100 books like The Nature of Diamonds

By George E. Harlow (editor),

Here are 100 books that The Nature of Diamonds fans have personally recommended if you like The Nature of Diamonds. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Pebbles on the Beach

Cally Oldershaw Author Of Stones: A Material and Cultural History

From my list on books for people with a passion for picking up pebbles.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a geologist and gemmologist, I am particularly fascinated with how the Earth works and landscapes change; how mountains, valleys, rivers, and seas are made; where and why volcanoes and earthquakes occur; and about crystals and gemstones for jewelry. My mother reminds me that since I was a toddler, I have loved to collect small pebbles and "sparkly things." I am passionate about teaching and writing for adults and children and lecture in universities and on cruise ships worldwide. Formerly the curator of more than 5,000 gemstones at the Natural History Museum, I am an examiner for the Gem-A, internationally recognised by jewelers worldwide.

Cally's book list on books for people with a passion for picking up pebbles

Cally Oldershaw Why did Cally love this book?

My copy (published in 1954) is a childhood gift that I have treasured for more than 50 years. Flicking through the well-thumbed and weather beaten pages brings back so many wonderful memories of holidays and collecting trips.

As an avid collector of pebbles from an early age, this was the book that fuelled my interest in geology. Amazed to find that no two pebbles were the same or had the same story, I was fascinated by their diversity and beauty, what they were made of, and how they were formed.

When the book was re-issued in 2018, I couldn’t resist buying another copy. I read it from cover to cover with as much excitement as I had as a child and was reminded that this was the book that inspired me to become a professional geologist.

By Clarence Ellis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Pebbles on the Beach as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

*Top 10 Sunday Times bestseller*

The Pebbles on the Beach was first published in 1954. This newly reissued edition includes a foreword by Robert Macfarlane. There is a handy illustrated guide to identifying pebbles on the reverse of the book jacket.

Pebble-hunting is a pleasant hobby that makes little demand upon one's patience and still less upon one's physical energy. (You may even enjoy the hunt from the luxurious sloth of a deck chair). One of the true delights of the pebble-seeker is to read the stories in the stones - to determine whence and by what means they came…


Book cover of "Formed Stones", Folklore and Fossils

Cally Oldershaw Author Of Stones: A Material and Cultural History

From my list on books for people with a passion for picking up pebbles.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a geologist and gemmologist, I am particularly fascinated with how the Earth works and landscapes change; how mountains, valleys, rivers, and seas are made; where and why volcanoes and earthquakes occur; and about crystals and gemstones for jewelry. My mother reminds me that since I was a toddler, I have loved to collect small pebbles and "sparkly things." I am passionate about teaching and writing for adults and children and lecture in universities and on cruise ships worldwide. Formerly the curator of more than 5,000 gemstones at the Natural History Museum, I am an examiner for the Gem-A, internationally recognised by jewelers worldwide.

Cally's book list on books for people with a passion for picking up pebbles

Cally Oldershaw Why did Cally love this book?

I met the author, Professor Mike Bassett, at the National Museum and Galleries of Wales on a visit from the Natural History Museum in London where I was the Curator of Gemstones. After an amazing walk around the museum and its collections, I finished my tour back in his office, where he gave me a signed copy of this slim book. I loved the photo of the front cover, of a coiled ammonite fossil with a fake snake head.

What particularly caught my interest was the fact that the book not only gave the scientific facts about the fossils but also introduced the more aesthetic, medicinal, and metaphysical aspects. I loved reading about the myths and legends and the entertaining nicknames such as Devil’s toenail for Gryphaea, a fossil oyster.

Book cover of Buried Treasure: Travels Through the Jewel Box

Cally Oldershaw Author Of Stones: A Material and Cultural History

From my list on books for people with a passion for picking up pebbles.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a geologist and gemmologist, I am particularly fascinated with how the Earth works and landscapes change; how mountains, valleys, rivers, and seas are made; where and why volcanoes and earthquakes occur; and about crystals and gemstones for jewelry. My mother reminds me that since I was a toddler, I have loved to collect small pebbles and "sparkly things." I am passionate about teaching and writing for adults and children and lecture in universities and on cruise ships worldwide. Formerly the curator of more than 5,000 gemstones at the Natural History Museum, I am an examiner for the Gem-A, internationally recognised by jewelers worldwide.

Cally's book list on books for people with a passion for picking up pebbles

Cally Oldershaw Why did Cally love this book?

