Academic Cryptozoology

This post is one attempt of many to compile a beginner's reading list for cryptozoology. The cryptozoological literature to date suffers from many a problem - some of it's outdated, some of it's fanciful, a lot is outright pseudoscience. There's also, broadly, a lack of good introductory cryptozoological books, no great encyclopedias, and not a single "textbook" style review of the topic. It's easy to see how people remain so far out of the cryptozoological loop, so to speak. What I've done here is compile five books which helped expand my horizons and further my understanding of cryptozoology as a subject - I deem them "essential" because they contain many, many significant perspectives for new enthusiasts. These are all very engaging reads, also quite dense with immense bibliographies for further research. The academic nature of some of these books may be quite daunting initially, especially if you're unfamiliar with scholarly humanitie...