Cover Image: Mushrooming

Mushrooming

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Member Reviews

Such a lovely book. The illustrations were top notch! And the information wa snot your typical standard descriptions of mushrooms. I actually feel like I learned a lot and keep referring back to it with my friends. Thank you so much for sending me a copy!

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I love this beautiful, illustrated guide to mushrooms. Less an identification book and more an inspirational piece of art, this book will intrigue burgeoning mushroom lovers and excite experienced foragers. I thoroughly enjoyed flipping through Diane's gorgeous artwork and picking up tidbits about the mushrooms themselves along the way.

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"Mushrooming" by Diane Borsato is a fascinating exploration of the natural world's hidden treasures. Borsato's keen eye and artistic approach shine as she delves into the world of mushrooms, uncovering their intricate beauty and ecological significance. The book's unique blend of art and science offers readers a new perspective on the often-overlooked fungi kingdom. Borsato's passion for her subject matter is evident in every page, inviting readers to appreciate the wonders of nature in a whole new light. "Mushrooming" is a captivating journey into the intricate world of mushrooms, a testament to the artistry of the natural world that will leave readers with a newfound sense of wonder and appreciation for the environment.

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This is really detailed and a good start for someone completely new to the world of mushrooms. The illustrations are both realistic enough to be a good depiction of what the mushrooms actually look like and artisic enough to be absolutely gorgeous.

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A cute guide for beginner foragers (who like me can't tell one tree from the other, yet will excitedly point out funky-looking mushrooms on forests walks based on vibes only), although I had mistakingly assumed the illustration quality to be much higher. I think I prefer the realistic botanical illustrations of Victorian guides, although I have yet to find one for myself.

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This is a fun little read
It doesn’t deep dive into mushrooms, but I like that. It has a lot of different species and get information on them in a fun way.
It reminded me of the mushroom handbook that you can find in most bookstores, but have way too much information while this book is just enough information

I also appreciated that there was warnings that you still have to be careful when looking at mushrooms, because a lot of them can look almost exactly the same without you even knowing, and it could be a poisonous one

The artwork was really fun more of like what I would think to see in a kids book, but it caught my eye

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This book is not only informative, but beautiful as well. The author gives a great amount of information on each fungi, many that are not well known. I enjoyed reading this book and learning about the mushrooms and what their uses (or dangers) are and was thrilled by the beautiful and detailed illustrations. This is one I will definitely re-read.

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A big thank you to NetGalley and The Experiment for the eARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. My only complaint (request?) is that I wish there were actual photographs with scale instead of drawings. I find this interesting, but in no way would I feel comfortable saying if something was edible. A lot of facts.

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Beautiful, colorful, and very informative book! I have already added this to our popular foraging shelf in the bookstore. Perfect for beginners and people who like looking at beautiful fungi!

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I have tons of books on mushrooms and have read quite a few, this is definitely up with the best as far as beauty goes. Absolutely stunning artwork, sometimes you see illustrations in other books that you can’t related to the real world because the details are fuzzy or just slightly off enough, and in this book that isn’t the case at all. The writing is perfectly concise, but not textbooky. It feels like you’re talking to a person instead of just reading random facts; this I believe is better for learning because of it’s engagement. I really love this book and its details.

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I absolutely love this little guide. I lived in Seattle for three years and my uncle would take me mushroom hunting. Mostly for chanterelles around mount hood but he would talk of matsutake on the coast. It was always so much fun. I wish I would have had this book then. It seems to be a rather complete collection of commonly encountered fungi, at least to my understanding. Each mushroom detailed in it's own section with an illustration as well as details on identification, edibility, and other interesting facts. The illustrations are as vibrant and colorful as they are beautiful. Dispersed within these sections are anecdotes and jokes that make it all the more fun to read. I believe this would make an excellent coffee table book or gift for anyone interested in the outdoors.

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Based solely on the cover picture, I expected this book to not be as comprehensive as it is. I was very wrong, it is detailed, helpful, and wonderfully illustrated with beautiful watercolor-like pictures. I helps you to identify what mushroom you might be looking at, with a wonderful wealth of information on each one. If you are new to mycology, I would consider this to be the fungi encyclopedia that you should always have on your shelf, ready to help you out in a pinch.

