Toilet bowl reading for the overeducated. That's a sincere endorsement. Why miss a moment when you could be improving yourself?

Also, a paper copy of this book by the commode would be more sanitary than doomscrolling on your phone.

It is only a few days before Christmas as I write this, which is a shame, because this book seems to be ideal for a stocking-stuffer or perhaps a Christmas gift exchange for a book club or an office. My apologies to the publisher (who gave me a free electronic copy for review) for not getting on the stick sooner with this endorsement.

In case you missed it: Nerd Nite is a nightclub-based activity that started in the early 2000s. They are like Ted Talks without (1) sitting in rows in an auditorium, (2) high production values, and (3) utter seriousness. (Like Ted Talks, however, there is a Nerd Nite YouTube channel.) Nerd Nite is an improvement on Ted Talks in the following ways: there is beer (or other poison of your choice), you can make comments (unkind or otherwise) to your friends during the talks, (unlike music-centric nights at most nightclubs) you don't need a set of earplugs to protect your ability to hear, and you could (sometimes you had to) stand (or lean against the bar) during the presentations (or step out, temporarily or permanently, if you wanted).

Even if you do not read this book while using the toilet, this is not one of these books where you start at the beginning and read through until the end. You can open it anywhere at random and start reading. It is a series of Nerd Nite talks in book form. Even the longest chapters can be read in less than ten minutes. I think it is normal that some of the chapters will appeal to you more than others, depending on your interests. Chapters that I particularly enjoyed included: “Monarch the Bear”, “A Tea Test Tempest”, and “Wildlife Detectives”. I thought the talk about hangovers and the talk about your gut biome were not so interesting. Don't read the chapter about human parasites while you are eating. I did not understand the chapter entitled “From Bach to Tool: the Secret Math Behind Music Theory”, but then again I'm a little tone deaf.

Some of the talks are by and for people with the same sense of humor as junior-high school boys, not that there's anything wrong with that. If that is you, I recommend the chapter on the problems of controlling human solid waste in space, and also the chapter on the male insect that, as an evolutionary adaptation, has developed the ability to do reverse somersaults after sex, which has prevents him from being eaten by his insect mate post facto.

Pointless carping: I think that whoever chose the title chose poorly. It implies that there is a talk entitled “How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi” somewhere in the book. There is not. I know at least one person who is so obsessed with mushrooms that they would likely buy the book on the basis of the title, and be disappointed. Both mushrooms and fungi are mentioned in passing in some of the chapters, but they are not a focus. The title, it is explained in the introduction, refers to the authors, who are “fun guys”. I suppose dopey puns like this are completely in the spirit of nerd night, but still I thought the title was an example of inadvertent false advertising.

All of the chapters are print versions of science-based talks. I look forward to a book of Nerd Nite talks on non-science topics. I particularly remember a very interesting talk at DC9 years ago in which the speaker contended that today's reality TV programming was the 21st-century’s answers to Victorian-era freak shows, which now seem intolerably cruel and barbaric to modern sensibilities. I’ve thought about that talk whenever I see the Kardashians and their ilk once again tugging at the public's attention.

I received a free electronic advance review copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.

I read this book as a pre-release e-book obtained through NetGalley, provided by the publisher.
This book was fun! It consists of numerous informally-written short articles on scientific or technology-related topics, which can be read in a few minutes. Some are referenced, so if you want to read more of the “properly” written material, it’s available. The individual articles are best read one at a time, and do something else in between them to “digest” it.

I’ve never heard of “Nerd Night”, but I want to go to one now – even if they are far away. I plan to attend one when I get near one on another trip.

🤓 I was not familiar with Nerd Nite, but apparently it has been going on for 20 years! Nerd Nite is a monthly, live presentation to worldwide audiences that discusses STEM topics, as well as history, pop culture, and more. But these aren’t dry, boring lectures. They are creative presentations - sometimes funny, sometimes snarky, but always informative.

🤓 Here are some of the titles of the presentations in the book –

✔️ The Mathematics of Gossip
✔️ Sky Rockets in Flight, Asteroids Delight: Asteroid Mining for Science, Profit, and Fun
✔️ Zombies are Real and You Might Be One
✔️ Dating as a Data Nerd
✔️ Microbes Can Save You, Kill You, or Just Give You the Poops
✔️ Lost: Bladder Control. Reward for Safe Return
✔️ Dealing with Poop and Pee in Space
✔️ Lessons from the Oregon Trail

🤓 There are MANY more fun topics to read about as well!

🤓 The discussion is about 20-minutes long when presented live, so each topic is a quick read in the book. And the information isn’t presented by just anyone – these are experts in their fields with some pretty amazing credentials.

🤓 The title drew me in, and the content kept me reading! Some topics were more interesting to me than others, and some got a little technical, but most of them were absolutely fantastic. If you have a “nerd” in your life, this would be an amazing gift for them!

Thank you @netgalley and @Stmartinspress for an eARC of this book, which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

This book is a collection based on live presentations given at Nerd Nites, which are described as “informative presentations accompanied by alcohol.”

