42 books like Sasquatch

By John Green,

Here are 42 books that Sasquatch fans have personally recommended if you like Sasquatch. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Abominable Snowmen: Legend Come to Life

Jeff Meldrum Author Of Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science

From my list on relict hominoids existence today.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, with a keen interest in the natural world and a particular fascination with our closest kin, the great apes. I was there when the famous Patterson-Gimlin film was aired in Spokane, Washington. That now iconic image was my first encounter with Bigfoot. I was captivated. In the pre-Internet age, finding books, articles, and newsletters to satisfy my curiosity about Bigfoot/sasquatch was in itself a challenge, and I eagerly consumed what few titles were available. Even today, the few serious treatments of the subject by scholarly objective authors stand out among the plethora of skeptical or self-published amateur books.

Jeff's book list on relict hominoids existence today

Jeff Meldrum Why did Jeff love this book?

This book was my encyclopedic introduction to the question of legendary man-like species existing around the world in the present day.

I was in my early teens the first time I read this book, returning again and again. I found inspiration in Sanderson as an unconventional scholar-adventurer who explored the planet and fostered my fascination with exotic and elusive species on the fringes and my appreciation of world biogeography. He was a founding figure of cryptozoology, the search for hidden animals. Through his synthesis, the legendary became zoology. 

By Ivan T. Sanderson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Abominable Snowmen as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence: The Anthropologist Speaks Out

Jeff Meldrum Author Of Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science

From my list on relict hominoids existence today.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, with a keen interest in the natural world and a particular fascination with our closest kin, the great apes. I was there when the famous Patterson-Gimlin film was aired in Spokane, Washington. That now iconic image was my first encounter with Bigfoot. I was captivated. In the pre-Internet age, finding books, articles, and newsletters to satisfy my curiosity about Bigfoot/sasquatch was in itself a challenge, and I eagerly consumed what few titles were available. Even today, the few serious treatments of the subject by scholarly objective authors stand out among the plethora of skeptical or self-published amateur books.

Jeff's book list on relict hominoids existence today

Jeff Meldrum Why did Jeff love this book?

In college, I eventually found a tagline for my intellectual preoccupation–physical anthropology. I was especially captivated by the pattern and process of the evolution of human bipedalism–the adaptations for walking on two feet. As a physical anthropologist himself, Krantz was a kindred spirit and approached the mystery of Bigfoot from that mutual perspective.

His central focus on the footprint evidence for sasquatch aligned with my interests in hominin bipedalism. After brief opportunities for collaboration, upon his passing, his data and collections were bequeathed to my laboratory. 

By Grover Krantz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From an Amazon review: Well-written scientific treatment of the sasquatch phenomen[on]. Dr. Grover Krantz has the distinction of being one of the few scientists who accepts the existence of the legendary "bigfoot". With a doctoral degree in physical anthropology from the University of Minnesota and additional training from U.C. Berkeley, he was uniquely qualified to investigate a sighting reported to him by a member of the public in 1968. As a result of his analysis of this sighting, and subsequent analysis of other sasquatch material, he came to the controversial conclusion that the "mythical" creature was in fact real- a…


Book cover of North America's Great Ape: The Sasquatch: A Wildlife Biologist Looks at the Continent's Most Misunderstood Large Mammal

Jeff Meldrum Author Of Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science

From my list on relict hominoids existence today.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, with a keen interest in the natural world and a particular fascination with our closest kin, the great apes. I was there when the famous Patterson-Gimlin film was aired in Spokane, Washington. That now iconic image was my first encounter with Bigfoot. I was captivated. In the pre-Internet age, finding books, articles, and newsletters to satisfy my curiosity about Bigfoot/sasquatch was in itself a challenge, and I eagerly consumed what few titles were available. Even today, the few serious treatments of the subject by scholarly objective authors stand out among the plethora of skeptical or self-published amateur books.

Jeff's book list on relict hominoids existence today

Jeff Meldrum Why did Jeff love this book?

John Bindernagel’s book persuasively demonstrated that rather than being an enigmatic monster, sasquatch anatomies and behaviors, as reported by hundreds of independent eyewitnesses, were remarkably parallel to those of known great apes. Rather than an inexplicable anomaly, sasquatch constitutes another species of hominoid ape.

