I've been 'shrooming for over 10 years now. I started with the "Foolproof Five" (the "foolproof four"--puffball, sulfur shelf, chantrelle and morell--plus shaggy mane, which is also pretty foolproof), and slowly spread out to others. Even more than with plants, never ever eat a mushroom you can't identify. Even the universal edibility test can fail you if you get into one of the poisonous mushrooms. The Amanitas, for instance, kill you by killing your liver; by the time you feel that anything is wrong there's nothing that can be done to save your liver. As the saying goes, "there are old mushroom hunters and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters."
I highly recommend getting a guide book that includes a key-based identification system as this will be the best way to keep you from mis-identifying something. David Aurora's
books are very good for those in the western states (particularly Washington, Oregon & California), and if you live elsewhere I'm sure that your
local mushroom club can suggest the best book for your area.