(Part 3) Best home improvement books according to redditors

If you move the decimal over. This is about 1,000 in books...

(If I had to pick a few for 100 bucks: encyclopedia of country living, survival medicine, wilderness medicine, ball preservation, art of fermentation, a few mushroom and foraging books.)


Medical:

Where there is no doctor

Where there is no dentist

Emergency War Surgery

The survival medicine handbook

Auerbach’s Wilderness Medicine

Special Operations Medical Handbook

Food Production

Mini Farming

encyclopedia of country living

square foot gardening

Seed Saving

Storey’s Raising Rabbits

Meat Rabbits

Aquaponics Gardening: Step By Step

Storey’s Chicken Book

Storey Dairy Goat

Storey Meat Goat

Storey Ducks

Storey’s Bees

Beekeepers Bible

bio-integrated farm

soil and water engineering

Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation

Food Preservation and Cooking

Steve Rinella’s Large Game Processing

Steve Rinella’s Small Game

Ball Home Preservation

Charcuterie

Root Cellaring

Art of Natural Cheesemaking

Mastering Artesian Cheese Making

American Farmstead Cheesemaking

Joe Beef: Surviving Apocalypse

Wild Fermentation

Art of Fermentation

Nose to Tail

Artisan Sourdough

Designing Great Beers

The Joy of Home Distilling

Foraging

Southeast Foraging

Boletes

Mushrooms of Carolinas

Mushrooms of Southeastern United States

Mushrooms of the Gulf Coast


Tech

farm and workshop Welding

ultimate guide: plumbing

ultimate guide: wiring

ultimate guide: home repair

off grid solar

Woodworking

Timberframe Construction

Basic Lathework

How to Run A Lathe

Backyard Foundry

Sand Casting

Practical Casting

The Complete Metalsmith

Gears and Cutting Gears

Hardening Tempering and Heat Treatment

Machinery’s Handbook

How to Diagnose and Fix Everything Electronic

Electronics For Inventors

Basic Science


Chemistry

Organic Chem

Understanding Basic Chemistry Through Problem Solving

Ham Radio

AARL Antenna Book

General Class Manual

Tech Class Manual


MISC

Ray Mears Essential Bushcraft

Contact!

Nuclear War Survival Skills

The Knowledge: How to rebuild civilization in the aftermath of a cataclysm

A 2001 NB Miata was my first car!

It's cheap to maintain and run, and very easy to work on if you intend to learn how to maintain a car. There's a ton of space in the engine bay and the regular maintenance parts are placed in easily accessible parts of the engine.

This book got me into wrenching my own car. The title is a bit misleading, the book is pretty much Miata Maintenance For Dummies with complete tool lists and step by step instructions on regular maintenance tasks, complete with pictures!

https://www.amazon.com/Mazda-Performance-Projects-Motorbooks-Workshop/dp/0760316201

The combination of this car and book completely redefined car ownership for me. Go for it.

Love it. Let yourself get swept away. Also, get this book:

https://www.amazon.com/New-Father-Dads-Guide-First/dp/0789208156

Welcome to the cult. How many miles do you have and what are your plans for the car at this point? I don't know how much you have gotten into it but may I recommend some books:

• My favorite shop manual
  
  
• General performance options info
  
  
• Optional, but general Miata information
  
  Also some useful websites (which you probably already know):
  
  
• Miata.net (especially the garage section)
  
  
• Some really useful information and budget minded tips
  
  
• My favorite performance parts supplier. Great service and help.
  
  I'm obviously a bit of a Flyin' Miata fan and a Tanner Buff.
  
  Be aware you are working with the lowest end of the miatas. We don't have the fancy engines and differentials of the 1.8s (94+) or the improved structural bits here and there (92+). With the age of the car I would suggest doing a suspension bushing change; poly sets are cheap, easy, and give you a nice feel. Maybe some structural stiffening to make it feel like new again. Other than that just make sure you are good on maintenance and have fun.