Everything seems funnier when you’re drunk. I read this while sober, so maybe that's why a lot of the "humor" missed for me. Additionally, I found it infuriating that there was an excessive amount of pseudoscience and theories presented as fact. I won't even mention how annoying I find the glorification of alcohol use.

I guess with any anthology, there will be hits and misses, and I did enjoy reading some of these essays. However, the sections that interested me seemed too short, while the ones I found boring or annoying seemed to go on too long.

I'm actually shocked by how much of this book was not enjoyable to me. It reminds me of the time someone told me to check out the TV show Big Bang Theory. "You’ll love it," they said, "because you’re smart." I guess I’m not smart.

I had no clue this was written by a longtime event hosting team NerdNite. I’ve never heard of it before but I love learning a little bit about a lot of things and this book is perfect for that!

If you’re even remotely interested in stem, this book is a lot of fun! Each chapter is short and written by a different researcher and are not your boring papers you had to read in school. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I loved this book. This anthology covers various areas of science and the stories are well-written and concise. They cover less well-known areas of science, not the usual garden variety. The subtitle of the book, “Collected Quirks…” is a perfect description. The tone is conversational and humorous. The explanations are great as are the illustrations. I also enjoyed the biographies of the contributors. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance reader copy.

Light and pithy, the very short essays on scientific topics in this collection are (mostly) fun to read. Some of the humor that worked on stage at Nerd Nites--where these essays got their starts--doesn't translate well to the written page, but most are fine. Several could have benefitted from further expert advice, like the ones on music theory and cryptography, which have significant errors in them, which makes recommending the book as a whole problematic.

A collection of bite-sized scientific essays from Nerd Nite, grouped together in broad umbrellas of topics - animals, brains, bodily fluids, sex, health, death, space, math, tech, etc - and all with a humorous bent. It's...fine, and is an example of not really knowing how to translate one medium to another. For a live show, in a room of people, with presentation aids and drinks and laughter, these would all hit quite well as 10-ish minute talks, and the differing styles of the presenters all trying to hit the same notes of humor would be charming. In a book form, each essay is jarringly short, with an odd mix of explaining basic concepts and including topic-specific terms without explanation in the same piece that leaves you feeling like you aren't really sure who these are for. There's also no real feeling of consistency in the depth of each essay across the collection - again, something that feels more acceptable for a live show than a book.

The length of the essays also mean that the information has to be quick, and a lot of the room is sacrificed to make sure the humor is intact. It keeps each piece light, but almost frustratingly so; I wish there had been fewer pieces picked, but the author got to expand a little more into their topic. I think a lot of people don't realize how few words actually come of a 10-15 minute talk and how different presenting with interaction is from writing an engaging piece. Some of them come off as if they were written to be a YouTube video (again, probably a more effective format)

This would be great for someone with a general interest in science or as a lobby book where people are meant to have time to read one, maybe two pieces, but in my opinion, most science nerds will know the majority of this information already, and the pieces are too short to be engaging enough to make up for that.

Laugh out loud funny! And yet, at the same time, hugely informative! I had no idea of most of the facts here, but I loved finding out about them.

I kind of thought I was a science nerd, as well as a fan of odd and interesting facts of nature. As much as I loved this book, I guess I am.

Full of really good Science stuff! From STEM scientists across the globe, these chapters are a delight.

Great Stuff!

Netgalley/ St. Martin's Press February 20, 2024

How could I resist a book called How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi? With a title like that I expected wit, and given the subtitle I expected interesting information about science and engineering. My expectations were met.
These short essays by people who were presenters at some of the worldwide Nerd Nites (No, I had never heard of Nerd Nites, so don’t feel bad if you also have not.) cover an incredible array of topics, including Sex Catapults and Why Foreign Accents Are All in Your Head and Adventures in Human-powered Flight. I learned fascinating tidbits of information, like an effective treatment for a hangover, and I picked up some interesting new vocabulary, like “misophonia”, a strong reaction to certain sounds like snapping gum or throat clearing, and “vesalgia”, a fancy name for a hangover. My favorite articles, to give you a sense of the variety of topics, included “Hot or Not: How to Be a Perfect 10; or, How to Manipulate Perceptions of Physical Attractiveness”, “Bullshit in Space: An Astronomical Adventure Through Cosmic Misinformation”, and “Monarch the Bear: a Tale of Tycoons, Taxidermy, and the California Flag”.
Like most books by multiple authors, not all the articles lived up to the best ones. Some authors did not define highly technical terms. Others were not very lucid or so short I was a bit dissatisfied or they simply did not hold my interest or were not quite accurate. For example, the article on cryptography called Pig Latin a substitution cipher; it is a transposition cipher. Some of that is a matter of taste or what your own field is. Fortunately, when that happens in a book like this, the reader can just skip to the next article.
If you have an inquisitive mind and enjoy being exposed to a lot of different subjects, you will find a lot to like. The format makes this a nice book to dip into when you have a few minutes or want to have something fun to bring up the next time you get together with friends. It is also likely to whet your interest to learn more about some of the topics presented.

