The essential fungal library for all lovers of fungi

A quick digest of fungal books. It’s a work-in-progress: I will be adding reviews as I read more books (fiction and non-fiction)

Are you interested in fungi but don’t know where to begin? Are you a fungal expert and want to have a quick overview? Are you somehow in-between (aren’t we all?!) and want to get more inspiration? Did you read the same book as I did and want to see if we agree on the review? This page is exactly for you.

🍄🍄🍄 Enough said? Jump to the reviews! 🍄🍄🍄

• Entangled Life (2020) by Merlin Sheldrake
• Fungal short stories (1896–1973) by various authors
• The Girl with All the Gifts (2014) by M. R. Carey
• The Magic of Mushrooms (2022) by Sandra Lawrence
• Mexican Gothic (2020) by Silvia Moreno Garcia
• The Mushroom at the End of the World (2015) by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing
• Omnivore (1968) by Piers Anthony
• What Moves The Dead (2022) by T. Kingfisher

The fungal library is huge and full of surprises. Fungi are a topic in both non-fiction books — about foraging, growing, cooking, history, ethnology, education, etc. — and works of fiction — often in science fiction, murder mystery, cosmic horror, and apocalyptic stories.

I am a former fungal researcher (Ph.D. in fungal ecology, research postdoc in fungal biotechnology) now reading a lot about fungi, and thinking a lot about how people see fungi, and how to make people appreciate fungi more. My main interest is fungi & society, especially fungi in art.

The choice of books and the reviews are highly subjective. This is a work-in-progress: I will be adding reviews as I read more books on fungi (fiction and non-fiction). Beware: There might be spoilers!

Do you (dis)agree with a review? What should I read next? Let me know in the comments! The list is not exhaustive: with the incredible amount of literature out there, and the amazing work of so many people, I will be busy for the next ten years at least.

I am very ignorant on the topic myself. This is my way to learn more and do a good deed for all that might not have the time to delve deep into the topic.

I hope you enjoy.

The essential fungal library for all lovers of fungi

(Last updated in February 2024 / New entries are added at the end / Go to the list to see the overview in aphabetic order.)

Entangled Life — How Fungi Make our Worlds, Change our Minds, and Shape our Futures (2020) by Merlin Sheldrake

• Genre and topic: Non-fiction about all things fungi
• Fungal forms: Truffles, hyphae, mycelia, lichens, mychorriza, yeasts
• One-sentence summary: A fascinating immersion into the world of fungi
• Publisher and lenght: Vintage (Penguin Random House), ca. 300 pages including extensive notes
• About the author: Fungal researcher turned fungal evangelist
• Who should read this book: Whoever wants to learn more about fungi, no matter what’s their level of knowledge
• Extended summary: The author mycomorphs — he becomes fungus. The book is a personal journey with fungi, explaining their relevance for our lives and for ecology; a big focus is on truffle hunting and biology, growth and properties of hyphae and mycelia, how fungal metabolites can alter behaviour (psilocybin and related molecules), the interactions of fungi with algae and plants (lichens, mycorrhiza), citizen science and do-it-yourself approaches, and yeasts and fermentation
• Negatives: The downsides of fungi are a bit neglected (e.g., fungal pathogens); the importance of other microbes, too (e.g., bacterial symbionts — rhyzobia — for plant life). To be fair, that is not what the tagline promised, either
• Related readings: Truly unique in its kind. There are many reviews of it out there; I particularly appreciated reading Joanna Steinhardt’s review for Los Angeles Review of Books
• Resources: We have hold a Book Club (MeetUp) in Jakarta in March 2023, inspired by the Manchester University Bad Bugs Book Club
• What reading this book motivated me to do: Adding examples of fungi in art I was not aware of on Wikipedia
• What makes this book different: It’s a personal journey of the author who immersed himself in fungi; the book is very well researched while being a light read at the same time
• Verdict: Absolutely delightful; a must read for everyone with even only a slight interest in fungi. The book fascinates without speculating nor preaching
• Incredibly subjective rating (1–10): 11 (!)

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The Magic of Mushrooms — Fungi in folklore, superstition and traditional medicine (2022) by Sandra Lawrence

• Genre and topic: Illustrated book about the cultural influence of fungi
• Fungal forms: Mostly mushrooms plus some lichens, yeasts, moulds, mychorriza
• One-sentence summary: A beautifully illustrated collection of curiousities about mushrooms/fungi
• Publisher and lenght: Welbeck Publishing/Royal Botanical Garden, Kew, ca. 200 pages (a rough half of which are full page illustrations)
• About the author: Journalist and author of Witch’s Garden — Plants in folklore, magic and traditional medicine (2020, also by Welbeck/Kew), Miss Willmott’s Ghosts (2022, Blink Publishing), and more.
• Who should read this book: Everyone who likes to be fascinated by fun facts; people who are beginning getting interested in mushrooms/fungi and their cultural impact
• Extended summary: Divided into ten stand-alone chapters and heavily illustrated, the book is a collection of fairy tales, superstitions, traditions, legends, beliefs, stories, movies, and artworks which would not exist without mushrooms/fungi. Featured quite prominently are illustrations by James Sowerby (1757–1822), Joseph-Henri Léveillé (1796–1870), Anna Maria Hussey (1805–1853), and Elsie Maud Wakefield (1886–1972). Often a topic is covered in one page, with a full page illustration to go along. I guess the book is what people would call a coffee table book
• Negatives: There is criticism related to structure, presentation, consistencies, descriptions, and factual accuracies, and the reference section could have been more detailed; experienced mycologists might be a bit disappointed about the depth of the subject matter
• Related readings: Fungipedia: A Brief Compendium of Mushroom Lore (2019) by Lawrence Millman
• Favourite quote: The common stinkhorn “assaults every one of the five senses”
• What makes this book different: The sheer number of fun and unexpected facts will make most people go “Wow!”
• Verdict: An easy, fun, inspiring, and highly recommended read; would make a great gift to many people, disregarding their level of interest or expertise about fungi
• Incredibly subjective rating (1–10): 8,1

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The Mushroom at the End of the World—On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins (2015) by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing

• Genre and topic: Non-fiction (anthropology) about how matsutake mushrooms affect people’s lives
• Fungal forms: Mostly mushrooms (matsutake)
• One-sentence summary: Entanglements below ground create entanglements above ground
• Publisher and lenght: Princeton University Press, ca. 300 pages including notes
• About the author: Anthropologist and member of the Matsutake Worlds Research Group
• Who should read this book: Everyone who thinks that fungi have a marginal affect on our lives will have their mind changed
• Extended summary: Centered (mostly) in the US Pacific Northwest, the book follow people of different ethnicity, immigration background, and cultural identification all united by one goal — to forage and trade matsutake mushrooms (Tricholoma matsutake?), one of the most expensive mushrooms, in particular in Japan. The book focuses on the people and on how their lives are affected by the fungus, rather than on the opposite (with the author stumbling on matsutake after looking for a “culturally colorful global commodity”). Nonetheless, a powerful example on how fungi can affect our lives
• Negatives: A bit messy; the fungal science is not always very clear or easy to follow; at traits, it seems the author pushes too much to make some points clear by keeping getting back to certain terms (‘salvage economy’, the concept of ‘translating’ knowledge, etc.)
• Related readings: What a Mushroom Lives For: Matsutake and the Worlds They Make (2022) by Michael J. Hathaway (and other books by the Matsutake Worlds Research Group) — I still need to read all those
• What reading this book motivated me to do: Reading Ursula K. Le Guin; I will be starting with The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction (in: Dancing at the Edge of the World, 1986)
• What makes this book different: Connecting mushrooms foraging, cultural identity, global trade, forest ecology, and capitalist economy; and all this just around one fungus!
• Verdict: Not a light read; not well suited for those who wants to learn more about fungi/mushrooms
• Incredibly subjective rating (1–10): 6,3

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Fungal short stories (1896–1973) by various authors

You wouldn’t believe how many short stories involve fungi in one way or another. A lot!