Simplified Aircraft Design for Homebuilders https://www.amazon.com/dp/0972239707/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6M8PDbB99VQAQ

Thank you!! We have 600 watts of solar on the roof (which is an obscene amount) and two 200 amp hour sealed lead acid batteries (these guys). Here's the inverter we have.. We basically have standard household appliances: we occasionally use a microwave, we have a toaster, and we have a regular cheapo minifridge. We chose to use our big ol' roof and some space for batteries rather than worrying too much about having the most efficient fridge. Most of the time, though, the solar powers our lights, laptops, and fridge. If you're curious, we found this book very helpful. It's very practical and easy to understand.

As far as the off-grid length:if the batteries have been fully charged on a regular basis, we can live our regular lives (using lights/plugging in laptops) for about three days with little to no sun. If we have good sun, the limiting factor is water. We have 80 gallons of water, and we've found between drinking, eating, washing dishes, and very occasionally ourselves, we can last about two weeks without refilling.

I want to encourage you and say your CPTSD won’t affecting your parenting and you providing her with love and security is enough, but I also don’t want to delude you into a false sense of security. To answer your question as to how I do it: Firstly, I put in a massive amount of effort everyday to keep myself grounded and mindful and conscious of how I’m acting/reacting towards my child. On top of that, I never let myself slip into depressive states. On top of that, I have learned to manage and control all of my triggers so that my emotional states never negatively affect my child.


One major element of CPTSD is that it is an attachment disorder. This attachment disorder WILL affect your ability to provide a consistent sense of safety and security to your little one unless you learn how to manage and counteract those insecurities. Another element of CPTSD is that it causes you to develop a distrust/distaste for humans, and a desire to avoid human interaction. This will be absolutely detrimental to your child as he/she ages. All children rely on their parents to provide them with safe, healthy and consistent family and friends. It’s a very tiring and very difficult job, but it creates a ‘safety net’ of security on which your child can lean. How you interact with and value others will turn into how your child interacts with and values others. You will have to spend lots of time around other moms, letting your child play with their child. It’s a strain on you emotionally and mentally, but it’s necessary for healthy child development.


The best advice I can give you as a fellow parent with CPTSD is to start searching for a trauma psychologist and get an appointment scheduled ASAP. Of course anyone can recover from CPTSD without the aid of a psychologist, but when you add a child to the mix, quality and speed of recovery becomes a very important factor. Getting a psychologist to help you process your trauma and learn newer and better ways to do things will save you a lot of time and heartache. A psychologist will also teach you the importance of obtaining and maintaining friendships, and how to better manage all the triggers that parenting will bring up for you.

In the meantime, here is a short list of my all-time favorite parenting books. I’ve read probably hundreds of parenting books at this point: most are bad, a few are great. These are the best, most knowledgeable books I’ve found for ‘people like us’, at least in my opinion:

The Conscious Parent: Transforming Ourselves, Empowering our Children

ParentSpeak: What's Wrong with How We Talk to Our Children--and What to Say Instead

The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind

The Parents We Mean To Be: How Well-Intentioned Adults Undermine Children's Moral and Emotional Development

The Attachment Parenting Book : A Commonsense Guide to Understanding and Nurturing Your Baby

No-Drama Discipline: The Whole-Brain Way to Calm the Chaos and Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind


Feel free to PM me anytime :)

I am a contractor. I have only seen one book from tumbleweed and was not impressed. This was years ago, so perhaps later editions improved, but the one I saw had almost no detail and certainly not anywhere near what a novice needed.

If you have no experience building, I'd suggest The Visual Handbook of Building and Remodeling. It has detailed photos and drawing.

If you're still interested in some construction books, Renovation is written for remodeling, but it has some really interesting work-arounds.

Black & Decker The Complete Guide to Wiring is an amazing book for Home Inspectors (and home owners) that explains all of residential electricity including service entrance conductors, sub panels, circuits, electrical converstion etc. Tons of pictures and diagrams.

https://www.amazon.com/Wiring-Simplified-Based-National-Electrical/dp/099790531X

I've really enjoyed "The Joy of Less" and "The life-changing magic of tidying up". I find that when I have less clutter IRL, my mind feels less cluttered and it's easier to stay focused on my goals.

Home:

• Don't iron. Ever. In fact, don't own an iron.
  
• Dry t-shirts in coat hangers (unless you have a dryer, obviously...). No folding required.
  