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Thank you to Netgalley, Diane Borsato, and The Experiment for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

I love this book! The diverse, colorful drawings of the strangest, most unusual, fabulous, and yet existing mushrooms are stunning. In addition, it provides various information on the mushrooms. It motivated me to go into nature and explore it through artists' eyes. I would recommend this a lot for art enthusiasts, nature lovers, and anyone who wants to discover a hidden world full of wonder.

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I have a friend who loves mushrooms, and I originally wanted to preview this book to see if it would be a good gift for her. Not only is this book a wonderful gift for any mycophile, it made me appreciate fungi more. They play such an integral role in the ecosystem, and their fruit (the mushrooms) are just the beautiful (and sometimes strange!) tip of the iceberg. I loved all of the alluring illustrations and the quirky mushroom names. To break up the mushroom illustrations and information, there are projects and stories sprinkled throughout the book. Infinity Burial Suit was my favorite! This book has inspired me to look closer when I see a mushroom in my yard instead of considering it a nuisance.

Thank you to The Experiment and NetGalley for the ARC!

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Such a beautiful book, a strong recommendation for fungi lovers, art lovers, and people who love reading about the natural world. Beautiful!

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This neat little mushroom guide had the feel of an old zine. It includes hand painted art, helpfully descriptive text, and shorter essays in between. I found it a must for taking with on walks while foraging, but it skews slightly more to the inspirational and quirky than the clinical.

Thanks netgalley for this ARC, I feel a lot more ready to identify new mushrooms the next time I'm out.

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Mushrooming...my favourite activity. As a mycophile I dream about fungi, ID and analyze them, forage for them, attend mushroom festivals and learn everything I possibly can get my hands on. Diane Borsato's Mushrooming is a beautifully-illustrated book about 100+ fungi and connections we make with them in life, nature and art.

Though the illustrations are so accurate (I recognized every single representation here easily), this is NOT a field guide but more of an inspiration to learn more, get out in nature and appreciate the multi-sensory details. Borsato uses both the common and scientific names which makes things easier. Included are deadly to choice edibles and everything between such as the gorgeous parrot waxy cap (I saw the most gorgeous group of them recently), tiny bird's nest fungi (which I have had the fortune of seeing several times), black truffle (I live in white truffle territory in Istria), grisettes, death cap (amazing to behold its power!), black trumpet (one of my favourite choice edibles), enormous and delicious parasols, the fascinating bleeding fairy helmet and doll eyes, tasty green-cracking russula and the blewits with their lookalikes. Finding king boletes is a feeling like nothing else! Though very poisonous, happening upon Satan's bolete is always fascinating. The author includes attributes, look alikes, what to look for and avoid. Read this to rev up your foraging excitement before delving into field guides.

Borsato also encourages with a chapter on how to host a mushroom foray, a lovely idea, especially with someone extremely knowledgeable.

My sincere thank you to The Experiment and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this wonderful book. Anyone who wishes to learn more about fungi (and dream of it when not in the field) ought to read this.

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This was a fun, whimsical look at some of the more unusual or notable mushrooms. I learned about some really fascinating types of fungi that I'd never heard of before. I was always eager to see what I'd learn next.

I found some of the stories sprinkled throughout to be dramatic or flowery, but it was certainly interesting to learn how different people interact with mushrooms.

The highlight of this book was definitely the illustrations. The mushrooms were painted in such vivid colors and detail. I had to pause to show my roommates sometimes because they were that beautiful to look at.

Thank you to The Experiment and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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What a beautiful book! Full of wonderful information and such stunning pieces of art. This would make a beautiful gift to anyone who loves foraging!

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Mushrooming
4.5 Stars

I absolutely love the gorgeous illustrations throughout this book! I couldn't help but love Mushrooming's stunning book cover. I'm impressed by the large quality illustrations (>100). I look forward to getting a physical copy for reference. As an artist, the illustrations spark my creativity, and visual stimulation I get from a flip-through re-fills my emotional bucket.

I don't know what my fascination is with these brightly colored mushrooms. But I can't get enough of drawing mystical mushrooms with forest creatures or fairies. I found it interesting to learn about the mushrooms, while I sketched them. This book does have many suggestions for hunting edible mushrooms. However, it's not my thing and hate there texture. My family and I hike year round, and have come across some cool fungi and mushrooms. We like taking pictures to look up later.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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