Cathedrals of the Flesh: In Search of The Perfect Bath by Alexia Brue
Opinion: Interesting, exotic,
Cathedrals of the Flesh is one woman's journey through spas, saunas, and hot springs all over the world. Her personal narrative tells a subtle story of transition, but the real star of the book is the ancient ritual of bathing. If you've ever wondered what it's like to soak in a Japanese hot spring, or sweat it out in a Russian banja here is your chance to find out. In ancient times, societies that had public bath houses used them a social center, and I for one, thought that this tradition had ended, but in many places in the world it's apparently still going strong.

The Hunt for Zero Point: Inside the Classified World of Antigravity Technology by Nick Cook
Opinion: Interesting, somewhat disapointing
Nick Cook, an award winning journalist whose articles have appeared in newspapers worldwide, ventures to take his reader on a journey to explore "the classified world of antigravity technology." Zero Point, however is a mythical power source that seems to draw energy out of nothing, and not antigravity in itself. To a physicist, I'm sure my definition is grossly over-simplified, but it does sum up what is learned in this particular book about Zero Point. Don't be fooled by the title, this book has very little to do with Zero Point, which is a pity. To me, Zero Point was the most compelling concept in the book. Instead Cook's narrative takes the reader on a wild goose chase through black budget programs, rumors, and old men who would rather not talk about it, or would preffer to hint enigmatically around the subjects. Such is the problem with reasearching things that are still classified. If it's published and official human sources of information are named, how can this classified information possibly be genuine? Still, I keep buying these books.

The main redeeming thing about this book is that it backs up a first-hand account by Ingo Swann in his online book. In fact his entire account of the day the military asked him to influence a sensor inside a shielded tachyon chamber is recounted by one of the scientists who witnessed the incident and names are named. (pages 111-113 in The Search for Zero Point) Details will soon be available when I complete my Mini Bio on Ingo Swann. If you are interested in reading his book, please visit the book section PSI.

Communion: A True Story by Whitley Strieber
Opinion: Overrated but ground-breaking
Even though Communion will continue to be known as a ground breaker into the mainstream for books about alien abductions, it isn't a particularly well written book, expecially considering it was written by someone who writes for a living. One might argue that if Strieber is telling a true first-hand account as he claims, then his narrative only follows the format of his actual experience, but there are many books written in this same format that do a good job of telling their story. Also, his story seems to waver between material realism and complete fantasy. Whereas in other books of this genre authors report physical after effects of the abduction experience such as scars, nose bleeds, ripped clothing, etc, Strieber seems to lack that kind of concrete evidence for the most part, and substitutes it with the fact that his cats would often be frightened when he was having these experiences. In one part Strieber recounts how he was in telepathic communication with the aliens and they somehow turned off his television from the inside without touching it or even being near it. In fact during this incident he did not actually see any aliens. At many points I began to wonder if Strieber wasn't just mentally ill. During his experiences with the aliens Strieber discribes his paralyzing fear and absolute horor of them, and yet he always tries desperately to prove to the reader that these entities are benevolent and a source of positive change in his life. Maybe Strieber was really trying to write a fiction book paralleling aliens to ancient fairies who would often test their chosen witness, making them go through a quest or trial in order to teach them something of value for the sake of personal growth. But even fairy tales have a point, this book didn't seem to.

Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: A Reporter's Notebook on Alien Abduction, UFOs, and the Conference at M.I.T. by C.D.B. Bryan
Opinion: Scary, compelling, weird
Not to be confused with Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, this book chronicles the experiences of various people who claim to have had either one, or many alien abduction experiences. Much of the information obtained for their accounts comes from under the influence of hypnosis which I consider less than reliable. But that's no reason to discount the stories this book contains. These witnesses and abductees often have physical evidence, group sightings, group experiences, and very compelling very detailed memories dotted with anecdotes that make their stories seem all the more real. If you thought that no one with any credibility experiences alien abduction, if you thought that large groups of people have never witnessed an alien abduction, or if you thought that they only occur on dark remote roads and secluded highways when no one is around or awake, this book may change your mind. Some abductees in this book report having a positive experience with the aliens they describe, but most tell very frightening stories. I still have nightmares about big-headed-black-eyed aliens that move like they're in a bad claymation movie, all because of this book. This book doesn't prove anything, but it's a very good source for information on our cultural fear of little grey humanoids. If you are looking for a book in this subject area, this is a good one.