• Clean less often. Seriously. Simply vacuuming every once in a while will keep your place looking pretty spotless. There's no need to mop the floor every week unless you have pooping pets or pooping children.
  
• Declutter. Get rid of everything you don't need. I can recommend this book to help you get started.
  
  Groceries:
  
  
• Have them delivered if possible, depending on where you live. It's especially useful to have vegetable packs delivered. I'm quite fond of the "random fruit & veg" variety. It's basically a mix of everything. Sometimes recipes are included for lesser known vegetables (salsify anyone? om nom nom!).
  
  Edit: formatting fuckup

Try this book

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1305578295/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_L4yRzb3HM8Q59

If you can’t afford it, I can send you the digital version

Do not bother getting copies of the old keys made. Plan on rekeying or replacing the locks the day you close. Even good people sometimes lose keys or lend one to somebody they shouldn't.

This brings me to the other must have: a basic tool set and one of those big books of home repairs. You may well eventually want to get a cordless drill/screwdriver; you'll be shocked how handy one can be.

Also try out a guidebook such as this one: What You Wear Can Change Your Life. It helped me get a better sense of what looks good on my body and what colors work best with my skin tone. :)

Start Here. It's a dated book, but the technology behind the 350 hasn't changed much in the last 15 years. So much of the information is still good.

Long story short - tuning a carburetor is dialing in your various jets and needles to match the fuel demands at whichever throttle position. In some cases it's as simple as turning a screw, in others you have to begin swapping jets and pumps. It all depends on the carburetor you're working on.

Everyone else has said everything I could say and more so I'll recommend these two things:

• Buy a copy of Wiring Simplified. A section of the book goes into great detail about conduit and is well worth the (IMO, inexpensive) price of the book alone. Even if you don't touch a single wire in your home yourself the reference is invaluable as it will help you have informed conversations with your contractor.
  
  
• Make sure there is some form of conduit running from the termination point (usually the utility room) to the attic space. Codes will probably require this conduit to be sealed or fireproofed in some way but make sure this is a large diameter conduit. It will be incredibly difficult to predict all future scenarios where wire and data cabling will be needed. Having a conduit running to the attic will allow you to fish cabling to the attic and down through the interior walls into the rooms below.

There are two that I know of:
Sailplane Design

and

Light Airplane and Glider Dynamic Stability

I have the first and it's pretty detailed.

The Raymer books are fantastic, I've read the Homebuilt one cover to cover.

They get fucking pricy. Books are a scam

Anyways I was taught out of modern refrigeration and air conditioning

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1631263544/ref=dp_ob_neva_mobile

It's cheaper on Barnes and Noble like 35 used

Either one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Refrigeration-Conditioning-Technology-MindTap-Course/dp/1305578295/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526763783&sr=8-1&keywords=hvac+textbook

https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Refrigeration-Air-Conditioning-Refridgeration/dp/1631263544/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1526763783&sr=8-16&keywords=hvac+textbook

Get a hybrid bike. If you're in a big bikey city like Austin you can easily craigslist something. Here in New Orleans it's all $1000 triathlon bikes or Wal-Mart specials.

A lower end Trek Hybrid would be fine. Try for something with a little front suspension and index shifters (where you push a button to shift instead of twisting a grip). If you buy it new the shop will tune it for you for free, but you can get a much better deal on something used.

Bikes aren't hard to tune, a $15 book will show you how to keep it up. If you don't want to mess with it, just get something new.

Looking at the Trek's on their website, yikes. Used to be you could get all that for $350 new, now it's $600. An older Trek 7200 or something similar would be fine. My first decent bike was a Miyata Triplecross, which was a Cyclocross frame (mentioned elsewhere in this thread) built like a hybrid with flat bars and slightly larger tires. It was built in the 80's, a steel frame, and worked fantastically.

Now, I happen to think my 2000 Rans Rocket is The Jam, craigslisted for $500 very used, but easily tuned. Pedaling a recumbent is like pedaling a couch, which is nice, but short wheelbase ones like that are difficult to get used to steering. A long wheelbase recumbent like a Sun EZ would be easier to start on, and reasonably common used (a ripoff new).

