06 - A book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title

[L Y N N]

Oh, my! Another one I've been meaning to read in FOREVER--The Moonstone! Yes!

And what will you be choosing to read for this one?

Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

[Charlotte]

Cutting for Stone or Spinning Silver

[Jessica]

Am I missing something obvious - why is DUFF on the list?

[Drakeryn]

Hmm. I seem to have a lot of metals (brass, silver, a bunch of iron) but no minerals. Unless metals are minerals, but five minutes in google suggests they're not?

[Lauren]

Oh, I've been meaning to read these three for a while:
Gods of Jade and Shadow
It Is Wood, It Is Stone
House of Stone

[Shawna]

[Charlsa]

Lynn wrote: "Oh, my! Another one I've been meaning to read in FOREVER--The Moonstone! Yes!

And what will you be choosing to read for this one?

Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/15..."

The Moonstone is a fun read!

[Charlsa]

Charlotte wrote: "Cutting for Stone or Spinning Silver"

Cutting for Stone is a great choice!

[Alicia]

You could argue that the moon is a rock

[Ellie]

I was struggling to come up with ideas until I remembered salt is a mineral. I also have Wranglestone if I don't feel like a salty book.

[Tania]

A few from my shelves:
Ruby
Orchids and Stone
Flesh Worn Stone
Stonebridge Secret
The Heavenstone Secrets
Romancing the Stone

[Chrissi]

I have The Mountains Sing on my TBR ... mountains are pretty much stone/rock and all sorts of minerals, if I interpret that loosely.

[Alexa]

I might go with Salt to the Sea for this prompt!

[Chrissy]

Drakeryn wrote: "Hmm. I seem to have a lot of metals (brass, silver, a bunch of iron) but no minerals. Unless metals are minerals, but five minutes in google suggests they're not?"

Some metals are minerals, if you use the definition that a mineral is an inorganic natural material. So, silver could work, or gold, maybe iron in meteorite form?

[Drakeryn]

Georgia wrote: "Silver is the one I'm going for - according to the interwebs, it is rarely found as a native mineral but such a thing does exist! Which is good enough for me. :) "

Chrissy wrote: "Some metals are minerals, if you use the definition that a mineral is an inorganic natural material. So, silver could work, or gold, maybe iron in meteorite form?"

Thanks to both of you! I was just generally googling "are metals minerals" but now that I google those three specifically (gold, silver, iron) I see they all count. Iron seems mostly classified as a mineral for health and nutrition purposes.

[Kelly Sj]

Snow and ice are minerals, if that helps anyone!

[Sarah]

Drakeryn wrote: "Hmm. I seem to have a lot of metals (brass, silver, a bunch of iron) but no minerals. Unless metals are minerals, but five minutes in google suggests they're not?"

Iron is a mineral! I think some of those metals are found as minerals also.

[Brandon]

From my TBR, I have Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier.

It is being used for my shortest number of pages, but others may want to use Onward: The Search for the Phoenix Gem: An In-Questigation by Steve Behling.

[Heather]

Can I get an opinion from someone who has a better understanding of science than me? Would glass work for this prompt?

[Nadine in NY]

I'm a bit confused by metal vs mineral myself. It looks like if the metal is a pure element, like iron, then it counts as a mineral, but if the metal is a mixture, like steel, then it is not a mineral.

[Lauren]

[Drakeryn]

After more google research, here's what I've found:

"A mineral is a naturally occurring inorganic solid, with a definite chemical composition, and an ordered atomic arrangement." (source)

So, for instance, you can find gold in nature (you can pan for gold, or you can find gold deposits in a mine). That means gold is a mineral. Likewise, you can find silver ore and iron ore in the wild.

But steel is only produced by people, so it's not a mineral.

Brass is apparently a weird edge case. "Brass is not an officially recognized mineral as yet, although it has been proposed. It is not the man-made brass that is under consideration, but specimens of naturally occurring crystals of a copper nickel alloy with a formula similar to what we know as brass."

Glass can appear in nature (in volcanoes and impact craters), but apparently it does not have an ordered atomic arrangement, so it does not count as a mineral. "It is best described as an "amorphous solid" meaning that its atoms are rigidly fixed, but not in an orderly pattern." (source)

I'm learning so much about minerals today.

[Laura]

Drakeryn wrote: "Hmm. I seem to have a lot of metals (brass, silver, a bunch of iron) but no minerals. Unless metals are minerals, but five minutes in google suggests they're not?"
Silver is a mineral. Brass is not. One helpful thing for metals, if it's on the periodic table it would count as a mineral.

[SadieReadsAgain]

Is nickel a mineral?

[SadieReadsAgain]

It's on the periodic table and is found naturally, so I think that means it is.

[Jennifer]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
The Kingdom of copper
The Plague Stones

[L Y N N]

SadieReadsAgain wrote: "Is nickel a mineral?"

"Nickel is obtained from two main types of deposits from the mineral garnierite (Ni-silicate) in nickel-rich laterite formed by weathering of ultramafic rocks in tropical climates."

It is on the periodic table and I would count it. It is your challenge! :)

[Heather]

Drakeryn wrote: "Glass can appear in nature (in volcanoes and impact craters), but apparently it does not have an ordered atomic arrangement, so it does not count as a mineral. "It is best described as an "amorphous solid" meaning that its atoms are rigidly fixed, but not in an orderly pattern." (source)"

So glass isn't an animal, vegetable, or mineral. Who knew there was a fourth choice this whole time! :D

[Denise]

Heather wrote: "Can I get an opinion from someone who has a better understanding of science than me? Would glass work for this prompt?"