In October 2023, in honour of #UKFungusDay, we read five fungal short stories spanning centuries and genres and chatted about them in a live FUNGI BOOK CLUB on Twitter/X Space. The recording is available on this link.

Listen to the recording here.

• The Purple Pileus (1896) by H.G Wells (family drama/comedy): Mr. Coombes is really unhappy with his life and with his wife. Then he finds a strange mushroom in the woods. Will it help him?
• The Voice in the Night (1907) by William Hope Hodgson (mystery/horror): A rowboat carrying a strange passenger approaches a sailing ship on a dark, starless night. Perhaps there is a reason why the passenger do not want to leave the boat? The story inspired the Japanese Sci-Fi/horror movie Matango (1963)
• The Millennium of Systematic Mycology — A Phantasy (1924) by Louis CC Krieger (comedy): To name living beings with their scientific name is not easy. So when a systematic mycologist falls into a deep coma, he wakes up in what might be his own personal paradise.
• Come into My Cellar (1962) by Ray Bradbury (science fiction): Hugh Fortnum is having a weird day. The neighbour behaves oddly and his friend is being paranoid. But what he should be really worrying about is his own son, growing some weird stuff in the cellar…
• Grey Matter (1973) by Stephen King (horror/body horror): Richie is not a very social type. But his habit to drink the cheapest beer is not helping, either. His son finally decides to do something about it.

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Omnivore (1968) by Piers Anthony

• Genre and topic: Sci-Fi set in a fungal world
• Fungal forms: Mushrooms, spores
• One-sentence summary: Three scientists try to find the secret of a weird fungal planet
• Publisher and lenght: Corgi, ca. 170 pages
• About the author: Science fiction and fantasy author
• Who should read this book: Not sure, really…
• Extended summary: A semi-human investigator tries to find out what three scientists discovered on the fungal planet Nacre. The planet is covered with mushrooms and three main (animal) life forms dominate: carnivores, vegetarian, and omnivores. It turns out that the most dangerous of them all — the omnivores a.k.a the mantas — actually evolved from fungi.
• Negatives: Too much world building. The big reveal that mantas evolved from fungi seemed forced.
• Favourite quote: “Third kingdom to the rescue!”
• What reading this book motivated me to do: Read less books of Piers Anthony
• What makes this book different: The excursus about fungi, their metabolism and lifestyles — and the fact that fungi are described as “the third kingdom” in a book from 1968 — towards the middle of the book is quite impressive.
• Verdict: I struggled a lot to finish this book.
• Incredibly subjective rating (1–10): 5,6

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Mexican Gothic (2020) by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

• Genre and topic: Gothic (duh), horror
• Fungal forms: Mushrooms, moulds, mycelium
• One-sentence summary: The heroin goes to a gloomy house in a remote Mexican town to save her cousin from an evil marriage
• Publisher and lenght: Jo Fletcher Books, ca. 300 pages
• About the author: Mexican and Canadian novelist, short story writer, editor, and publisher
• Who should read this book: Fans of the genre
• Extended summary: A recently married, dear cousin of the heroin writes distressed letters to the rich family. The uncle sends her daughter (the heroin) to investigate discreetly. The setting is a house (and a family) in a state of neglect, somewhere in a remote town in Mexico, near an abandoned mine. It turns out an evil fungus has infiltrated the house, extending the life of the family and harming everyone else by slowly possessing them.
• Negatives: How many things can a fungus do? Mind control, symbiosis, rotting, diseases, life extension… I understand it’s fiction, but still.
• Favourite quote: “Like a monstrous Virgin in a cathedral of mycelium.” (not really sure what that means, tho)
• What reading this book motivated me to do: Learn more about Mexican history
• What makes this book different: I haven’t read enough gothic fiction to tell. “It’s Lovecraft meets the Brontës in Latin America,” said The Guardian.
• Verdict: Fun and easy read. I thought both the heroin and the antagonists a bit passive all way through, though. Even more so as almost the whole book takes place in the house.
• Incredibly subjective rating (1–10): 6,6

