Starting to research, suggestions & advice welcome!

Hi! I have been interested in moving off-the-grid for over a year now and am finally in a place where I have time to start researching it. We have decided to start slow. We have had a large raised-bed garden for a few years nowand are looking to get a few chickens. DH & I both had chickens growing up & feel like that's a good next step. We are keeping our eyes & ears open for land (we'd like at least 5 acres) for sale around here (we are in Paradise & love the mountains, but there just aren't many large parcels around here). We are thinking of purchasing a lot & then staying in our current home while we build on the lot. We would first build a shop area & then live in that while we built the main house. DH is a contractor so when it comes time to build he can do most of it, and we have contractor friend that could (and would) help us. I have told DH that I want him to teach me the basics of building a house so that I can help Eventually we would like to be as self-sustaining as possible. We are thinking of renting out the house here instead of selling it, b/c DH is a self-employed contractor and the steady income would be a big plus in the winter. I have been doing some reading on homesteading, etc, any book recommendations would be great! I plan to do a lot of reading in this forum so I thought I'd start with an intro.