Mushroom Books

This guide to Mississippi fungi is a great addition to the Mississippi naturalist's bookshelf. I had no idea how many species of mushrooms there were in Mississippi--or the variety of shapes and sizes in which they appear.
I enjoyed the humor which Dr. Dukes included in this book--especially his dog pictures.
The photos were much improved over his book, Trees of Mississippi, although there were still some photos which were not as clear as they should have been.

This is one of the best guides for mushroom cultivators. I enjoy very much this book

I bought this book more as a fan of wild mushrooms than as a cook, but I think it is fairly enjoyable. Although there are a few exceptions, most of the recipes in this book do use mushrooms as the centerpiece ingredient. The photography is excellent; some of the dishes were so astonishingly beautiful -- yet relatively simple -- that I actually went out and made them (I'm more an armchair chef than a practicing one). And they were excellent. The maki zushi is highly recommended. The format of the book (with east, west, and fusion sections) was also interesting and visually lovely. My only criticism is that there could have (or should have) been a more thorough treatment of how to prepare and obtain the mushrooms. There was little commentary on the merits of fresh versus dry or how the actual freshness of the mushroom (those sold "fresh" in stores usually aren't) affects the dish. Overall a great book, though, and fun to flip through as well as cook from.

This book has been the best companion I have had in the kitchen since I started to enjoy wild mushrooms. It is comprehensive and has a wide variety of recipes. I would suggest this as a must for your kitchen if you are looking for a cookbook with a wide range of recipes for all different types of wild mushrooms.

Shiitake The Healing Mushroom represents a very good first attempt to bring detailed information about the nutritional and medicinal merits of this exotic Asian mushroom to the general public. According to Mr. Jones, besides tasting sinfully good steamed or sauted in butter and garlic, shiitake has many 'bioactive' compounds that either stimulate, boost, supplement or somehow enhance the disease fighting capability of our immune system.

The book, while relatively small (only about 80 pages of text), is very information-dense and overflows with some thirty pages of scientific, pharmaceutical and medical references. As such, Jones has managed to produce a compact and highly informative text. The book itself is divided into seven chapters with one section each for references and a handy index for future consultation. The first two chapters are devoted to the nutritional value of shiitake and its historical medicinal uses. Four individual chapters detail shiitake's anti-cholesterol, anti-cancer, cancer preventing, and anti-viral capabilities. A final chapter elaborates the mushroom's purported ability to alleviate chronic fatigue syndrome.

The first chapter gives information on the nutritional value, cultivation, and history of shiitake. In this chapter the reader learns that shiitake has a long and colorful history in Asia as a culinary and medicinal fungus. The reader also learns that shiitake is high in nutritional value, and that one can cultivate shiitake with ease on a variety of wood and agricultural residues. The second chapter gives the reader a brief review of the medicinal uses of shiitake, both past and present. This chapter elaborates on the surprisingly important role of shiitake in ancient folk medicine. In times both ancient and modern, shiitake has been and continues to be used to treat a variety of maladies ranging from high blood pressure and diabetes to hepatitis. The reader is given a brief introduction to the roles that shiitake has played in traditional Chinese medicine and its history as an aphrodisiac and therapeutic agent in ancient Japan. In particular, folk medicinal uses of shiitake focused primarily on cures for the common cold, diabetes and liver ailments. The chapter concludes with a few brief remarks about the safety and preparation of shiitake.

The remaining five chapters tout shiitake's ability to provide relief from a variety of modern day ailments. In short, Jones does not fail to mention shiitake's ability to bring relief to a variety of diseases that afflict those individuals living in wealthy, industrialized nations. On the one hand, it seems that Jones is attempting to use shiitake as a means of offsetting the effects of bad and unhealthy lifestyle choices. On the other hand, throughout the text, Jones seems to be offering up shiitake as a fungal reservoir of a variety of wonder drugs that can cure everything from high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes to viral diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis, and herpes.

A lot of the research on mushrooms is conducted in areas of the world where English is not the dominant, or primary language. Thus, much of this research may be inaccessible to those inquiring minds that do not have abilities in languages other than English. As such, one good comment in favor of the author's book is his open admission that much of the research he cites is written in languages other than English, something that many other writers on this subject fail to cite or even admit.

However, there are three major drawbacks to the text. The first is Mr. Jones's many references to animal experiments. Animal experiments, while serving as a good indicator, are in no way conclusive, no matter how great the results were. Many of the experiments he mentions liberally throughout the text were performed on mice, and a few were performed on rabbits. Very few of the experiments were performed on humans. In addition, those experiments performed on humans left much to be desired because the number of trials and participants in each study mentioned sporadically in the text, as well as the way the experiments were conducted were not wholly sufficient to rule out the influence of pure chance. Only trials on humans, conducted in a randomized double-blind manner with a large number of participants, can give a good indication of efficacy. Unfortunately, there have not been any good, randomized, double-blind statistical studies that have explored the question of efficacy. Yet, Mr. Jones must be credited amply for pointing out that until more trials on humans are performed, we can only speculate on the efficacy of shiitake. Another major demerit of the text is its liberal use of scientific sounding terminology- words such as 'immunostimulating', 'immunoboosting', and 'immunomodulating'-that are not properly defined, and are often used liberally without the slightest regard to the knowledge level of the reader. Finally, as a third demerit to an otherwise strong and informative book, a number of anecdotal accounts were used to support the author's claims of efficacy. However, these accounts only served to cast an element of doubt as the reports of cures using shiitake were not only unverifiable but also very difficult to rule out the influence of other agents, including chance, in the affectation of a cure.

The author could have written a much stronger which, among other things, could include a glossary of terms at the end of the book and a conclusion which summarizes the main points of the text and indicates further directions for research and investigation. Nonetheless, Mr. Jones should be rightfully acknowledged for his attempt to present to the general public an important though controversial body of research which potentially could be used for the benefit of all- both sick and healthy.

This is the second book in the Dray Prescot adventure series on the planet Kregen under the suns of Antares. In this the Star Lords project Dray onto the coast of Turismond at the entrance to the Eye of the World, where the Zairians and the ziggurat building Grodnims battle over the dominance of the Red and Green suns. He rescues a couple and then becomes involved in the eternal conflict of this inner sea. In adventure on adventure Ken Bulmer writing as Alan Burt Akers reveals this world of monsters, heroic deeds, and Alien races. This book is also available with the other first five novels of the series in the newly reprinted The Saga of Dray Prescot: The Delian Cycle (The Saga of Dray Prescot), The dangers are intense, the rewards immense and suspense unending. Hi Jikai!

This is the fourth book in the Dray Prescot adventure series based on Kregen under the suns of Antares. He battles his way out of the terrors of the lost lands of the interior of the continent of Turismond into the outer shore colonies of the peoples of Pandahem, an enemy of the Vallian Empire which is the homeland of his beloved Delia of the Blue Mountains. Even though he is concerned by not knowing the fate of his blade comrades Delia, Thelda and Seg, the Star Lords make it clear he must rescue the child Pando and his mother and escort them back to Pandahem. Thus we again begin adventure on adventure in the rollicking Ken Bulmer style of writing as Alan Burt Akers. The most notable being those on the swordships on the coast. He gains a new battle companion, Inch, who is a Lohvian Axeman burdened with many idiocynracies. This is a very good adventure book which is also newly available in The Saga of Dray Prescot: The Delian Cycle (The Saga of Dray Prescot) along with the other first five books of the Dray Prescot series. Live the Adventure and explore the world of Kregen where monsters abound and righteous causes harken the honorable of many worlds. Hi Jikai!

If you are looking for another Swimmy or Frederick, or even Alexander, this is NOT it. The usual cute torn-paper mouse illustrations are here, but this is a weird story, and not a very happy one, either. At first I had to wonder what kind of mushroom Leonni was on when he wrote this. The story is about a mouse who finds a mushroom that "talks," or so he thinks, at least at first. Anyway, the cat`s out of the bag, and everyone thinks Theodore must be great because he discovered a mushroom that speaks, moreover, he is the only one who can understand it. Thus begins his dilemma.

I suppose this tale is a good starting point for discussions about verifying ones facts, speaking before thinking, getting carried away, the dilemma of when to speak out the truth despite the terrible outcome and accepting the consequences of one`s actions. Maybe this is not so weird, after all: just not so light-hearted as the aforementioned stories. Theodore learns an important lesson, albeit a rueful one, and the book is not devoid of humour.

Short on mushroom IDs but the best for recipes. A must have for the serious shroomer.

This book starts where "the fall of Fyorlund" finishes off. Hawklan has faced Dan-Tor and has lain in a coma ever since he was saved by Isolman. Queen Sylvriss has escaped the destruction of Vakloss and is now carrying the king's child and has run to the Rebel lords for help.

For the first half of this book Hawklan effectively plays no part in the story as he is in his coma the entire time. Instead the story concentrates on the secondary characters and the quest of the Queen to awaken her father's people to the danger they stand in and the training of the Orthlund people for the upcoming battle with Sumeral.

This is a much slower paced book than the previous 2 instalments in this series. However, it is still a well written book and is obviously a set up for the final showdown between good and bad in the final book of the series.

Peopled with enjoyable characters and a well thought out world, this series of books so far has been much better than many other ongoing fantasy series I have read over the years. Recommended.