The book "How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi" by Chris Balakrishnan and Matt Wasowski is a captivating anthology of short essays, inspired by various STEM-related presentations from Nerd Nite events globally. It’s a delightful mix of engaging storytelling, humor, infographics, and illustrations, aiming to both entertain and educate its readers in a witty and intelligent fashion. Although some topics might stretch beyond a general reader's knowledge base, the overall reading experience is both enlightening and enjoyable, packed with intriguing trivia that sparks curiosity.

This book's approachable writing style and the breadth of subjects it covers make it suitable for a diverse audience, including high school students and adults. The essays, while providing only a brief overview of each topic, are successful in igniting interest and leaving the reader with compelling insights into the fascinating world of science. "How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi" stands out for its humorous and engaging way of introducing STEM subjects, making it an ideal read for those seeking a lighthearted yet insightful journey into science and technology.

Overall, "How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi" is an enjoyable and enlightening book that dives into the various aspects of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is perfect for science enthusiasts or anyone looking to broaden their horizons in an entertaining and accessible manner. This collection of essays promises to be an engaging and surprising read for a wide audience, filled with enjoyable discoveries.

The book is interesting. It feels more like a set of humorous, if somewhat off color, essays for adults, than what I expected. I was expecting to read serious, somewhat humorous, discussions about lesser known scientific subjects. I guess I'd recommend this to adults who enjoy science, but not to young adults or to persons who don't already understand a lot about science to begin with.

These mini-bites of science are based upon "Nerd Night" talks from around the country. Blending scientific facts with humor, each "talk" helps the layman understand some of the wonders of science in the world around them. Whether natural science or man-made technologies you can't help but be astounded by the information delivered here. I admit, I am not a regular reader of non-fiction, but this was so fascinating and funny that I couldn't put it down! If only I'd had these speakers when I was still in school, I might have pursued a career in the sciences. Give this as a gift to your friends and family nerdy and non-nerdy alike!

"How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi" by Chris
Balakrishnan and Matt Wasowski offers a delightful
collection of short essays that showcase various
STEM topics discussed at Nerd Nite events
worldwide. Through engaging stories, humor,
infographics, and illustrations, the goal of this book
is to entertain and educate readers in an irreverent
and smart manner. While some essays may go
beyond the reader's scope of knowledge, the overall
experience is informative and fun, providing
treasure trove of trivia and igniting curiosity among
curious minds.
The conversational writing style and wide range of
topics covered in this collection make it accessible to
both high school students and adults. While the
essays may only scratch the surface of their
respective subjects, the book succeeds in sparking
interest and leaving readers with fascinating tidbits
about the captivating world of science. With its
humorous approach and intriguing content,
"How to
Win Friends and Influence Fungi" is a great choice for
those seeking a playful introduction to STEM topics
and a conversation starter for curious minds.
"How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi is an
enjoyable and informative read that offers a glimpse
into the diverse realms of science, technology,
engineering, and math. Whether you're a science
enthusiast or just looking to expand your knowledge
in a fun and accessible way, this collection of essays
caters to a wide range of readers and is sure to
provide a few enjoyable surprises along the way.

This is a fun little read that is good to dip into. You won't sit down and read it from cover to cover in one sitting, but it's a cute book to keep around when you want to expand your horizons and learn something new.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.

This is a collection of short essays on a wide range of science topics. The essays are indeed short - most of them barely get into a topic before boom! the end! I enjoyed the breadth of covered areas but wish that they could have been covered a little more in depth.

Life Under the Ice of Europa?
The Mathematics of Gossip.
Caskets, Corpses, and Biers, Oh My!
Maggot Therapy, or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bugs.

These are some of the lecture topics discussed in twenty minute monthly presentations at Nerd Nite at one of 100+ cities worldwide. The audience is welcome to, and often imbibes! (Coffee for me, please!)

"How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi" by Chris Balakrishnan and Matt Wasowski is an engaging presentation for readers that displays STEM topics in a quirky, but in-depth manner. The goal is to inform and entertain using "stories, lessons, jokes, infographics and illustrations [meant] to be fun, irreverent, challenging, approachable, and smart...". Most of the presenters represented in this collection of essays were graduate students or young professionals.

Not being a lover of all things STEM, this reader's concentration wavered; many topics were fascinating, others beyond the scope of the reader's framework of knowledge. I would argue that this read is suitable for high school students and adults, however if frustrated, some essays might be skipped. All in all, a most informative albeit somewhat raunchy read.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun book, consisting of many short stories. I’m not into so many short stories, and had a difficult time staying focused on the various subjects. If someone enjoys “nerdy” topics, this would be irresistible.

Fascinating read! It's not often that I enjoy non-fiction books but this one was a fun read. I feel like I learned things without it being a boring time.

How to Win Friends and Influence Fungi is a collection of short essays about a variety of scientific topics. The style is rather conversational and easy for readers who aren't scientists to be able to follow. The essays are loosely grouped by category, and have interesting topics like birds and the impending zombie apocalypse, or becoming a cyborg. It's a fun collection, and I'd definitely recommend it.