A Little Gay History: 

Desire and Diversity Across the World

 

 

Authors:                                R. B Parkinson

Contributors:                                   Kate Smith
                                               Max Carocci
Design:                                  Will Webb Design               

Publisher:                             The British Museum Press           

Type:                                     TPB

Pages:                                   128

Genre:                                  Non fiction

Published:                            2013

ISBN:                                    978-0-7141-5100-7

Source:                                 Independently purchased 

 How old is the oldest chat-up line between men? Who was the first lesbian? Were ancient Greek men who had sex together necessarily gay? And what did Shakespeare think about cross-dressing?

These questions start of the book and the readers journey into a history that has been hidden from the mainstream world for far too long. 

The book itself is a smallish thing about 7" by 7 and a half inches. It has an odd double cover, that is to say that the cover is folded over to make the cover thicker. The effect is nice and might add to the durability of the book. The pages are high quality and glossy pictures are lavishly portrayed on almost every page, in full vivid colour, where that is appropriate.

The book is an introductory evaluation of some historic artifacts and what they may imply about the history of same sex love and attraction. It is the perfect starting place for any avid historian or curious person. The book is careful not no go out on any limbs and only state the facts, if an object is open to interpretation this is clearly stated in the text.

I found this book to be an interesting read and a copy should be found in every high school library and counselors bookshelf. It is highly important that we put a stop to the straightening of history. 

I myself have noticed just recently that Wikipedia has had almost every reference to gay marriage deleted or replaced with the term civil union, despite in a lot of cases marriage being the correct term.
We also have the movies rewriting history making the heroes of old straight and dishonoring there memory. 

I feel books like this one are important so that we do not allow bigotry to foster ignorance.

This book itself is not as heavy as all that and is easily approachable and readable by the average person.

The Van Meter Visitor

The Van Meter Visitor

A true & mysterious encounter with the unknown.

Authors:                                Chad Lewis, 
                                               Noah Voss, 
                                               Kevin Lee Nelson. 

Cover Design:                       Kevin Lee Nelson               

Publisher:                             Back Roads Lore             

Type:                                     TPB

Pages:                                   238

Genre:                                  Non fiction

Published:                            2013

ISBN:                                    978-0982431467

Source:                                 Independently purchased 

 The year was 1903, the place was a Iowa town of 1000 souls, the creatures that clawed there way up the coal mine and into the night to terrify the townsfolk are a mystery. 
This book seeks to explore the event and answer the question that had puzzled historians and zoologists for a hundred years. 
What was the Van Meter Visitor?

The book itself has a nice olden timely cover with a great antiquated looking photo. There are a good number of diagrams, historical photos and news clippings thorough the book, helping to add to the feeling that you are uncovering the secrets of the past.
I noticed about six editing errors while reading the book, though i must stress that they were little things (like sentence missing the word "as"), and none prevented my understanding of the text.
The forward is written by Brad Steiger (an author of works on the paranormal, spirituality, and UFOs), a good contents page, useful appendix, and well spaced bibliography, the reproduction of the news clipping and the story in full text form was much appreciated.

This book is a non fiction study of what occurred in Van Meter all those years ago. It is exhaustive and covers many possible explanations for the events in question. The authors seem to know just when they are about to overload the reader with too much information and gently steer us back to the subject, before we are weighed down with the intricacy of any given theory.

I am continually amazed by how today's science is catching up with the knowledge of pagan belief systems, i find this subject fascinating and it was touched on in this work while examining possible explanations for the mystery. Explanations range from the simple; a previously unknown radioactive mutant subterranean species to the truly preposterous, such as an a burglar. While i don't agree with the authors favourite explanation as to what the visitors were, i definitely enjoyed learning about the visitors and building my own opinions based on the evidence uncovered by the authors and appreciate there unbiased reporting.

I found this book to be a fascinating read and i am sure anyone interested in cryptozoology, paranormal activity, meta physics, parapsychology, thought forms, UFOs, aliens, or history will find this equally enjoyable.


Chad Lewis has written many books on the supernatural including The Road guide to mysterious creatures, and The Road guide to haunted locations series's.

Noah Voss has published Mysterious Madison and UFO Wisconsin.

Kevin Lee Nelson has contributed to many books on folklore and been an expert on many television program.

Monster Files

Nick Redfern's Monster Files

A look inside government secrets and classified documents on bizarre creatures and extraordinary animals.

 

Author:                                 Nick Redfern  

Cover Design:                       noir33                                   

Publisher:                             New Page Books              

Type:                                     TPB

Pages:                                   285        

Genre:                                  Non fiction

Published:                            2013

ISBN:                                   13978-1-60163-263-0

Source:                                 Independently purchased

 Have you ever wondered what role or knowledge the government has had in relation to mysterious beasts, and legendary monsters?

 If you have, Nick Redfern's Monster Files may be for you. 

The book itself has a nice colorful cover and is of high quality production. Some of the pages have an aged boarder and there are a good number of black and white pictures and photos thorough. 
I only noticed one editing error in the entire 285 pages, and that was a repeated "the". The book also has a useful contents, extensive bibliography and well written index.
All in all judging by a book by the cover, the book looks great, but what about its contents?

This is a non fiction, no nonsense exploration into exactly that subject. This book touches on the big names in cryptozoology such as Bigfeet (thats plural for many Bigfoot), The Loch Ness monsters and the Yeti, But also explores alien big cats (ABCs), Bombbats and Psychic trained landmine detecting cats. All aspects of the filed are examined with particular interest in what uncovered government files can illuminate on the subjects.

 Of particular interest is chapter 27 titled something dwells down under, which looks at Australia own ABC phenomena, whether the Thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) is truly extinct, and if our Giant monitor lizard exists at all.

 While i cant agree with every conclusion this book makes, like the Flatwoods Monster, most of the other conclusions seemed very reasonable.
I found the book to be a very interesting read, and can highly recommend it for anyone interested in cryptozoology, ufology, or government conspiracy.

The Topics included in this book are; The Abominable Snowman, Aliens, Alien Big Cats, Almasty, Boss Snakes, Cats, Conspiracies, Coverups, Dogs,  Humanzees, Aswang, Wolfmen, Bigfoot, Flatwoods Monster, Lake Monsters, Phantimals, Pigeons, Psychics, Sea Serpents, Tasmanian Tigers, Thylacine, Werewolves, UFOs, Yeti and many more in between.

Other books by this author include The Worlds Weirdest Places, The pyramids and the pentagon, Wildman!, Keep out!, Man-monkey, The Real Men In Black, The NASA Conspiracies, Three Men Seeking Monsters, Contactees, and Memoirs of a Monster Hunter.