I was squealing with excitement when I received an email from NetGalley that my wish for this book came true. I was absolutely thrilled to be able to read and review this book. As a mushroom enthusiast, I have learned new information from this book. I also thoroughly enjoyed beautiful photographs of various mushroom species. This is a must-read for anyone who loves to forage wild mushrooms.

Though Mushrooms of Alaska is mainly about 400+ fungi found in that state, the information in this book is relevant to any forager. Not only is this a useful field guide with gorgeous photographs from all angles for easier identification, it is about habitats (including specific trees), relationships and roles fungi play in nature, and wildlife to watch for. My foraging takes place in Croatia where many fungi are drastically different, yet others are in common with those in Alaska.

Information includes mycology, collecting and identifying mushrooms, edibility and toxicity, sustainability, a helpful key to morphologic groups, features and characteristics of specific mushrooms, spore prints, and illustrations of cap/stipe shapes. In the identification guide, other names, features, odor, taste, spore deposit, spores, ecology, edibility, and comments educate. I like that the book is thoughtfully arranged and witty at times, such as the edibility of the Einstein fungus, "Do we really need to know?"

Foraging is one of my greatest passions and I soak up all the information about fungi I can possibly get my hands on. The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know! And that's a good thing. Several resources mentioned in this book sit on my bookshelves, including the mind blowing Fungi of Temperate Europe which I devour regularly with vigor. Mushrooms of Alaska will take pride of place on the same shelves. New information is constantly coming to light in the fungi world which is included in this book, as are rare species, some of which I had never heard of!

If you are even the slightest bit into foraging or learning more about beautiful fungi, do not miss this one. It is more than a guide. It is gold.