As I pursue Bindernagel’s thesis, I have discovered further that some anatomies and behaviors attributed to sasquatch actually anticipated those of great apes only recently recognized or appreciated.  

By John Bindernagel,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked North America's Great Ape as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the Back Cover:

“In the past thirty years numerous books have been published about reported observations of giant, hairy bipeds in the forests of North America, but none by a scientist qualified to assess whether what the witnesses described added up to a believable animal. John Bindernagel, with a Ph.D in wildlife biology and extensive field experience in more than one part of the world, has now supplied that need. North America's Great Ape: The Sasquatch could prove to be the most important book yet written on this fascinating subject.” —John Green, author, The Sasquatch File, On the Track…


Book cover of Between Ape and Human: An Anthropologist on the Trail of a Hidden Hominoid

Jeff Meldrum Author Of Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science

From my list on relict hominoids existence today.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, with a keen interest in the natural world and a particular fascination with our closest kin, the great apes. I was there when the famous Patterson-Gimlin film was aired in Spokane, Washington. That now iconic image was my first encounter with Bigfoot. I was captivated. In the pre-Internet age, finding books, articles, and newsletters to satisfy my curiosity about Bigfoot/sasquatch was in itself a challenge, and I eagerly consumed what few titles were available. Even today, the few serious treatments of the subject by scholarly objective authors stand out among the plethora of skeptical or self-published amateur books.

Jeff's book list on relict hominoids existence today

Jeff Meldrum Why did Jeff love this book?

The discovery of the diminutive hominin Homo floresiensis, a.k.a. the “Hobbit,” was a sensation in paleoanthropology–one that was anticipated by the fieldwork of cultural anthropologist Gregory Forth. Stories of creatures of similar attributes were taken as descriptions of real encounters with an “empirical” entity rather than merely figures of folklore.

This book has been a case study in the realization of a paradigm shift in how human evolution is envisioned–one branch of a bushy family tree, accompanied by multiple parallel branches, i.e., relict hominoids. 

By Gregory Forth,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Between Ape and Human as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A remarkable investigation into the hominoids of Flores Island, their place on the evolutionary spectrum-and whether or not they still survive.

While doing fieldwork on the remote Indonesian island of Flores, anthropologist Gregory Forth came across people talking about half-apelike, half-humanlike creatures that once lived in a cave on the slopes of a nearby volcano. Over the years he continued to record what locals had to say about these mystery hominoids while searching for ways to explain them as imaginary symbols of the wild or other cultural representations.

Then along came the 'hobbit'. In 2003, several skeletons of a small-statured…


Book cover of Planet of the Apes

Bob Zeidman Author Of Animal Lab

From my list on dystopian books that are great lessons for today.

Why am I passionate about this?

While every single attempt at socialism in human history has failed, usually leading to the murder of millions of people, it is being revived by those who think they can “do it right this time.” I’ve been writing about American principles and American values for newspapers and magazines for years. The threat to the exceptional American experiment that has led so many people of all backgrounds to success and happiness, led me to write this novel. I hope that it is fun enough and interesting enough that many readers will enjoy it, and more importantly learn from it. And take action to preserve the values and principles of America that have uplifted and inspired so many for over two centuries.

Bob's book list on dystopian books that are great lessons for today

Bob Zeidman Why did Bob love this book?

The book and the original 1968 movie are worthwhile experiences that examine our society, our treatment of animals, and our treatment of each other by creating a planet in which the roles of humans and apes are swapped. The screenplay was written by Oscar-winner Michael Wilson and Emmy-winner Rod Serling and adds a legendary ending that was the talk of the neighborhood kids when I was growing up. It created a powerful symbol of mankind’s possible eventual destruction that stayed with me over the years.

The 2001 remake of the movie stayed fairly true to the original movie but was a bit slow because of its many side stories. The second remake in 2011 had amazing special effects but made the disturbing point that humans have become a destructive society that must be abolished by the apes. While the original message was to treat animals and each other better, the…

By Pierre Boulle,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Planet of the Apes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In a spaceship that can travel at the speed of light, Ulysse, a journalist, sets off from Earth for the nearest solar system. He finds there a planet which resembles his own, but on Soror humans behave like animals, and are hunted by a civilised race of primates. Captured and sent to a research facility, Ulysse must convince the apes of their mutual origins. But such revelations will have always been greeted by prejudice and fear...


