opals | Bookshelf Fantasies

I starting participating in Birthstone Books Covers in August 2025, and I’ve stuck with it ever since. I’m now in my 2nd time through, so the challenge is to find new books to spotlight! Leslie at Books Are the New Black hosts this fun monthly meme — why not give it a try?

The rules are simple:

Mention the creator (Leslie @ Books Are The New Black ) and link back so she can see your post! Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone.
HAVE FUN!

October has two birthstones — and since last year I focused on opals (which I love!), I’m going to highlight tourmalines this time around.

According to GIA.edu:

Tourmaline is the newer October birthstone. The name comes from the Sinhalese word toramalli, which means “stone with mixed colors,” because it often has multiple colors in one crystal. Very few gems match tourmaline’s dazzling array of colors. Perhaps this is why ancient mystics believed this October birthstone could inspire artistic expression – it has a color palette for every mood. Among the most popular are the pink and red rubellites, the emerald green “chrome” tourmalines, and the neon green and blue-to-violet “paraíba” tourmalines.

Because of its vast range of colors, tourmaline was often mistaken for other gemstones One of the “rubies” in the Russian crown jewels, the “Caesar’s Ruby” pendant, is actually red (rubellite) tourmaline. A Spanish conquistador found green tourmaline crystals in Brazil in the 1500s and confused the stones with emerald. These and other cases of mistaken identity continued for centuries until scientists recognized tourmaline as a distinct mineral species in the 1800s.

Tourmaline comes in so many gorgeous shades!

I especially love the “watermelon” variety:

Inspired by these gorgeous gems, I decided to look for book covers with vibrant pinks and greens on the covers… which maybe don’t really look like tourmalines… but feel vaguely related anyway!

Do you have any favorite tourmaline book covers to share?

I participated in Birthstone Books Covers for the first time in August, and now I’m hooked! Leslie at Books Are the New Black hosts this fun monthly meme — and since I love anything related to spotlighting amazing book covers, I just had to jump in.

The rules are simple:

Mention the creator (Leslie @ Books Are The New Black ) and link back so she can see your post! Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone.
HAVE FUN!

October’s birthstone is opal. (Well, also tourmaline, but I’m sticking with opals!) According to the American Gem Society:

The name “opal” originates from the Greek word opallios, which meant “to see a change in color.” The Roman scholar Pliny used the word opalus when he wrote about this gemstone’s kaleidoscopic “play” of rainbow colors that could simulate shades of any stone.

Opal’s characteristic “play-of-color” was explained in the 1960s, when scientists discovered that it’s composed of microscopic silica spheres that diffract light to display various colors of the rainbow. These flashy gemstones are called “precious opals.” Those without play-of-color are “common opals.”

Dozens of opal varieties exist, but only a few, such as fire opal and boulder opal, are universally recognized. Opals are often referred to by their background “body color” of black or white.

Opal’s classic country of origin is Australia. Seasonal rains soaked the parched Outback, carrying silica deposits underground into cracks between layers of rock. When the water evaporated, these deposits formed opal. Sometimes, silica seeped into spaces around wood, seashells and skeletons, resulting in opalized fossils.

Since opal was discovered in Australia around 1850, the country has produced 95 percent of the world’s supply. Opal is also mined in Mexico, Brazil, Honduras, Ethiopia, the Czech Republic, and parts of the U.S., including Nevada and Idaho.

Learn more about the history of opals.

I’ve always loved opals, probably ever since my grandparents gave me a pair of opal earrings when I was a wee tween… which I still have, even though I haven’t worn them in decades.

I’ve only ever seen the white or lighter blue varieties, but apparently there are endless color combinations in these beautiful gemstones.

*Opal varieties (source: http://www.geology.com)*

Which makes it hard to figure out how to match opals with book covers! Since the opals I’m most familiar with have a mostly white look with streaks and splashes of pink and blue, I’ll go with a mix of white, pink, and blue covers… which don’t necessarily look like opals, but I think that’s the closest I can come!

Here are the opal-inspired book covers I’ve found on my shelves: