In Search of Mycotopia: Citizen Science, Fungi Fanatics, and the Untapped Potential of Mushrooms Paperback – November 11, 2022

I've recently fallen into the fascinating world of mycology. It all started with Merlin Sheldrake's book, Entangled Life (a must read). This led to the Fantastic Fungi Global Summit (another must) and Radical Mycology by Peter McCoy (essential). Then on recommendation from several mycophiles I purchased Mycotopia: Citizen Science...by Doug Bierend. This book takes readers on a fun and informative trip introducing them to many of the players who are bringing the tangled web of the King/Queendom of Mycetea to our attention and imagination. Doug has a great writing style - easy to read providing a unique map to other ways of fungi investigation. This book will stay in my library (although tempting to spread the necessary knowledge of all things mycology through sharing).

I bought this for my boyfriend because of his obsession with mycology. He's reading it beside me as we speak!! The graphics on the cover are beautiful, and Bierend has made ingesting knowledge on such a niche topic easy and fun to read.

*This book was received as an Advanced Reader's copy from NetGalley.Mushrooms are fascinating. They're delicious, dangerous, life-altering, and so many more things depending on what variety you come into contact with. As a child I remember happily searching through the wood for morels; a treat in the spring. Now, aside from what I can get in the grocery store I have to be content with what I find at local farmers market (I'm just not brave enough to eat the honey mushrooms out of my yard).But enough about my fungi forays; let's talk about the book. Beirend pulls together a lot about fungi and the community that surrounds it in this book. In fact, as much as you'll learn about the various mushrooms and fungi in the book, you'll learn more about the people that make up the community. From sections on DNA sequences to sections on Intersectionality, it really does cover the makeup of mushrooms.Some of the book is science heavy (as in genes, etc.) and other is social-science heavy (the advent of POC and LGBTQ groups coming together to celebrate a love of fungi). He explores the different festivals out there, and the innovations in science that are happening because of mushrooms (you might have heard of the oil eating one). While everyone is familiar with mushrooms, comparatively there is not a lot of study done around them when you look at the study that's been done on much of the other natural world.What I was really taken with in this book, was the inclusion of all the different groups and 'radical' people taking an interest in mycology. Citizen Scientists are abundant, especially in this field, and that makes it really approachable. While I might not have understood all of the specific scientific terms in the DNA sequencing chapter, the book was still approachable because of all the other areas it touched on. But especially of the people and groups that drive this change and science forward.Really interesting book; I used the note feature in my kindle for the first time while reading just because there was so much I wanted to remember later and explore.Review by M. Reynard 2020

Such a cool look into both mushrooms and the cultures of people that are into them. Five stars all the way.

This book is so wonderful! So much good reading.Also it has beautiful drawings.

A personal tour of the mycelium underground and a great jumping off point for anyone curious about fungi

A great read, full of info and history!

Jamed full of information put in a readable manner.

This was a gift, but I also read it. A really fascinating look at mushrooms.

I didn’t finish this book .a lot was spoken about stuff that wasn’t even to to with fungi but made out to be.