This is the book that I wish I had written. So many times I have thought about going on the travels that Victoria followed, but life got in the way, and I never made the all the journeys. Reading the book and following Victoria’s quest, even as an "armchair traveller," really brought the stories of the gemstones alive and answered questions that I had about the people, the places, and the politics of gemstones and the jewellery trade.

I loved that she started out with a simple idea, to find out more about her engagement ring, and then how much more she became interested in along the way and how her travels impacted her knowledge of gemstones and her outlook on life.

By Victoria Finlay,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Buried Treasure as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Amber is the tears of prehistoric trees. Peridot falls to earth from space.You can grow opals in your back garden.One gem links Queen Victoria and a transvestite skeleton.Cleopatra drank a pearl to win a bet.A man has turned into a diamond.From the bestselling author of COLOUR - an intrepid journey to uncover the secret histories of precious stones.Victoria's search takes her to Egypt to find the lost emerald mines of Cleopatra, to the Australian opal fields with their underground towns, to Burma where she is spied on by the military junta, and to a secret location to meet the world's…


Book cover of The Opal Seekers

Cally Oldershaw Author Of Stones: A Material and Cultural History

From my list on books for people with a passion for picking up pebbles.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a geologist and gemmologist, I am particularly fascinated with how the Earth works and landscapes change; how mountains, valleys, rivers, and seas are made; where and why volcanoes and earthquakes occur; and about crystals and gemstones for jewelry. My mother reminds me that since I was a toddler, I have loved to collect small pebbles and "sparkly things." I am passionate about teaching and writing for adults and children and lecture in universities and on cruise ships worldwide. Formerly the curator of more than 5,000 gemstones at the Natural History Museum, I am an examiner for the Gem-A, internationally recognised by jewelers worldwide.

Cally's book list on books for people with a passion for picking up pebbles

Cally Oldershaw Why did Cally love this book?

I find it difficult to walk past second-hand bookshops and charity shops and often find myself drawn to the antique books and children’s adventure books from the 19th and 20th century. The older, the better, and if they are about stones, pebbles, or gemstones, whether fact or fiction, I find them hard to resist. One of my recent finds, this book was published in 1960 and is an adventure story. It is part of The Boys’ and Girls’ Library—School and adventure stories by well-known authors.

I love the excitement and adventure that the boys get up to and their well-meaning antics, which usually land them in some dire situation that they either have to escape from or be rescued from. And there’s plenty for me to learn about the life of the opal miners and the geology.

By Ray Harris,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Opal Seekers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.


Book cover of The Moonstone

James Irving Author Of Friends Like These

From my list on quest for justice in an unjust world.

Why am I passionate about this?

James V. Irving was born and raised in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia, majoring in English. He holds a law degree from the College of William and Mary. After completing his undergraduate studies at UVA, Mr. Irving spent two years employed as a private detective in Northern Virginia, where he pursued wayward spouses, located skips, investigated insurance claims, and handled criminal investigations. In his early years as a lawyer, he practiced criminal law, which, along with his investigative experience and trial work, informs this fictional account of Joth Proctor. Mr. Irving and his wife, Cindy, live in Vienna, Virginia.

James' book list on quest for justice in an unjust world

James Irving Why did James love this book?

I was looking for a writer to breathe new life into the sometimes-stuffy traditional English novel format, and Wilkie Collins is that man. In what is widely considered the first detective novel, Collins introduces many of the tropes of the classic whodunit, including the English country house setting, the gentleman detective, the skilled professional contrasted with the bungling local investigator, and a generational curse arising from the initial theft.

Underlying this gripping tale is the truth that the moonstone belongs not to one of the principal players who compete for it but to the religious site in India from which it was originally stolen. Justice has an immediate, local, eternal, and global context. The result is a book with memorable characters and enough twists and turns to keep you guessing until the end.  

By Wilkie Collins,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Moonstone as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Who, in the name of wonder, had taken the Moonstone out of Miss Rachel's drawer?

A celebrated Indian yellow diamond is first stolen from India, then vanishes from a Yorkshire country house. Who took it? And where is it now? A dramatist as well as a novelist, Wilkie Collins gives to each of his narratorsa household servant, a detective, a lawyer, a cloth-eared Evangelical, a dying medical manvibrant identities as they separately tell the part of the story that concerns themselves.

One of the great triumphs of nineteenth-century sensation fiction, The Moonstone tells of a mystery that for page after…


Book cover of Koh-I-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond

Matthew Hart Author Of The Russian Pink

From my list on stealing diamonds.

Why am I passionate about this?

I live in New York City, where I write thrillers about diamonds. My interest began when news broke of a diamond discovery in the Canadian Arctic. A reporter looking for a story, I climbed on a plane the next day. The discovery made Canada the world’s third largest diamond miner—one of the stories told in my non-fiction book, Diamond: the History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair. I went on to write about diamonds for many publications, including Vanity Fair and the London Times, until finally, seduced by the glitter of the possibilities, I turned to fiction. The Russian Pink appeared in November 2020. The next in the series, Ice Angel, comes out in September.

Matthew's book list on stealing diamonds

Matthew Hart Why did Matthew love this book?

Part of the value of diamonds comes from how avidly people steal them. The cat-burglar on the French Riviera. The miner swallowing a stone and trying to make it past the x-ray at the gate. Or the conquerors, snatching jewels from one turban after another as they ride through history. That last is the story of the Koh-i-Noor (Mountain of Light), told with his usual panache by William Dalrymple, the celebrated historian of Mughal India, in this non-fiction account. It falls to Dalrymple’s co-author, journalist Anita Anand, to track the jewel though it's last, decidedly inglorious change of ownership—stolen by the British from the Maharaja Duleep Singh, when imperial forces prevailed upon him not only to sign away the Punjab, but also to make a “gift” of his family’s famous diamond to Queen Victoria. Sure, the Maharaja did in fact sign the document. But he was 10 years old.

By William Dalrymple, Anita Anand,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Koh-I-Noor as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Codewords have been one of The Daily Telegraph's most successful puzzles since their introduction to the paper in summer 2003, and here we are proud to present another in the popular series of Codewords books. The principle is simple: the unsolved grid shows squares containing numbers, each of which corresponds to a letter of the alphabet. Between two and five solved letters are given, and the remainder must be discovered through a combination of logic and word power. This collection contains 150 brand new puzzles. Can you crack the code?


Book cover of 11 Harrowhouse

Matthew Hart Author Of The Russian Pink

From my list on stealing diamonds.

Why am I passionate about this?

I live in New York City, where I write thrillers about diamonds. My interest began when news broke of a diamond discovery in the Canadian Arctic. A reporter looking for a story, I climbed on a plane the next day. The discovery made Canada the world’s third largest diamond miner—one of the stories told in my non-fiction book, Diamond: the History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair. I went on to write about diamonds for many publications, including Vanity Fair and the London Times, until finally, seduced by the glitter of the possibilities, I turned to fiction. The Russian Pink appeared in November 2020. The next in the series, Ice Angel, comes out in September.

Matthew's book list on stealing diamonds

Matthew Hart Why did Matthew love this book?

I have a special fondness for 11 Harrowhouse, the 1973 thriller that spins the tale of a huge theft of rough diamonds from The System, a fictional London diamond powerhouse modeled on the real-life De Beers. When I started writing about diamonds, De Beers was still the Darth Vader of diamonds—all-powerful, feared, despotic. More than eighty percent of the world’s rough diamonds poured through its London headquarters at 17 Charterhouse Street. In the novel, thieves thread a hose from the roof into the diamond vault, and hoover up the loot. In reality, a different method was used to steal diamonds from De Beers’s London fortress, which I described in my non-fiction book, then re-tailored for my own purposes in The Russian Pink

By Gerald A. Browne,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked 11 Harrowhouse as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An American courier and his lover are selected as the key operatives in an international diamond swindle


Book cover of Hope: Adventures of a Diamond

Matthew Hart Author Of The Russian Pink

From my list on stealing diamonds.

Why am I passionate about this?

I live in New York City, where I write thrillers about diamonds. My interest began when news broke of a diamond discovery in the Canadian Arctic. A reporter looking for a story, I climbed on a plane the next day. The discovery made Canada the world’s third largest diamond miner—one of the stories told in my non-fiction book, Diamond: the History of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair. I went on to write about diamonds for many publications, including Vanity Fair and the London Times, until finally, seduced by the glitter of the possibilities, I turned to fiction. The Russian Pink appeared in November 2020. The next in the series, Ice Angel, comes out in September.

Matthew's book list on stealing diamonds

Matthew Hart Why did Matthew love this book?