The Seventh Sense: The Secrets of Remote Viewing as Told by a "Psychic Spy" for the U.S. Military by Lyn Buchanan
Opinion: Extremely entertaining read, very detailed and straight forward
Lyn Buchman trained in the army's psychic spies program and was involved for most of that program's life. That program being the one that developed a method that is now called Remote Viewing. The method of Remote Viewing is a very scientific process. If you have any doubt of that, or if you simply want to know the details of the process please visit this website on Remote Viewing. (My Mini on this subject is under construction.) This isn't a mysticism, or a philosophy, it is simply a proceedure that can be used to access hard-to-obtain information that is accurate to a baffling degree. Buchanan served as a a psychic spy for the USA government for seventeen years and taught over three-hundred students. This book is his story of how he got involved in the program, an explanation of what RV is, how RV works, and examples of the sorts of experiences he had in the program, including some famous events that they worked on. In addition to all of that information, he shares his unique "insider" view on the inner workings on classified projects, a bit of how the government works in regards to that sort of thing, and the tangled web of disinformation. I want to make a point right now of saying that it is a fact that the US government formed and used this program. It's now declassified (for the most part) and a matter of public record. Also, for those of you who, like me, enjoys linking up the individual stories the way they really do in real life, there is a part of this book where Buchanan talks about a former collegue of his that was fired from the program for his erratic behavior. Buchanan calls him 'Ted' in the book, but I believe that his 'Ted' is a certain gloom and doom prophet that lives in Maui and sells a video online warning of an impending disaster.

Mind Trek: Exploring Consciousness, Time, and Space Through Remote Viewing
by Joe McMoneagle
Opinion: Interesting, informative, recommended
McMoneagle was a 'normal' guy before his near-death-experience changed everything. He began to have psychic flashes and spontaneous out-of-body experiences. He talks about his experience of believing that he was losing his mind, and struggling with what his friends and the medical community had labled as crazy. Then he was recruited into the army's Remote Viewing program. This book is basically about his experience and give a lot of specific detailed information about CRV.

Remote Viewing —The Real Story by Ingo Swann
Opinion: Hard to read, informative
It's free online.

Remote Viewing Secrets: A Handbook by Joseph McMoneagle
Opinion: Informative, recommended
Joe McMcoeagle put together this guidebook for those interested in remote viewing. It takes you through the process of remote viewing, variables that may effect the success rate, and several helpful charts. For example, sideral time has a large effect on the success of remote viewing. Find out more about the scientific process of remote viewing.

Journeys Out of the Body by Robert A. Monroe
Opinion: Interesting
If you're interested in out-of-body travel Robert Monroe is probably the most noted expert on the subject. He founded the Monroe Insitute to study the phenomenon. The book itself is about his story and how he first became interested in OBEs. It tells you what's normal and some tips for getting past some of the obstacles experienced as well as some techniques to help.

Far Journeys by Robert Monroe
Opinion: Entertaining
In this book Robert Monroe has pretty much already figured out how to make the most of an OBE and so it takes on much more of a story than the previous book. An interesting view of the universe is presented. I don't know if I take it for the truth, but it was an enjoyable read.

Amazing and Wonderful Mind Machines You Can Build by G. Harry Stine
Opinion: Fun, strange, recommended
This book is basically a how-to manual for building various enigmatic machines. Features dowsing rods, symbolic machines, a wishing machine and more. The wishing machine is mostly an audio amplifier and some special rigging. I chose to look at this book as an idea guide for conceptual sculpture, and for that it is fabulous. Aspiring mad scientists should have a lot of fun with this.