"Rock" in the New Year!

Interested in rocks, minerals, and gemstones? These books contain everything you need to know, as well as ideas for crafts, using rocks in gardens and landscaping, history, fossils, and more!

Updated November 24, 2025
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Crystal RX : daily rituals for cultivating calm, achieving your goals, and rocking your inner gem boss
McCann, Colleen
Paper Book
Tap into your "Soul GPS" with this essential guide to the healing power of crystals, from their ancient origins to their modern-day applications. Since the dawn of time, people have been drawn to gemstones, using them in burial rites, divination practices, healing rituals,...

133.2548 McCann 2018

Stones into schools : promoting peace with books, not bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Mortenson, Greg.
Paper Book
From the author of the #1 bestseller Three Cups of Tea, the continuing story of this determined humanitarian's efforts to promote peace through education In this dramatic first-person narrative, Greg Mortenson picks up where Three Cups of Tea left off in 2003, recounting his relentless, ongoing...

371.822 M842s 2009

The writing of the gods : the race to decode the Rosetta Stone
Dolnick, Edward
Paper Book
The fast-paced and "engrossing account" (The New York Times Book Review) of "one of the greatest breakthroughs in archaeological history" (The Christian Science Monitor): two rival geniuses in a race to decode the writing on one of the world's most famous documents--the...

493.1 Dolnick 2021

4th rock from the Sun : the story of Mars
Jenner, Nicky
Paper Book
Everything you ever wanted to know about the red planet revealed in an up-close and personal tour of MarsMars is ingrained in our culture, from David Bowie's extra-terrestrial spiders to H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. The red planet has inspired hundreds of scientists, authors and...

523.43 Jenner 2017

A most improbable journey : a big history of our planet and ourselves
Alvarez, Walter
Paper Book
Big History, the field that integrates traditional historical scholarship with scientific insights to study the full sweep of our universe, has so far been the domain of historians. Famed geologist Walter Alvarez-best known for the "Impact Theory" explaining dinosaur extinction-has instead...

550 AL86 2016

Footprints : in search of future fossils
Farrier, David
Paper Book
A profound meditation on climate change and the Anthropocene and an urgent search for the fossils--industrial, chemical, geological--that humans are leaving behind A Times Book of the Year * A Daily Telegraph Book of the Year What will the world look like ten...

551 Farrier 2020

A brief history of Earth : four billion years in eight chapters
Knoll, Andrew H.
Paper Book
Harvard's acclaimed geologist "charts Earth's history in accessible style" (AP) "A sublime chronicle of our planet." -Booklist, STARRED review How well do you know the ground beneath your feet  Odds are, where you're standing was once cooking...

551 Knoll 2021

Reading the rocks : how Victorian geologists discovered the secret of life
Maddox, Brenda
Paper Book
A rich and exuberant group biography of the early geologists, the people who were first to excavate from the layers of the world its buried history. The birth of geology was fostered initially by gentlemen whose wealth supported their interests, but in the nineteenth century,...

551.092 Maddox 2017

Rocks and minerals
Bonewitz, Ra.
Paper Book
Did you know culinary salt is the mineral halite? Or that the pigment vermillion is powdered cinnabar, a mineral whose name comes from the Persian for "dragon's blood"? Discover the extraordinary mineral treasures that form our planet and that today we use in everything, from...

552 B641 2012

Rocks & minerals
Pellant, Chris
Paper Book
The clearest and sharpest recognition guide to more than 500 rocks and minerals. Unearth a treasure trove of knowledge about the rocks and minerals beneath our feet - from their formation to collecting them. Make identification easy and accurate with this compact...

552 P363r 2014

Gem : the definitive visual guide
Raden, Aja
Paper Book
Prepare to be dazzled by this shining and sumptuous visual guide to the world's greatest treasures.  Feast your eyes on glittering gemstones, kaleidoscopic minerals, and famous trinkets in this comprehensive exploration of Earth's finest jewels. Following a...

553.8 Gem 2016

Dinosaurs rediscovered : the scientific revolution in paleontology
Benton, M. J.
Paper Book
Over the past twenty years, the study of dinosaurs has transformed into a true scientific discipline. New technologies have revealed secrets locked in prehistoric bones that no one could have previously predicted. We can now work out the color of dinosaurs, the force of their bite, their top...

567.9 Benton 2019

Fossil men : the quest for the oldest skeleton and the origins of humankind
Pattison, Kermit
Paper Book
"Riveting. ... Pattison's uncanny ability [is] to write evocatively about science. ... In this, he is every bit as good as the best scientist writers." --New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)  "Brilliant. ... A work of staggering depth." --Minneapolis Star Tribune

569.9 Pattison 2020

Rock gardening : reimagining a classic style
Tychonievich, Joseph
Paper Book
AHS Book Award winner   Rock gardening --the art of growing alpines and other miniature plants in the company of rocks in order to recreate the look of a rugged mountaintop--has been surging in popularity. Time and space constraints, chronic drought in...

635.9672 Tychonievich 2016

The Cartiers : the untold story of the family behind the jewelry empire
Brickell, Francesca Cartier
Paper Book
"A dynamic group biography studded with design history and high-society dash . . . [This] elegantly wrought narrative bears the Cartier hallmark."--The Economist The captivating story of the family behind the Cartier empire and the three brothers who turned their...

739.2709 Cartier Brickell 2019

Flowstones : beautiful creations from polymer clay
Goldin, Amy
Paper Book
Conceived of by artist Amy Goldin, "flowstones" are crafted by molding a sheet of polymer clay around a smooth river rock. They impart a sense of calm to the holder, grounded by the weight and soothed by the smooth surface. Each stone's unique shape and pattern gives it a beauty all its own. ...

745.5723 Goldin 2018

Stonehenge : a new understanding : solving the mysteries of the greatest stone age monument
Parker Pearson, Michael
Paper Book
Stonehenge stands as an enduring link to our prehistoric ancestors, yet the secrets it has guarded for thousands of years have long eluded us. Until now, the millions of enthusiasts who flock to the iconic site have made do with mere speculation--about Stonehenge's celestial significance,...

936.2 P229 2013

Blood diamonds : tracing the deadly path of the world's most precious stones
Campbell, Greg.
Paper Book
Journalist Greg Campbell leads the reader down the international diamond trail of brutality, horror, and profit - providing an on-the-ground and in-the-mines story of global consequenceFirst discovered in 1930, the diamonds of Sierra Leone have funded one of the most savage rebel campaigns in...

966.404 C152

Jungle of stone : the true story of two men, their extraordinary journey, and the discovery of the lost civilization of the Maya
Carlsen, William
Paper Book
The acclaimed chronicle of the discovery of the legendary lost civilization of the Maya. Includes the history of the major Maya sites, including Palenque, Uxmal, Chichen Itza, Tuloom, Copan, and more. NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Illustrated with a map and more than 100 images. ...

972.81 C197 2016

Ghost town living : mining for purpose and chasing dreams at the edge of Death Valley
Underwood, Brent
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . A long-abandoned silver mine for sale sounded like an adventure too great to passup, but it turned into much more-a calling, a community of millions, and hard-earned lessons about chasing impractical dreams. "Inspiring and meditative-the...

979.487 Underwood 2024


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