Marian Fowler’s lavish non-fiction account tracks the storied diamond from its origins in India, where it was bought by the great French jewel merchant Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, who sold it to Louis XIV. Weighing 110 carats in the rough, the blue was eventually cut into a heart-shaped jewel of 67.13 carats, known to history as the French Blue. In the turbulent early days of the French Revolution, all the crown jewels were moved from the Palace of Versailles to the Garde-Meuble, a treasure house in central Paris. On the night of September 11, 1792, thieves broke in and stole the jewels. Many were recovered, but the French Blue vanished forever. Too famous to be sold as it was, the London jeweler who eventually bought it, cut it down to 44.5 carats—the jewel sold to Henry Philip Hope in 1830. The Hope diamond passed through many hands, leaving behind a trail of…

By Marian Fowler,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Hope as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Allegedly a curse to those that own it, the Hope Diamond - a flawless blue diamond of over forty-five carats - has inspired centuries of legends and lies, fabulous superstition and fierce passion. In rich, shimmering prose, Marian Fowler explains how the Hope Diamond was formed in nature - and how it was taken from the mines and temples of India to the royal courts of seventeenth-century Europe. Acquired and cherished by Louis XIV, the stone was stolen in an almost farcical French Revolution robbery. It resurfaced twenty years later in London and passed through numerous hands, including those of…


Book cover of Acres of Diamonds

Jim Stovall Author Of The Ultimate Gift

From my list on the secret to changing your life and the world.

Why am I passionate about this?

Although I’ve written over 50 books, the ones that have had the greatest impact are the novels that have been turned into movies. Through my books and the films based on them, I’ve had the privilege of sharing thought-provoking, life-changing stories with millions of people around the world. As a blind person, myself, I realize the absurdity of writing books I can’t read that are turned into movies I can’t watch, but a powerful story delivers life-changing lessons and endures forever. 

Jim's book list on the secret to changing your life and the world

Jim Stovall Why did Jim love this book?

Acres of Diamonds is a timeless tale that has impacted generations of readers including me. It reminds us that before we begin searching throughout the world for the things we think we don’t have, we need to look inside of ourselves and explore what we really do have. As an African farmer leaves his home and everything he knows to begin a frantic search for diamonds, he discovers the eternal lesson that we get what we love when we learn to love what we have. 

By Russell H. Conwell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Acres of Diamonds as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This stirring manifesto shows how to discover everything you need to succeed-where you least expect it.

So begins one of the most famous speeches of the twentieth century, a talk that educator and minister Russell H. Conwell delivered before literally thousands of audiences before his death in 1925. In its printed version Acres of Diamonds reached millions of readers around the world. Conwell's great manifesto imparts one extraordinary lesson: All the wealth you could ever dream of, search for, or yearn after-in whatever form you wish for-exists right beneath your own feet. It is a message of determination, unconventional thinking,…


Book cover of The Trial of Two

J.V. Hilliard Author Of The Last Keeper

From my list on fantasy that have unconventional elements.

Why am I passionate about this?

Before I was published, I played Dungeons and Dragons for years. I grew up on games involving fantasy, and though my career took me into government, it stayed my passion. I’m well on my way to publishing the last two books in my four-part saga as well as venturing into Kindle Vella, and I can’t wait to see what is next for me in the realm of fantasy. When writing in the genre, it’s easy to fall into the same old tropes and utilize the same creatures. These five books are atypical in this age of overdone plots and monsters. I hope you find your next read among them.

J.V.'s book list on fantasy that have unconventional elements

J.V. Hilliard Why did J.V. love this book?

The Season of the Runer series is a great book for fans of The Witcher. It is unique in that it doesn’t focus on western European culture, but rather eastern European or middle-eastern or Eastern. Runers are humans who have committed a crime and been genetically altered. They’re bounty hunters, essentially. It follows Tzarik, a Runer, as he struggles with the will to go on. He meets Sybal, a diamond mine heiress and brand new Runer, and trains her to help him take down a necromancer. I enjoyed everything about this story, and I’d recommend it to those wanting a darker fantasy.

By Abigail Linhardt,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Trial of Two as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

WRITER'S DIGEST AWARDS HONORABLE MENTION WINNER

The endless road and life of a monster-hunting Runer has gone stale for Tzarik and death is the only alternative. Tired of risking his life for the prejudiced people of Al’Myrah, it’s time to just let go. The only thing that stands in his way: A Runer cannot take his own life, breaking his oath to the dark magic that binds him to the hunt. When a warlord from the far east threatens her family, Sybal, a young diamond mine heiress with a lavish lifestyle, takes action to protect her family and estate. But…


Book cover of The Pebbles on the Beach
Book cover of "Formed Stones", Folklore and Fossils
Book cover of Buried Treasure: Travels Through the Jewel Box

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5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in diamonds, Brazil, and South Africa?

Diamonds 14 books
Brazil 76 books
South Africa 129 books