Mountainside Mutts Book Club (January) Review:
Entangled Life: How Funghi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake

Mountainside Mutts Book Club Review Rating: 🦴🦴🦴🦴

Interesting, but not fun.

“Interesting, but not fun.” That was the general consensus among the few of us who actually completed—or persevered with—our January book. At just over 220 pages, Entangled Life is packed with information about fungi that is genuinely fascinating and, if I’m being honest, often overwhelming. Regardless of how far a reader makes it through the book, they will almost certainly emerge with a far greater respect for mycorrhizal life. But consider this fair warning: information overload lies ahead.

The chapters are loosely divided into different facets of fungal existence. Wisely, the author begins with truffles—an inspired choice to hook the reader before moving into more niche territory. From there, the themes become increasingly specialised: fungi that hijack insects, plants that survive thanks to vast underground mycelial networks, the potential medicinal and ecological uses of mushroom cultivation, and even an entire chapter devoted to yeast. I’ll freely admit that by the later sections, some of the detail drifted well beyond the limits of my recollection.

Merlin Sheldrake is deeply passionate about his subject, and that enthusiasm shines through on every page. The book is meticulously researched, and the stunning colour plates bring the hidden world of fungi vividly to life. The decision to use endnotes rather than footnotes is a merciful one and makes the book far more readable—but it remains dense. Especially so for readers who are not already fungi aficionados. The writing itself is clear and engaging; it’s simply the sheer volume of information, page after page, that begins to weigh.

Those of us who stuck with the book agreed on a few things: we learned a great deal we didn’t know before; we developed a deeper respect for fungi; we found ourselves tempted down new mycelial rabbit holes (several of us promptly queued up a Paul Stamets talk); and we might well return to dip into specific chapters in the future. What it isn’t, though, is a book that invites an easy cover-to-cover read. I did finish it—helped along by a determined final push—but the result was a head spinning with terms like mycelial, mycorrhizal, and fungal hyphae in the early hours of one winter morning.

That said, it often turns out that the harder the book, the better the conversation. On a bitterly cold January evening, our discussion took a gentler detour: stories of foraging, cabin building, and whether the cost of truffles can ever truly be justified. This, for me, is the greatest joy of the Mountainside Mutts Book Club—learning about people whose paths might never otherwise have crossed mine. Much like the fungi in Entangled Life, our small group has quietly formed its own network, connecting different corners of the community. We are all richer for it.

Early  in the book, Sheldrake writes, “My hope is that this book loosens some of your certainties, as fungi have loosened mine.” In that respect, I think he succeeds brilliantly. While many readers may not find the book accessible enough to explore in full, even a single chapter can open the door to an extraordinary and largely unseen world.

Our club has now been meeting for over three years. We come from different walks of life, but we share a curiosity about the natural world and a willingness to learn from one another. Life is richer when we embrace diversity and curiosity—when we remain open to new ideas and new people. We are, after all, interconnected. And if there is one lesson worth taking from Entangled Life, it’s that seeing the world from a different perspective is not just valuable—it’s essential.

Next Up:

Do you live in Rutland, Vermont and love books about nature? Our book club meets approximately every 6 weeks. What unites our members is a love for the animals and the natural world around us. Come join us.

Mountainside Mutts Book Club  selection (March) is: Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival by Bernd Heinrich. We’ll meet at 6pm on 11 March  2026. We’d love to have you join the discussion. You can even join via Zoom. Find us on the Book Clubs App or email: als@mountainsidemutts.com for further information.