books and what you think of them:


1) Homesteading: A Back to Basics Guide to Growing Your Own Food, Canning, Keeping Chickens, Generating Your Own Energy, Crafting, Herbal Medicine, and More, by Abigail R. Gehring

And

2) Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills, Third Edition, by Abigail R. Gerhing

I'm not looking for other book recommendations, just feedback on these two. Thanks!

 

[old fashioned]

I have the "Back to Basics" book but mine is published by Reader's Digest. I have borrowed the "Back to Basics" by Abigail Gehring from library and found they are pretty much alike. Same pictures, topics, etc. though there are some differences as if one is an updated version of the other.
By the looks of the headings on these two books you've posted, it almost sounds like they are similar versions of each other.
Anyway, I like the "Back to Basics" as a good source of information for beginners.
Good luck to ya!

 

[Diavolicchio]

I have the "Back to Basics" book but mine is published by Reader's Digest. I have borrowed the "Back to Basics" by Abigail Gehring from library and found they are pretty much alike. Same pictures, topics, etc. though there are some differences as if one is an updated version of the other.
By the looks of the headings on these two books you've posted, it almost sounds like they are similar versions of each other.
Anyway, I like the "Back to Basics" as a good source of information for beginners.
Good luck to ya!

Thanks for the feedback.

I checked the table of contents for each before ordering them. Although there is some overlap. they generally seem to be addressing different things. I guess I'll know for sure when I get them.

I can't imagine the same publisher would publish two books by the same author with different titles if they were no more than variations of the exact same book. But who knows . . . I'll let you know what I find out.


John

 

[hwillm1977]

I also have the 'Back to Basics' book... It is an interesting read, and has a great overview of topics, but really if you want to go in depth with any one thing you'd need to get a book specific to that topic.

For example, tanning and leatherwork is about 6 pages... which sounds good, but 4 of those pages are a history of leatherwork, and instructions on how to make a coonskin hat or moccasins....the two pages on actually tanning a hide don't make me (a complete novice) feel confident enough to actually try it without further research.

That said, it's a great overview book, and I do really enjoy it. For a long time after I got it I would leave it by my bed and read a random topic before I went to sleep.

 

[me&thegals]

I also have the 'Back to Basics' book... It is an interesting read, and has a great overview of topics, but really if you want to go in depth with any one thing you'd need to get a book specific to that topic.

For example, tanning and leatherwork is about 6 pages... which sounds good, but 4 of those pages are a history of leatherwork, and instructions on how to make a coonskin hat or moccasins....the two pages on actually tanning a hide don't make me (a complete novice) feel confident enough to actually try it without further research.

That said, it's a great overview book, and I do really enjoy it. For a long time after I got it I would leave it by my bed and read a random topic before I went to sleep.

Ditto. Great overview but not enough info to actually probably *do* anything in the book without more information from elsewhere. For example, 3-4 pages on beekeeping is just not gonna be enough information.