Book cover of Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence

Brian Villmoare Author Of The Evolution of Everything: The Patterns and Causes of Big History

From my list on former English majors who like science.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a college professor and paleoanthropologist–I study human fossils and the evolution of the human lineage. My field site is in the Afar region of Ethiopia, and I regularly spend a month or so wandering across the desert, picking up fossils. I view myself very much as a scientist and believe that the scientific view is the most reliable in some important ways. However, I came to science fairly late in life–I was an undergraduate philosophy and English literature student and didn’t go to graduate school until I was 30. Because of my liberal arts background, I have always felt it was important to bridge the science-humanities divide. 

Brian's book list on former English majors who like science

Brian Villmoare Why did Brian love this book?

I read this book as a young adult and immediately passed it on to all my friends. This book is a popular explanation of sociobiology (sometimes called behavioral ecology) that focuses on how evolution might be selected for aggression. 

It is one of the most compelling explorations of why evolutionary biology is so important for the average person to understand. Ironically, it is exactly the kind of thing that Stephen Jay Gould hated–he was a staunch opponent of sociobiology, partly because he feared the potential social implications.

But here, I think Gould was wrong and Wrangham largely correct. It is simply a fact that males are more violent (in every society ever studied), and understanding why so that we can attenuate its effect might be one of the most important things a society can do. In a clear and reasonable voice, this book makes the argument for sociobiology difficult to…

By Richard Wrangham, Dale Peterson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Demonic Males as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"Remarkable and utterly fascinating" (Jane Goodall), author Dale Peterson and Harvard University biological anthropology professor Richard Wrangham's Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence is a groundbreaking study on human violence.

Whatever their virtues, men are more violent than women. Why do men kill, rape, and wage war, and what can we do about it?

Based on human evolution studies and about our closest living relatives, the great apes, Demonic Males presents a compelling argument that the secrets of a peaceful society may well be, first, a sharing of power between males and females, and second, a high…


Book cover of Walking with the Great Apes: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Biruté Galdikas

Gary Kowalski Author Of Goodbye, Friend: Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet

From my list on love, loss and our kinship with animals.

Why am I passionate about this?

I called my dog Chinook my spiritual guide. He makes friends easily and doesn’t hold a grudge. He enjoys simple pleasures, taking each day as it comes. On his own canine level, he shows me that it might be possible to live without inner conflicts or neuroses: uncomplicated, genuine and glad to be alive.”  Chinook inspired my first book, The Souls of Animals, which explored the capacities for love, creativity, and compassion we humans share with other species. As an ordained minister (Harvard Divinity School), I believe we desperately need to rediscover our spiritual affinity with other living creatures if we are to save our small planet.

Gary's book list on love, loss and our kinship with animals

Gary Kowalski Why did Gary love this book?

This book tells how three unlikely women–Jane Goodall, Diane Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas–broke scientific ground with their study of the wild chimpanzee, the mountain gorilla, and the orangutan. In every case, a deep emotional involvement with the animals opened the door to insights that male-dominated “objective” methods of research had minimized or overlooked. “Each woman’s first few months in the field were marked by despair, as the study subjects either could not be located or fled at first sight. The women could not make it work–not by extra stealth, not by better equipment, not by new techniques.  One can manipulate an experiment to hasten it, but one cannot force or hurry a revelation.”

By Sy Montgomery,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Walking with the Great Apes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

2017 is the 50th anniversary of The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda.

Three astounding women scientists have in recent years penetrated the jungles of Africa and Borneo to observe, nurture, and defend humanity's closest cousins. Jane Goodall has worked with the chimpanzees of Gombe for nearly 50 years; Diane Fossey died in 1985 defending the mountain gorillas of Rwanda; and Birute Galdikas lives in intimate proximity to the orangutans of Borneo. All three began their work as protegees of the great Anglo-African archeologist Louis Leakey, and each spent years in the field, allowing the apes…


Book cover of Endangered

Catherine Ryan Hyde Author Of Seven Perfect Things

From my list on animals by people who actually understand them.

Why am I passionate about this?

In addition to being the author of lots of books, I am a wrangler of lots of pets. I live with a dog, two cats, a Belgian warmblood horse who I rode in dressage for many years, and his pasture pal who is a miniature horse. I’m known for writing books with animals in which the animal is a character, not a caricature. So many authors don’t seem to know animals deeply, and so just insert them in a scene like a placeholder. But every animal is an individual, and I try to reflect that in my work.

