Crystals for Beginners: A Guide to Collecting & Using Stones & Crystals

It's been about 40 years since I studied and research gems and crystals, their elemental energies, healing powers, and so forth, so I figured I was a beginner, again. This book picks up where my teenager "crystal" books left off. It's awesome, it gives me the facts, the myths, and the folk lore, so I learn exactly what I need to know. Thank you for writing this book, Corrine Kenner, available at Llewellyn's.

I love this book except there are no pics of the stones. I would really like it if all the books on crystals would get together. One book says this stone has scorpion as the sign with it and another says sagittarious. I don't know what to think. The book tells a lot and yet leaves Qs.

I have recently started getting ''into'' crystals, and of course have been searching high and low for information. I have gotten about 8 books on crystals, and have been rather disappointed in many of them. This one however, I really love! It's not a big book, and it's very basic. But the thing is, it's got all the basics in it! This is not a book with a bunch of crystals pictured and identified. This book is one to give you a feel for what you can do with them, what you should do with them, and just lots of basics. It's got several really great charts in it. It has got a very basic rundown on many crystals (no pictures) giving a short description and a short list of uses for them. It has really got a lot of good info packed into a compact but very readable book. I would recommend this for someone who is interested but not sure HOW interested, or to someone who is starting out and needs some basics. For people wanting to get into it deeper at all, I totally loved Melanie's book. GREAT book! (No pictures though.) As far as a picture and scientific descriptive book (both of which I would recommend if you are going to get into it deeply), I don't have one I would recommend. I have the Judy Hall book and the Book of Stones, by Robert Simmons. I just couldn't recommend either one of them, though I thought they'd both be fantastic. At this point I think I'm going to order a Field Guide and go with that! Right now it's looking to me like you have to choose a particular aspect and just get one book that's good on that. I have not found one that just has everything! But this book is definitely great for a starter; I am very pleased with it.