Alison Jean Cole is a lapidary in Portland who cuts stone for a living, guides rockhounding trips, and puts out a very cool zine called Thunderegg. Most rock guides hand you a list of famous sites by state and that’s how those sites get stripped clean. She does the opposite. She teaches you to read a geologic map, figure out what the ground under you is made of, and go find your own spot. It’s applicable anywhere in the US or Canada. She’s solid on ethics too, covering what you can legally take off public land, what to leave, and how not to wreck a place for whoever shows up next. There’s a good section on figuring out what you actually like instead of grabbing everything shiny. Fifty-eight color photos, 208 pages, and it’s a how-to-think book more than a where-to-go book. My favorite kind.