I just moved East to New Hampshire ....from CA. Too many 'rats in CA!!!
Dried (seasoned) firewood takes a year to fully dry out. You can't just "burn it" the day it's cut. People don't know that. Ash tree is the best wood. I was told it dries fast (low moisture) and can be burned sooner after cutting. I got 2 cords kiln-dried firewood stored away this fall. Costs more but it's super dry - burns great, with small amount.
I got a Masonry Heater built. Its a 'fireplace on steroids,' retains heat from wood fire, cooks, and does a great job heating a house (off grid, no propane or heating oil furnace needed). Centuries-old low tech, used in Europe and Russia, check them out -
Ring the tree(s) you plan to cut the year before - tree dies and dries by the following year ready to fall. (Ringing - removing all bark all around the tree’s trunk in a 6-12” wide strip.)
Once the system is in place, makes the effort just that much easier, especially when one has to cut some 10-20 cords or more per winter.
Some books:
The Forgotten Art of Building a Good Fireplace - the Story of Count Rumford & His Fireplace - Vrest Orton (Yankee Inc - 1974)
Hot Water - Solar Water Heaters and Stack Coil Heating Systems - Scott & Chole Morgan/David & Susan Taylor (by the authors 1975)
How to Sharpen - A Craftsman Handbook (Sears, Roebuck and Co. Chicago)
How To Build and Furnish a Log Cabin - The Easy-Natural Way Using Only Hand Tools and The Woods Around You - W Ben Hunt (Macmillian Publishing - 1974)
FOR THOSE LONG HOURS:
Whittling and Woodcarving - E. J. Tangerman (Dover Publications - 1936)
If you live in an area which has stone walls around fields built before 1930, take a metal detector along the wall and you might find mislaid tools - the steel will be far better than anything you buy today and will not rust.
Pick up a book on the vegetation in your area - plants that are useful and edible; same for fungus; same for fish.