diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 380ffd2..96ee555 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ method.
     >>> len(list(sf.iterShapes()))
     663
 
-Each shape record contains the following attributes:
+Each shape record (except Points) contain the following attributes. Records of shapeType Point do not have a bounding box 'bbox'.
 
 
     >>> for name in dir(shapes[3]):
diff --git a/changelog.txt b/changelog.txt
index 9ff0a00..f7785ee 100644
--- a/changelog.txt
+++ b/changelog.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+VERSION 1.2.12
+
+2017-08-24 Karim Bahgat <karim.bahgat.norway@gmail.com> 
+	* Fixed errors caused by strict value type checking, as introduced in v1.2.11. Now more lenient by attempting force conversion of values to match the field type. 
+	* Allow reading file-like objects without seek method (such as ZipFile or urllib.urlopen). 
+
 VERSION 1.2.11
 
 2017-04-29 Karim Bahgat <karim.bahgat.norway@gmail.com>
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 9acd4f7..09a667b 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 from setuptools import setup
 
 setup(name='pyshp',
-      version='1.2.11',
+      version='1.2.12',
       description='Pure Python read/write support for ESRI Shapefile format',
       long_description=open('README.md').read(),
       author='Joel Lawhead',
diff --git a/shapefile.py b/shapefile.py
index 3724ddb..8b0fff4 100644
--- a/shapefile.py
+++ b/shapefile.py
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 shapefile.py
 Provides read and write support for ESRI Shapefiles.
 author: jlawhead<at>geospatialpython.com
-date: 2017/04/29
-version: 1.2.11
+date: 2018/09/8
+version: 1.2.13
 Compatible with Python versions 2.7-3.x
 """
 
-__version__ = "1.2.11"
+__version__ = "1.2.13"
 
 from struct import pack, unpack, calcsize, error, Struct
 import os
@@ -522,11 +522,19 @@ def __record(self):
                         #not parseable as float, set to None
                         value = None
                 else:
+                    # force to int
                     try:
-                        value = int(value)
+                        # first try to force directly to int.
+                        # forcing a large int to float and back to int
+                        # will lose information and result in wrong nr.
+                        value = int(value) 
                     except ValueError:
-                        #not parseable as int, set to None
-                        value = None
+                        # forcing directly to int failed, so was probably a float.
+                        try:
+                            value = int(float(value))
+                        except ValueError:
+                            #not parseable as int, set to None
+                            value = None
             elif typ == 'D':
                 # date: 8 bytes - date stored as a string in the format YYYYMMDD.
                 if value.count(b('0')) == len(value):  # QGIS NULL is all '0' chars
@@ -945,8 +953,18 @@ def __dbfRecords(self):
                     if value in MISSING:
                         value = str("*"*size) # QGIS NULL
                     elif not deci:
+                        # force to int
+                        try:
+                            # first try to force directly to int.
+                            # forcing a large int to float and back to int
+                            # will lose information and result in wrong nr.
+                            value = int(value) 
+                        except ValueError:
+                            # forcing directly to int failed, so was probably a float.
+                            value = int(float(value))
                         value = format(value, "d")[:size].rjust(size) # caps the size if exceeds the field size
                     else:
+                        value = float(value)
                         value = format(value, ".%sf"%deci)[:size].rjust(size) # caps the size if exceeds the field size
                 elif fieldType == "D":
                     # date: 8 bytes - date stored as a string in the format YYYYMMDD.
@@ -971,8 +989,8 @@ def __dbfRecords(self):
                     else:
                         value = b(' ') # unknown is set to space
                 else:
-                    # anything else is forced to string
-                    value = str(value)[:size].ljust(size)
+                    # anything else is forced to byte string
+                    value = b(value)[:size].ljust(size)
                 if len(value) != size:
                     raise ShapefileException(
                         "Shapefile Writer unable to pack incorrect sized value"