Don’t you love the excitement of chasing new beading books? I know I do… I went to the bookstore a few days ago. While I was standing there this became so clear: So many books, so little time! It’s easy to find interesting new techniques I believe, but it might not be as easy to find a great beading book in the subject.

How do you find the best books for beadwork? First of all you need to get to a good bookstore which has books on beads, usually the bigger the better, because there is much more to chose from.

If you can’t go out, why not check out the book sections online. I find almost all my beading books at Amazon. Here you can search on any beading or jewelry making subject. And what’s so wonderful about Amazon is that you instantly can see new book releases, and books coming soon to pre order if you want. You also have the “Look inside” feature on many of the books, which is perfect, you can look inside the book just like in a regular bookstore!

 

What you should be looking for in a good beading book is a few things. First of all, does it have an interesting cover? Do you like the style of the jewelry featured on it? Is it creative? It might give an idea of what you can expect from the book.

When you look at the table of the contents you can easily see if this book includes what you’re looking for. And if it is, it’s time to take a closer look.

See if there are simple instructions to the projects, the best books are usually easy to read even though the projects might be advanced. What about the illustrations, are they really Step by Step? Some books tend so skip several important steps which makes it difficult for you to finish the project in a satisfying way. In some books basic techniques are explained earlier or later in a book though.

What about materials and tools in the book? Where can you get them? It’s sad to read a great book and the realize that you can´t do the projects because of the strange materials or tools required. If your are beginner in beads, or you’re starting out with a new technique, it might be a good idea to acount how much the book and materials will cost altogether. 

Last but certainly not the least: Read reviews! Especially when you shop online, you can get much information from that. When reading try to get an overall view of what others think, opinions differs but are often very helpful. The number of “stars” can tell whether its’ a good quality book or not.

Check list for finding great beading books!

1. Visit Amazon’s book department online, or big bookstore.
2. Look for creative covers.
3. Table of contents, does it contain what you want?
4. Check pictures/instructions, are they really Step by Step?
5. Do you have or can you get the materials needed?
6. Read reviews! It can spare you from some bad books.

Now get out there take the checklist with you to find many wonderful and helpful beading and beadwork books!

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