We’ve asked some of our authors, contributors, and favorite people in the beading community to recommend the best beading and jewelry books, and we’re stacking these lists all together right here for you. The books might be ones they especially treasure and love, that affected their own work or development, or simply books they’d recommend as excellent, helpful, and instructive.

These lists come from Jean Campbell, Kathy King, Diane Fitzgerald, Carol Dean Sharpe, Sabine Lippert, Margie Deeb, Jennifer VanBenschoten, and Jill Wiseman. Read them, and then go read even more lists.

Please enjoy, share the link widely, and leave a comment on this post with the beading and jewelry books you’d recommend to others. Join the Lark Jewelry & Beading community on Facebook, too.

List No. 8: Jean Campbell

Jean Campbell is the senior editor of Beadwork magazine, a Create Your Style Crystallized Elements Ambassador for Swarovski, a blogger for Beading Daily, and the author of numerous books, including Creating Glamorous Jewelry with Swarovski Elements, The Art of Beaded Beads, Steampunk Style Jewelry, and Beading with Crystals. Visit her website at www.jeancampbellink.com.

I have so many favorites that this could take all week, but here are a handful of books that I seem to go to for inspiration again and again:

Seed Bead Fusion by Rachel Nelson-Smith: I love Rachel’s use of color, but it’s her beadwork shaping in conjunction with wire that totally inspires me. She’s a genius! I also like that this book has both step-out photography and illustrations, something rare in beadwork books.

Enchanted Adornments by Cynthia Thornton: This book’s title is so appropriate. It reads like a personal fairy tale, and Cynthia’s designs and whimsical illustrations are just magical.