Catherine Ryan's book list on animals by people who actually understand them

Catherine Ryan Hyde Why did Catherine Ryan love this book?

This is my only other fiction pick. I read this many years ago, when it was new, but it stayed with me. We see a lot of relationships between people and dogs or people and horses, but this is a novel about a girl and a group of bonobos. That’s an interesting twist on the human/animal relationship, because other primates are so similar to us in their intelligence and approach to the world. They are mostly helpless against human forces, but then again so are young girls. The bonds formed in this book are worth the price of admission, and the suspense is high throughout.

By Eliot Schrefer,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Endangered as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 12, 13, 14, and 15.

What is this book about?

From National Book Award Finalist Eliot Schrefer comes the compelling tale of a girl who must save a group of bonobos -- and herself -- from a violent coup.

Congo is a dangerous place, even for people who are trying to do good.When Sophie has to visit her mother at her sanctuary for bonobos, she's not thrilled to be there. Then Otto, an infant bonobo, comes into her life, and for the first time she feels responsible for another creature.But peace does not last long for Sophie and Otto. When an armed revolution breaks out in the country, the sanctuary…


Book cover of Sojourners Book 1

Carolyn Watson Dubisch Author Of After The Robots Died: Rey Rabbits Issue #1

From my list on science fiction and comics for young adults.

Why am I passionate about this?

For my whole life I've been fascinated by science fiction. I love watching Star Trek and reading books by Octavia Butler, and probably my favorite moment in school was when we were asked to read The Veldt by Ray Bradbury. As an artist I designed aliens for Star Wars products and am listed in the “Wookiepedia” online. My latest children’s book Alien Farm; Scary Stories for kids just won “Best Paranormal Book for kids” in the Firebird Awards. I also teach art to kids here in Mexico and I see their eyes light up when the assignment is to create robot designs or to draw spaceships and aliens.

Carolyn's book list on science fiction and comics for young adults

Carolyn Watson Dubisch Why did Carolyn love this book?

This is the first issue of an excellent YA comic book series. I really do enjoy scifi that features apes or any kind of simian life (yes, I love the Planet of the Apes series), so this book got my attention with the cover. The main characters are all space monkeys or simian astronauts that have landed their spacecraft on an alien world. One unfortunate monkey is the chosen explorer while the others watch his progress from the relative safety of the spaceship. The story is tense and surprising. The art is very skilled and I truly look forward to the next issue of the series which is expected to be released soon.

By Kraig Rasmussen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sojourners Book 1 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of Oroonoko

Tom Keymer Author Of Jane Austen: A Very Short Introduction

From my list on stories written before 1800.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been researching and teaching the history of the novel since I was a graduate student in Cambridge in the late 1980s, and along the way, I’ve published trade editions of several classics beyond those recommended here, including Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, Richardson’s Pamela, Fielding’s Tom Jones, and Beckford’s Vathek. It’s a great opportunity to take a break from specialist academia and reach a broader community of readers, as I’ve also tried to do in a recent introductory book about Jane Austen. I now teach at the University of Toronto, where I’m blessed with amazing students on two of my favourite undergraduate courses, “The Rise of the Novel” and “Austen and Her Contemporaries.”

Tom's book list on stories written before 1800

Tom Keymer Why did Tom love this book?

“All women together ought to let flowers fall on the tomb of Aphra Behn... in Westminster Abbey, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.” The first professional woman writer in England, best known for her scandalous stage comedies during the reign of Charles II, Behn ended her career with a hard-hitting novel about slavery and rebellion in colonial Suriname. It may not be true, as she says when dedicating Oroonoko (1688) to a Scottish nobleman, that “I writ it in a few hours.” But there’s real urgency to Behn’s narrative as she deplores the fate of her enslaved hero, an African prince she likens to “a lion taken in a toil,” while also sounding the alarm about regime change back home in England. 

By Aphra Behn,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Oroonoko as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'We are bought and sold like apes or monkeys, to be the sport of women, fools, and cowards, and the support of rogues . . .'

Spy, traveller and pioneering female writer Aphra Benn's story of an African prince sold into slavery is considered one of the earliest English novels


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in bigfoot, cryptozoology, and legendary creatures?

Bigfoot 28 books
Cryptozoology 25 books