Mushroom Books

Subtitled: How to Distinguish Them. This full-color, large format hardback features 102 mushrooms and toadstools. It is very useful guide for the beginner, as similar types are distinguished from each other with photos and description.

This is obviously the very first wild mushroom field guide that I recommend to everyone from the Florida or south Georgia and south Alabama area[s] that is interested in the hobby. I have a great deal of respect for James and his life long research involving wild Florida mushrooms. Truly a scholar on the subject.

This little volume perfectly covers the Mushroom, not from an hunting and gathering standpoint but from that of the gourmand who wishes to fully appreciate the power of the mushroom in all its variations to stimulate all the senses.

The first delightful aspect of this purchase was definitely the Seller, Karen P. Davis, of Bumbling Bunny Books, who sent such a volume in, a third edition (1986) in BEAUTIFUL condition: has lovely illustrations in tight hardcover with dustjacket, like new. It was so carefully wrapped that no damage occured to it as so often does when many 2nd Sellers who send their books between sandwiched pieces of thin corrugated cardboard. I'd recommend Bumbling Bunny Books as your first stop/place of inquiry if you are looking for excellent merchandise in used books.

Then I found within its covers such a personable touch in the voice of Margaret Leibenstein. She begins with a short history of edible mushrooms and some general rules for buying, washing, preparing and preserving mushrooms.

The remainder of the book is arranged by season and contains information and tempting recipes for that season's crop of mushrooms. This reminds us in this day and age of getting anything we want on U.S. shelves-- shipping from anywhere in the world or by growing greenhouse without concern for or awareness of season's--that there was a time when achieving the best appreciation of all our food was within a conscious state of living attuned to the world, the climate, the season's. Each chapter concentrates on anecdotes and information that explain the distinct quality of each kind of mushroom.

And last but not least, these recipes are dynamite. So delicious!!! From soups to salads, duck dishes to chicken casseroles, the flavors produced are so intense and exact. It's a pleasure to cultivate how to bring to one's family table the tastes sensations of these little treasures.

I managed to find some hedgehog mushrooms in season, with their "irregularly shaped wavy yellow-orange cap...the total effect is of a slightly drunk, perpetually off-balance gnome wearing a floppy hat," their woodsy taste is heavenly in the Mushroom-Herb Bread. And the Mexican Huevos Rancheros con Hongos (Spicy Scrambled Eggs with Mushrooms) with the same hedgehogs, is what you want to wake up to every morning. It's a pleasure to buy a quantity of the same mushroom, take it home and begin to discover all the ways in which you can use the one ingredient, from tasty breakfast fare to elegant supper dining for two.

I love this book and highly recommend it! If you can find it, buy it at once. And check with Bumbling Bunny Books first--no, I don't know or work for them, but I do buy an awful lot of USED BOOKS and it's good to know of reputable sellers.

This guide is on a par with the older Roger Phillips "Mushrooms" and very similar in size and format. Unlike Phillips, all photographs have been shot in situ. With so few guides to fungi available, and each covering a particular selection of species, it's best to assemble a good library - and this should be one of the major works. Even though the focus is Europe, many of the fungi have much wider ranges and this book is invaluable elsewhere in the world too (I use it regularly in temperate and tropical America).

First there was the engaging saga of "Bacillus Subtilis and Other Gram-Positive Bacteria" that hit the bookshelves and captivated readers worldwide. Now, this TWO VOLUME epic shows us where it all began. It reveals the origins and transformation of an innocent coliform, Ecoli, who just wanted to gain sustenance from its gutter lifestyle and be left alone. I personally found it sorrowful how it became ripped from its sewer home and was probed, analyzed, and mutated into the monster of research literature that it became. It becomes obvious that it was BECAUSE of the dominance of Ecoli, and its more virulent cousin, Styphi, that Bacillus became the rebel hero of bacteria that would wrench the eyes and hearts of scientists away from the Gram-Negative Empire and would bring balance to bacteriology. Particularly intriguing were the chapters related to segregation. While this grand novel is NOT for children, it remains an educational tour-de-force that should be read again - many times over.

Magical. Lyrical. I still carry around my battered paperback copy and guard it religiously. A world of children, a poem strewn throughout. "Little book little pages, little worker little wages." Each page having other little stories going on to discover. Not a linear book, so with repeated readings you discover more intricacies.

I'm surprised to see no other reviews or ratings for either of the Nightfall books. It's a rare fantasy story that isn't based on a journey of some kind. I found the story to be very different from all others I've read. The author has a way of painting a vivid scene without lengthy description and the characters are human. Powers are not exaggerated and even the "elder race" isn't so omniscient in comparison to the "lowly" humans. Although the hero is aided along the way, it is his own strength that brings him through it all. Yet, the hero is not the entire story as others have their own intentions and goals; some successful, some not so successful. For all the realism, it is still very much a fantasy story, complete with magic and monsters.

I got this book as a gift - and it is my absolute favorite cookbook - relatively easy recipies -and everything I have tried - from Lazagna to meat loaf - has been delicious!

This book includes separate chapters on the Dutch, Belgian, French, RAF, and German air forces involved in this campaign, along with numerous photos and color plates. It also has separate chapters on the Polish and Czech units that flew French planes. I believe it is the most comprehensive review of this air campaign available in English.

These recipes are a cut above the usual, basic recipes.

The editors have solicited selected recipes from Master Chefs, and present them in such a way that you will feel as if the chefs are in your kitchen providing you with a private gourmet cooking class.