Mushroom Books of Interest

There are many good mushroom books out there and after you get seriously involved in this hobby you can end up with an extensive library. I would like to share with you my collection and some comments about some of the books. Hopefully, I will separate them by catagory of interest. Some books cover numerous areas and might be difficult to catagorize. I enjoy my mushroom collection and many of these books are no longer published. For those who are seriously interested in learning how to identify wild mushrooms and cultivate them I have highlighted the books in red. Mushroom cookbooks are harder to recommend, recipes are a matter of taste. But, I always promote cookbooks by mycological societies these are usually fund raisers for the local clubs. I might add there are excellent identification books that encompass Midwest, and Eastern parts of U.S.. not in my collection. I have not had the opprotunity to hunt in those areas and thus lack specific references.

Mushroom Identifcation Books

• The Savory Wild Mushroom by Margaret McKenny and Daniel E. Stuntz, ISBN 0-29595156-7. This is a very good beginners identification book.
• Gasteromycetes, Morpholigical and Development Fetures by Orson K. Miller, Jr., & Hope Miller, ISBN 0-916422-74-7. I bought this book to help me identify mushrooms in arid climates. Went to Baja California and we only found one specie while there.
• Mushrooms, Peterson Field Guides by Kent McKnight & Vera McKnight, ISBN 0-395-42102-0
• Foraging for Edible Wild Mushrooms by Karen & Richard Haard, ISBN 0-88930-017-8
• Field Guide to North American Mushrooms, The Audubon Society by Gary Lincoff, ISBN 0-394-51992-2. A very good book but unfortunately the mushroom names next to the pictures are common names and one has to go to the description section to get the scientific name.
• Mushrooms of the World by Lucius Von Frieden. Bobbs-Merrill
• The Mushroom Handbook by Louis C. Krieger, ISBN 486-21861-9
• Mushrooms & Toadstools by U. Nonis, ISBN 0-88254-755-0
• Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mushrooms by Gary Lincoff, ISBN 0-671-42849-7
• Mushrooms of North America by Roger Phillips, ISBN 0-316-70613-2. A highly helpful identification book. It offers several views of the same mushroom (including a cut-through view).
• Mushrooms of North America by Orson K Miller, Jr. ISBN 0-525-47482-x. This is the first mushroom book that I purchased, one of few with key charts. A good book for beginners who want to learn to identify mushrooms using keys. I would recommend this book but I believe it is no longer published.
• Mushroom Demystified by David Arora, ISBN 0-89815-170-8. My favorite for mushroom identification. Has the best keys, most species, serious with a touch of humor.
• Edible Wild Mushrooms of North America by David Fischer & Alan Bessette, ISBN 0-292-72079-3. This is a field to kitchen guide and it could belong in the cookbook section since it has numerous recipes.
• Mushrooms and Other Fungi of North America by Geoffrey Kibby, ISBN 0-681-45384-2.
• The Encyclopedia of Mushrooms by Colin Dickinson & John Lucas, ISBN 0-517-374846
• The New Guide to Mushrooms by Peter Jordan, ISBN 0-8317-7348-0

Mushroom Pocket Guides

• National Audobon Society Pocket Guide- Familair Mushrooms, ISBN 0-679-72984-4. Pictures and description of 80 common mushrooms. It would be helpful to use other id books.
• Chanterelle, a Rocky Mountain Mushroom Book by Millie Miller and Cyndii Nelson, Johnson Publishing Co. A small reference pocket book discusses the basics of mushroom identification and displays some beautiful color paintings of a couple dozen common mushrooms.
• Best of the Boletes by Ingrid Bartelli, Michigan State University Cooperative Extension Bulletin - E-926
• Don't Pick Poson! by Ingrid Bartelli, Michigan State University Cooperative Extension Bulletin
• Mushrooms, Granada Guides by Michael Chinery. ISBN 0-246-11828-8
• All that the Rain Promises and More... by David Arora, ISBN 0-89815-388-3. This is an excellent pocket guide, full of mushroom descriptions, pictures and humor.
• Mushrooms & Other Fungi by Eleanor Lawrence & Sue Harniess, ISBN 0-517-69115-9

Mushroom Cook Books

• From the Duff to Dinner, A Cookbook from the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz, ISBN 1-890880-02-7
• The Cookbook of North American Truffles from the North American Truffling Society, PO Bpx 296, Corvallis, OR 97339.
• Wild About Mushrooms from the Mycolgical Society of San Francisco, ISBN 0-943186-30-7
• Wild Mushroom Cookery from the Oregon Mycological Society, ISBN 0-9698134-1-5
• The Curious Morel by Larry Lonik, ISBN 0-931715-00-8. Major portion of this book is recipes but other information on Morels is provided.
• ROON, A Tribute to Morel Mushrooms by Ratzloff, Petermeier, ISBN 0-933363-00-1. This is a highly artistic book, perhaps it should be in the specialty section but it has numerous morel recipes.
• Taming the Wild Mushroom by Arleen & Alan Bessette, ISBN 0-292-75536-8.
• The Mushroom Book by Michael McLaughlin, ISBN 0-8118-0383-x
• Fungus Among Us Mushroom Cookbook by Lynn & Michael Monroe of the Fungus Among Us Mushroom Farm in Snohomish, Washington.
• The Edible Mushroom by Margaret Leibenstein, ISBN 0-449-90204-8
• Cooking with Mushrooms by John Pisto, ISBN 0-9640828-1-0. We picked this book up when we went to NAMA in Februaru of 1998. We had the opportunity to eat at one of Pisto's restaurants in Monterey California. The food in the restaurant was great, especially the mushroom dishes.
• The Mushroom Cookbook by Nicola Hill, ISBN 1-56138-491-7
• Mushrooms by Rita Rosenberg, ISBN 1-55561-071-4

Mushroom Cultivation Books

• Mushrooms in the Garden by Hellmut Steinneck, ISBN 0-916422-50-x. A good guide for basic outdoor cultivation.
• The Mushroom Cultivator by Paul Stamets and J.S. Chilton, ISBN 0-9610798-0-0. Serious about cultivation, this book will help you.
• Growing Gourmet & Medicinal Mushrooms by Paul Stamets, ISBN 0-89815-608-4. An excellent follow-up to The Mushroom Cultivator.

Mushroom Specialty Books, for most of the books in this catagory the title speaks for itself.

• Wild Mushrooms of Telluride by Linnea Gillman, Art Goodtimes, Gary Lincoff and Jason Salzman, Fungophile, Inc.
• Medicinal Mushrooms by Christopher Hobbs, ISBN 1-884360-01-7. A good reference books on medicinal properties of certain mushrooms.
• Mushrooms, Poisons and Panaceas by Denis Benjamin. ISBN 0-7167-2649-1. This is an excellent book and a must for those interested in understanding the numerous symptoms of mushroom poisonings.
• How to Identify and Grow Psilocybin Mushrooms by Jule Stevens and Rich Gee, Sun Magic Publishing.
• Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World by Paul Stamets, ISBN 0-89815-839-7.

Misc. Mushroom Books

• In the Company of Mushrooms by Elio Schaechter, ISBN 0-674-44554-6. A very delightful book that encompasses all aspects about mushrooms. This book is for a beginner and for the experienced.
• Matsutake Mushroom, "White Goldrush of the 1990's by Jerry Guin, ISBN 0-87961-248-7. A view from a picker and buyer. A journal type of book describing the good and bad times.