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The Girl with All the Gifts (2014) by M. R. Carey

• Genre and topic: Sci-Fi, horror
• Fungal forms: Giant mushrooms, aerial mycelium (but actually: the fungus, transmitted by biting, is mostly hidden within the zombie host as agent of infection)
• One-sentence summary: A fungus epidemic of mutated Cordyceps turns people into zombies while a few kids in an in-between status are studied by the survivors who hope to find a cure
• Publisher and lenght: Orbit, ca. 450 pages
• About the author: British writer of fiction, comic books, and movie scripts
• Who should read this book: People who enjoyed The Last of Us, people who like stories about zombie apocalypses
• Extended summary: Melanie is one of the students in a high-security school with kids infected with a Cordyceps fungus who haven’t turned into full zombie mode. Militaries run the show, some evil scientist use the kids as lab rats to find a cure, and a few humane teachers get attached to the kids. Then shit hits the fan and the story turns into a road novel. A surviving group journeys deep into zombie-fungusland.
• Negatives: Nothing, really, at least if you suspend your disbelief, like in The Last of Us, that a zombie-fungus apocalypse might be possible — it won’t
• Favourite quote: “A phallic sporangium skull-fucking the dying insect from the inside.” [ouch]
• What reading this book motivated me to do: Think about how fungi epidemics changed history, and how they might affect us in the future
• What makes this book different: The perspective from the “villain” (the fungus-infected kid Melanie) is quite unique. It would be hideous if the reader wouldn’t root for the kid, who is actually resisting the urge to be a monster.
• Verdict: It’s a great story and the characters are very believable; I loved that the author imagined an in-between infection status, with kids not totally zombified but absolutely feral. I’d have loved a reference to Lord of the Flies (or did I miss it?)
• Incredibly subjective rating (1–10): 8,5

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What Moves The Dead (2022) by T. Kingfisher

• Genre and topic: Gothic horror, comedy
• Fungal forms: Hyphae, ooooh those creepy hyphae (and mushrooms, lichens)
• One-sentence summary: A war veteran is asked by his childhood friends, the Usher brothers, to visit them and help find out what’s wrong with their health
• Publisher and lenght: Titan Books, ca. 175 pages
• About the author: Adult fiction pseudonym of Ursula Vernon, author and illustrator based in North Carolina
• Who should read this book: People who like gothic horror and want to have a good laugh
• Extended summary: War veteran Alex Easton visits childhood friends Madeline and Roderick Usher as they are both doing poorly. He investigates with the help of an American physician and a no-bullshit mycologist. Rabbits are going bat-shit crazy and seem to move after they are dead; Madeline starts to develop white filaments on her skin; and all seems to be tied to a murky lake nearby.
• Negatives: It’s pretty obvious from the beginning that there is a fungus infection going on, so the big reveal ain’t that big.
• Favourite quote: “The mushroom’s gills were the deep-red color of severed muscle.”
• What reading this book motivated me to do: Read The Fall of the House of Usher by E. A. Poe (not done yet) and more in general, check out what Poe wrote about fungi
• What makes this book different: It’s funny! And there is the (fictional) aunt of Beatrix Potter.
• Verdict: There are some truly funny passages, including a digression on pronouns for war veterans and a disgusting liquor made of lichens. Mycologist Eugenia Potter is a gem. I am not convinced that making a fungus do so many different things makes the story more scary or just more absurd. Is this the beginning of the “evil symbiosis” genre (with The Girl With All the Gifts and Mexican Gothic)?
• Incredibly subjective rating (1–10): 8,2

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