Glass is melted sand, and sand is composed of mineral grains.

[Ellie]

There are a lot of things that don't fall into animal, vegetable, mineral. Like where do you put a fruit or mushroom? I don't play that game, can you tell I would annoy everyone with my correctness?

Sand from the sea has a lot of organic material in it (shells, coral, etc), so it might be too much of a stretch for some people.

[Marie-Eve]

Chrissi wrote: "I have The Mountains Sing on my TBR ... mountains are pretty much stone/rock and all sorts of minerals, if I interpret that loosely."

Definitely a good choice. i ADORE this book.

[Nadine in NY]

Drakeryn wrote: "Glass can appear in nature (in volcanoes and impact craters), but apparently it does not have an ordered atomic arrangement..."


I. HAD. NO. IDEA!!! Because glass is transparent and visually flawless, I always assumed the atoms were in an orderly crystalline structure, because why else would it be clear?

[Nadine in NY]

Lynn wrote: "Oh, my! Another one I've been meaning to read in FOREVER--The Moonstone! Yes!

And what will you be choosing to read for this one?

..."


The Moonstone is the VERY FIRST audiobook I ever listened to!!! Back when I was a little kid, my mom borrowed the cassettes from our library. I don't remember the story at all, but I remember being amazed that there was a book! on tape! I'd never heard of such a thing before!!


I guess my mom didn't love listening to a book, because we never did that again.

[Nadine in NY]

Why are people adding books with "snow" in the title to the Listopia?

[Kelly Sj]

Snow as mineral
Because snow is composed of frozen water, or ice, it can also be classified as a mineral. A mineral is a naturally occurring homogeneous solid, inorganically formed, with a definite chemical composition and an ordered atomic arrangement. Ice is naturally occurring, given a temperature below 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit). It is homogenous (of one material), formed inorganically, and has an ordered atomic structure. Ice has a definite chemical composition (H20), with hydrogen and oxygen atoms bonding in a specific manner.
https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/snow#:~:....

[Chrissy]

Laura wrote: "Drakeryn wrote: "Hmm. I seem to have a lot of metals (brass, silver, a bunch of iron) but no minerals. Unless metals are minerals, but five minutes in google suggests they're not?"
Silver is a mine..."

No, many metals on the periodic table are not found in their pure state in nature because they are too reactive. (Chemistry and geology teacher here.)

[Chrissy]

Nadine wrote: "Why are people adding books with "snow" in the title to the Listopia?"

Ice and snow both fit the technical definition of a mineral! They just have a lower melting point than others.

[Chrissy]

Nadine wrote: "Drakeryn wrote: "Glass can appear in nature (in volcanoes and impact craters), but apparently it does not have an ordered atomic arrangement..."


I. HAD. NO. IDEA!!! Because glass is transparent a..."

The crystalline version of silica is quartz!

[SadieReadsAgain]

Lynn wrote: "SadieReadsAgain wrote: "Is nickel a mineral?"

"Nickel is obtained from two main types of deposits from the mineral garnierite (Ni-silicate) in nickel-rich laterite formed by weathering of ultramaf..."

Yeah, I'm going with it! I'm going to read The Nickel Boys

[Chrissi]

Alexa wrote: "I might go with Salt to the Sea for this prompt!"

AMAZING book. I love all of her novels.

[Allison]

How about Golden Son I just finished Red Rising and wanting to continue the series.

[Erica]

This is a freebee prompt for me because a favourite series of mine uses gems in the titles and a new book is out this year.
Ruby Fever

[Nadine in NY]

Erica wrote: "This is a freebee prompt for me because a favourite series of mine uses gems in the titles and a new book is out this year.
Ruby Fever"


LOL I just spent a few minutes trying to figure out why it was a Frisbee prompt for you ... I think I need to take a break from the computers!

[Johanne]

I don't understand why you're adding silver and gold?
I had a layman's understanding that they aren't minerals and went on a little search. Gold (aurum) is not on this very long list of all approved minerals by the International Mineralogical Association.
The list is here:
http://cnmnc.main.jp/

[Nadine in NY]

Johanne wrote: "I don't understand why you're adding silver and gold?
I had a layman's understanding that they aren't minerals and went on a little search. Gold (aurum) is not on this very long list of all approve..."


Gold IS on that very long list! So is silver. They are listed alphabetically as "gold" and "silver" not as Au & Ag. Their status is "G" for "grandfathered." It's a fascinating list, thanks for sharing it!!

[Johanne]

Oh, thank you, Nadine! It is a very long list :)

[Michele]

Alexa wrote: "I might go with Salt to the Sea for this prompt!"

I’m reading Salt to Sea as well

[Teri]

Salt doesn't come up on that list. Nor does sodium or rock salt.

I think I will stick with gems. At least I know what they are.

[Janet]

I haven't seen anyone discussing bone yet....something I found:

The one exception in a healthy human is bone mineral, such as in bones and teeth. Bone mineral is indeed an inorganic, crystalline, solid with a single chemical formula and therefore qualifies as a genuine mineral. The mineral in your bones is called hydroxyapatite and has the chemical formula Ca5(PO4)3(OH). Our bodies build bone mineral on the spot, so we don't have to swallow hydroxyapatite crystals.

So and should work.

[Drakeryn]

I wouldn't have thought of that! Good timing because I just got The Bone Shard Daughter on Black Friday sale.