Otherwise, an easy answer is get a decent mountain bike (easier to find used, anything like a Trek 3700 or Specialized Hardrock or any major brand) and replace the tires with these babies. BAM, instant hybrid, and a frame that'll last you forever. You'll need new tubes too, those are thinner than standard tires. Get a pump if you don't have one and keep the PSI up, those like to be about 80 psi, too low and you'll get pinch flats jumping curbs or hitting potholes.

If you feel like it, post what city you're in and people can suggest used craigslist bikes that seem to be good deals.

You should be able to find several books on Amazon, check out this one- http://www.amazon.com/Build-Chevy-Small-Blocks-Budget-Performance/dp/1932494847/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377614427&sr=1-2&keywords=small+block+chevy
I've read several books from that series and they are very helpful.

You should really check out some of Dr. William Sears' books. He is a pediatrician and author with something like 9 kids. He has written lots of books on parenting and is a huge advocate of attachment parenting, co-sleeping (what he calls "sharing sleep"), breast feeding, and baby wearing.

He certainly has the credentials to back up what he is saying, so if you are interested in co-sleeping and attachment parenting I'd check him out.

The Baby Book.

The Attachment Parenting Book.

This kind of depends on a few things. What kind of car(s)? What kind(s) of engine? One book that helps one enthusiast might be useless to another kind of enthusiast.

Coming from my experience with muscle-era cars, I've found these to be valuable:

Haynes or Chiltons manual for your particular car: Nothing too advanced here, but it gives you most of the general stuff like fluid volumes and, most importantly, torque values for the various fasteners.

Small-block Chevy Engines:

"How to Build Maximum Performance Small Blocks on a Budget" by David Vizard. This was my bible for a while. Tons of straight-forward, no-BS information, engine theory, and data on stock and aftermarket parts and how to get the most out of them. It obviously focuses on SBCs, but lots of the stuff is applicable to other engines, too. The link above goes to the edition I own, this one seems to be the one currently in print.

"How to Rebuild Your Chevy Small Block" is like a Haynes but for the SBC engine: Step-by-step instructions on how to disassemble and reassemble the engine with everything you ever needed to know included, with some performance and money-saving tips along the way.

Zinn is a crazy person! Don't get that book! you want The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair: For Road and Mountain Bikes

From this book, each 1 degree increase over 60F is about a 1 second increase in pace, amplified by humidity and direct sunlight.

Get this book. It is a month-to-month guide for the first year. Each month is only a couple of pages, really good helpful stuff.

There are several books out there that should help you out with understanding home wiring. Here's one.

The main things you'll need to look into are how to add a circuit breaker and a completely new circuit, how to branch off an existing circuit, how much you're allowed to put on a single circuit, how to properly ground everything, and what kinds of wiring and outlets you should be using where (15A vs. 20A, which wire gauge to use, GFCI, etc). Those are just the things that come to mind, but when you're DIY wiring, it's important to read through a whole book like the one I linked and make sure you're completely comfortable and knowledgeable about the whole process and how everything works. Don't do anything until there's no question in your mind that you're doing it the right way.

Right here

refrigeration and technology







We pay for our books just like any college student, if she's serious about this trade and wanted to do it, this will probably be one of the cheapest yet most valuable item/tools she will buy.

Everyone mentions local codes, but few actually read them. Even fewer are qualified to interpret them. Instead, they're repeating what they've been told by teachers, tradesmen, contractors, and (especially) inspectors, and what they've learned from reading other books and product manuals. It's also a catch-all for possible bad advice: "Check local codes" on /r/DIY is the equivalent of saying "I am not a lawyer" or "check with your doctor".

If you have a strong opinion on something and have been told "it's required by/against code" and want to go look it up, have at it and good luck.

If you want to do a project and make sure it complies with local code, I suggest getting reference materials instead of the original code. Buy a copy of, for example, Wiring Simplified to learn how to do wiring that's compliant with code (that's one I've personally used, it was pretty good). Let an expert read the legalese and translate it into how you ought to implement it.

Graphic Guide to Frame Construction: Fourth Edition, Revised and Updated (For Pros by Pros) https://www.amazon.com/dp/163186372X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ss0PybXCJ47XE

For Pros by Pros: Graphic Guide to Interior Details https://www.amazon.com/dp/1561583243/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ht0PybMDW6TPZ

I'm a visual person, so I found this very helpful:

http://www.amazon.com/Your-House-Works-Understanding-ebook/dp/B007U91PBC/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=

But, the pictures in the Kindle version aren't very big. I had trouble on my 5" phone screen. Otherwise, its really helpful for the big picture stuff over just following step by step instructions, especially with plumbing.

Check this out too:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ROI4JO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3VF06KPXKETLC&coliid=I3P2VUHQUZG5SC

I've been using an older version of this book, and it's never let me down. It's also incredibly cheap to buy online.

These are good:

https://www.amazon.com/Wiring-House-Completely-Revised-Updated/dp/162710674X

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Installations-Step-Step/dp/1580117872

https://www.amazon.com/Homeowners-DIY-Guide-Electrical-Wiring/dp/0071844759

This is an excellent book, it's periodically updated and reissued but my version from college is still valid, so you could probably find a used copy: https://www.amazon.com/Graphic-Guide-Frame-Construction-Revised/dp/163186372X/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

It is very common for a do-it-yourself homebuilder, or a general contractor, to field out certain things to specialist tradesmen subcontractors. Plumbing and electrical are two of the top ones. The consequences for getting something wrong are ugly. Some learning experiences in electrical & plumbing will kill you, some will destroy the house. Mostly they'll just fail you inspections and cause expensive delays.

With that said:

https://www.amazon.com/Wiring-1-2-3-Home-Depot/dp/069621184X

https://www.amazon.com/Plumbing-1-2-3-Home-Depot/dp/0696211866

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Installations-Step-Step/dp/1580117872/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=V2VSFZ9JMRW52TBPSD7H

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Step-Step-Date/dp/1580117880/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CK25R1N4EEQA5ANMTZ5Y

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-Complete-Wiring-Updated/dp/0760353573/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=V2VSFZ9JMRW52TBPSD7H

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-Complete-Guide-Plumbing/dp/1591866367/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542590935&sr=1-1&keywords=black+decker+plumbing

I recommend checking out The Competitive Runner's Handbook
( http://www.amazon.com/Competitive-Runners-Handbook-Bestselling-Marathons/dp/0140469907 ) - no affiliate link.

Bob Glover basically covers running from start to finish. He talks in depth about side stitches (and seemingly everything else), and his strategy is just to power through them.

It's kind of cheesy, but I have been really happy with books like this and this and this and this.

Graphic Guide to Frame Construction.

I love this book. It has great tips, structures, methods, and detailed pictures to show how to accomplish what you're looking for. Also mentions code requirements. In the link above, it goes to the third edition, which is what I own.

I haven't actually used it that much on jobs because I've gone union and work mostly commercial jobs, but I've used it on some other projects for straight framing and it was great.

Here is a link for the fourth edition.

Try this: Graphic Guide to Frame Construction

Amazon Link

It's Mazda Miata MX-5 Performance Projects by Keith Tanner, who works for Flyin' Miata. He's one of the most knowledgeable people out there when it comes to Miatae. If you're looking for a good time waster his website has lots of good photos and documentation of all of his projects: Slow Car Fast

I will say that the book has a good amount of general information, but because it is written to cover multiple revisions of the car it can be a bit difficult to follow at times.

I haven't lived in the city for a while now so I'm not up on groups but someone here will certainly chime in. There must a ton of speed workouts online. The first training book I bought, which I still refer to as 'the bible' was written by a husband and wife team who ran (run?) running groups in the city: this one.

I like it because they offer a lot of practical advice to new racers. My $.02.

edit, ran, past tense: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/sports/after-37-years-of-guiding-new-york-runners-ready-for-a-new-path.html

I would strongly recommend doing some reading on the subject. Not knowing your background, I would recommend the following books: Simplified Aircraft Design for Homebuilders, Kit Airplane Construction and Flight Testing Homebuilt Aircraft. Those definitely aren't comprehensive, but it'll give you a good start towards helping you decide if this is something you really want to pursue.

Ignore the advice from that poster. This is incorrect. Black and Decker has an extremely good book for reference. Goes into detail for how to do common electrical jobs and the reasoning behind choices.

When and how should I increase my distance? Running about 20 miles a week. 5 miles 4 days a week. I'd like to keep increasing my distance and run further.

