I recently read a book called World War Z and while I don't think that zombie hordes are going to rise up and attack the living, it did get me thinking about how would I survive a collapse of civilization. So my question to you is where do I begin? What books should I start reading, what supplies should I start gathering, what skills should I learn etc.

There are quite a few members here that are into this subject,so try and search the survival threads here.I've read many posts in the past here about survival techniques and alot of members had good advice.Good luck and read as many survival books as you can.

Welcome to the brave new wold of self reliance.
I can guarantee as you learn and practice your skill, you will gain self esteem as well as a new found confidence.
Everybody had to start some where. For me it was as a child with my uncle Levi. he had wilderness skills and survival skills honed in the depression.
It will be realy easy to become overwhelmed by the enormity of both the problems you need to solve and the many solutions that will be suggested. Remember to keep it simple.
When you take away all the frills, survival breaks down to, Water, Shelter,Food, and Heat. Everything else is a luxery.
Many might disagree, but i would recommend beginning at the beginning.
A realy good elementary text with alot of usefull information in a simple format, would be The Boy Scouts Handbook.
If you can't find one at the library, contact the local boyscouts chapter. If it's not free it will be cheap and is designed for 12 year old learning level with plenty of illustrations along with step by step instructions.
Perhaps the most important thing is practice what you read.
Even if you live in an apartment you can practice such things as fire making in a small BBQ grill. Practice making a lean to from a tarp in your living room. Even if you feel silly, and some things seem simplistic remember, If you have survived the big event, It will be the little stuff that can kill you.
Best of luck

I just finished reading world war z myself, You know theirs a movie based off the book thats in script mode right now, you can look it up on www.imdb.com. I hear brad pitt is gonna be a main character. Anywase about preparing for a sitx. What I do is just buy little things here and there when my paychecks allow it, I have been collecting equipment for about 3 years now, My most important asset is my firearms, I wont feel safe without them. I live in a city where there are more gang members with guns than their are cops, so if anything ever happend and the police were inaffective then it will be up to me to defend myself.

tac,
howdy
Surprisingly enough, movies and fiction books can do some good as long as they are used for inspiration rather than information.
When i was a kid, I read alot of sci fi. One book which I can not remember the title to, always stuck with me.
The basic premise was a guy somehow getting transported to an earth like primitive planet, and having to survive with only what he had in his pockets when he got snatched.
To this day I carry a small compass, flint and steel kit,and a P38 can opener ( for C rats), on my key chain.
In my back pack gear I have a fairly unusual rifle.
I stumbled on a WW2 Jap paratroopers sniper rifle.
Until i got the rufle, i didn't even know the Japanese in WW2 had paratroopers, but apparently they did although they were only used in China, not against our military.
Anyhow, the beauty of this little darlin is that it breaks down into two pieces. Each about 24 inchs long. Bolt action with a 5 round mag, and one in the chamber with a respectable 7.62mm projectile rideing 180 grain powder.
Pretty much equivelant to a British 303 as far as range, trajectory and impact.
Originaly I intended to have it cleaned up and put together it's provenance as a display piece, but when my gun smith said he could make it operational the potential for either a long gun in a fire fight, or a decent hunting rifle, that could be broken down and carried in a back pack, over ruled my collector reflex's.
It has a scope mount, but the original scope is sorta lame, so i'm shopping for a better scope equal to the range of the rifle
I totaly agree, the best way to accumulate your gear without blowing the houshold budget is picking it up a peace at a time.
I think a persons kit is a personal kinda thing and sorta tailors to the individual.
What i recommend is that the person make a plan, draw up a shopping list that will get them the farthest down that road, then constantly keep an eye peeled toward outfitting themselves.
For some of us who have had trigger time in a two way range, sometimes an offensive arsenal is better than a defensive one. For others they may want to focus on a defensive posture.
I figure there'll be a market for us ex grunts if and when the defication impacts the rotating propellers.

I'm sorry to be negative here, but the scenario that is much more likely is that we will be microchipped after another black op blamed on Muslim terrorists (again). Follwing this, the population will be monitored and surveilled using microwave technologies and our thoughts will be read by terahertz technology. Voice to skull technology will have all of us hearing a 'voice of authority' again using microwave.

We will then be herded into internment camps by UN soldiers submissively because I and millions of others are dependent entirely upon the Government directly or indirectly.

Even if there is a cataclysmic event, the army will be the only organised force with a proper chain of command. Anyone who attempts to live an independent existence will be either left alone or rounded up.

As I mentioned, I don't like this vision of the future but I see IMHO precisely this chain of events unfolding in the UK where we have the most submissive Public in Europe.

As stated above, start small. Every paycheck set aside $20 or so and use it on nonperishable food, ammo, batteries, that kind of stuff. Work on survival skills, not just woodscraft. If you live in Manhatten, learning to survive in the woods won't help much. Learn to survive where you live, work on an escape route, meet like minded people. Keep some cash on you, $50 or so, you never know, it might help.

All the guys I was working with on 9/11 used to think I was crazy until those towers fell. On 9/12 I had 20 people asking me what they should do to protect their families. I told them the same thing I'm telling you.

Granted, I'm fortunate in the fact that I live in a very rural area and can last a long time without any help. Having grown up in the woods hunting, fishing and just hanging out has somewhat prepared me for a bad situation. Also, spent some time in the military, and to be quite honest am glad that I did.

I hope this helps.