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?