Also any books you recommend? I currently I have the jack daniels formula but it may not be the best book for beginners as there's a lot more running science than I probably need as a beginner.

There's a book my mom recommended by Bob Glover called The Competitive Runner's Handbook: The Bestselling Guide to Running 5Ks through Marathons

if you live in the USA is the best guide I have found to learn from zero. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1600852467/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

also, any Books or Videos from Larry Haun, that guys is fantastic.

I really recommend the video series of how to frame a house. is 3 parts of one hour each but you will watch a master working and taking the time to describe what you as new, need to learn.

Skills? Brazing (with nitro trickle), flaring, bending pipe(which you should know already) reading a pressure temp chart, using a four hose manifold. How to recover refer, pull a vacuum, purge with nitro, use a fill scale.

Those are some basic mechanical skills. There’s sooo much more to know. Hopefully you’re familiar with the vapor compression cycle.

I’d pick up this text book . My instructor’s instructor helped write it.

Seconded, and I also enjoyed The New Father - A Dad's Guide to the First Year. I liked the timeline approach and particularly the tips about what's going on with Mom along the way.

This might have some good resources.

Can't vouch for it as I haven't read it, but Dr. Sears' book

A link to another Reddit thread is not exactly authoritative. This smells like the kind of FUD electricians sometimes use to drum up extra business from unsuspecting homeowners. Link directly to a manufacturers data sheet or some other very authoritative source and I might believe it, but I have learned a long time ago that a lot of electricians are either dishonest or incompetent (I have seen "licensed electricians" do some really boneheaded things, like not hooking up the ground wires inside a secondary breaker box. In that particular case, his excuse was he meant to do it, but forgot!).

So if your source is some electrician's site or some electrician's trade group, I will give those sources about zero credibility, half the time all they want to do is sell homeowners stuff they don't need. Not that a breaker can't go bad after two or three uses, in fact they can be bad when brand new, but that is certainly not a normal thing. Electrical inspectors sometimes test breakers using a device that momentarily shorts the line, are they reducing the breaker life by a third when doing that? I don't think so.

P.S. Every homeowner in the USA would do themselves a big favor if they got the book "Wiring Simplified: Based on the 2017 National Electrical Code®" - it's been around for over 80 years but is updated with each revision of the NEC. I bought a copy of a much earllier version at W.T. Grant's when I was about 10 years old and read the whole thing cover to cover, and was fascinated by it (yeah, I was a strange kid). It explains electrical wiring in a way that any handy person can understand. Even if you don't feel confident enough to do some of your own wiring (or your local codes don't allow it), at least you will have some idea of what an electrician is doing and whether they have done the job right. Most booksellers should have it, Amazon's link is at https://www.amazon.com/Wiring-Simplified-Based-National-Electrical/dp/099790531X/

You may find this helpful: How to Design and Build Your Own House

Get a Haynes repair manual for your car. AutoZone/Orieleys/AAP sell them as well as Amazon. You'll be able to take your entire car apart with that book. They're like $20 and the best investment you can make if you want to work on your car.

I've had one for every car I've owned (except for my Cruze) and did stuff as small as brake line bleeding, to a full blown axel repair on my old 03 Corolla.

This is all dependent on your access to tools and your mechanical prowess, however. I was lucky and had damn near every tool known to man in my old mans garage back home, as well as a very inept dad to help me and teach me. Like said before, this ain't a small undertaking, but it is doable. Best of luck!

Haynes Civic Repair Manual

I found a fantastic book a few years back in a second-hand store titled How to Design and Build Your Own House. If this is what you're interested then I highly recommend that you find a copy. It takes you through every part of the process, from finding a piece of land to laying out floorplans, to physically assembling the structure. It provides standard builder's formulas and explains how to look up local building codes, gives advice on how to take the best advantage of your location, and even contains some of the best descriptions of basic structural analysis I've ever read. It was written in the seventies, so you do have to keep that in mind, but the important stuff hasn't changed.

The book on Amazon.

This is a lot of sound advice, much more than I expected to get, thank you for this!

The thing that stuck out the most for me was the Haynes repair manual, I googled it and I've found a lot of books on Ebay under that name, although they appear to be vehicle specific (Like Honda Civic 2001 Thru 2010 and CR-V 2002 Thru 2009)

Is there a book by Haynes that covers the basics of maintaining and repairing your car, or are there only brand specific books that I need to buy depending on the vehicle I go for?

Will Prowse is a youtuber who has written a book about solar for vehicles. HERE is the link to his book.

miata book 1

miata book 2

i really dont think you should get him any mods/parts

This is great! Good job! I also am doing the same thing, I have taken out about 2square meters of stuff ( donated, gave and trash.) I am reading The Joy of Less and reading this sub's content as much as I can. I love how I am getting more streamlined. One thing I like about that book is she talks about getting quality. One in One out. So you slowly have less but better things. Less books, but better books, less shirts but better shirts. I enjoy that a whole lot!

The Joy of Less. Its not a very good book i think. But its a good introduction to minimalist living.

A really great "all around" book is by Charlie Wing called The Visual Handbook of Building and Remodeling

this book
http://www.amazon.com/What-Wear-Change-Your-Life/dp/B000F5FR3A/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318656694&sr=1-5
seriously taught me so much about color schemes for clothes, its a bit dated, fashion wise, but its excellent for helping you find colors and clothing styles that compliment your body. definitely would recommend buying it, its super useful.

Does he have a toolkit that's in working order? Does he collect honey?

Perhaps something along the DIY/building theme. There are some good books like this that could be useful

No kids yet... But having a spare pair of hands would be helpful.

I think that's a bit high. My mechanic charged me 800 to diagnose a oil leak, replace the timing cover and my water pump on my 01 Silverado. I had just replaced my clutch and oil pan gasket and ended up having an oil leak, which I couldn't track down. He found a crack in my timing cover and my water pump was relatively easy for him to do at the same time.

O4 Civic with front wheel drive might be a bit more of a chore than a full size truck. I suspect you'd need to move the fan, and a few other components as well as draining the fluid out of the vehicle, 800 might be steep, but it's not blatant theft. I would get a Chilton's or Haynes manual to see exactly what would be involved. I recommend having one for each car you own. Might be a life saver if you get stuck on the side of the road one day.

My husband just let me know that the same author wrote The New Father: A Dad's Guide to the First Year. This may be more of what you are looking for. While Expectant Father is awesome it's more about pregnancy and labor from what I understand while this one is obviously about your baby's first year. Sorry if you unnecessarily bought the first one!

http://www.amazon.com/Simplified-Aircraft-Design-Homebuilders-Daniel/dp/0972239707/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1311921232&sr=8-2

Goodluck with the recovery

Check out all Will Prowse's vids on YouTube.
He is a bit of a guru on this stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/user/errolprowse

He also has a book on Amazon ->
"Mobile Solar Power made easy"

https://www.amazon.com/Mobile-Solar-Power-Made-yourself-ebook/dp/B0716WGW59/ref=sr_1_1

Modern refrigeration and air conditioning.

HVAC textbook

That’s just a quick google search. You may be able to find it cheaper.

I bought [The Baby Book] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Baby-Book-Revised-Edition/dp/0316198269) before I even started trying to conceive with my first, just on a whim, having never heard of Attachement Parenting and everything clicked. It's a great resource on babies in general, but from a gentle, AP perspective. I'd recommend this book for ANY expecting parents, honestly.

[The Attachment Parenting Book] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Attachment-Parenting-Book-Understanding/dp/0316778095/ref=pd_sim_b_9?ie=UTF8&refRID=0WC7WNX0VS1BQNCQTK5F) contains a lot of the same information, but with some additional resources, and if I recall it goes into slightly more detail.

I'd also highly recommend [Attached at the Heart] (http://www.amazon.com/Attached-Heart-Parenting-Principles-Compassionate/dp/0757317456/ref=pd_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0JWRN280KQTRGGP6NH0M) as an excellent resource for new moms who want to practice AP.

As for other resources, I belong to a lot of AP and gentle parenting groups on facebook which, while sometimes overly preachy or cloying, often offer great blog posts or affirmations to mull over. Even when I'm super busy with kids and life, I can usually spend five minutes to read a facebook post and often that's all I need to recenter myself and keep myself focused on my parenting goals.