Get excited, everyone! Our August 2018 selection for The Court Jeweller Book Club is…

Janice Hadlow’s A Royal Experiment: The Private Life of King George III! One of my favorite biographies of the Hanoverian kings, this book looks weighty but is fast-paced and very accessible. Hadlow deftly traces George’s life from his dysfunctional childhood to his descent into madness. The book is populated with fascinating royal characters, including the king himself, his mother, his wife, and his numerous children.

This year is the 200th anniversary of some of the most momentous events experienced by the House of Hanover, including the rush to the altar after the tragic death of Princess Charlotte and the death of Queen Charlotte, the pivotal figure at the center of the family. Hadlow’s book is an especially timely read in light of these milestones, and it’s an intriguing look at the tumultuous royal history that predated the modern royal family in Britain.

Originally published in 2014, A Royal Experiment is available today in hardcover, paperback, and electronic editions through Amazon (and many other retailers). Used copies are also readily available. Get your copy soon and get reading — we’ll discuss the book here on August 30th!

Note: Some links on this page are Amazon affiliate links. I put all money that I receive from these affiliate links back into materials for review on the blog (including the book discussed in this post), so if you want to read more reviews, consider purchasing items through the affiliate links in this post and throughout the site. Thanks, everybody!

Believe it or not, it’s already time for our monthly book club discussion post! (Isn’t the year flying by?) Today, we’re chatting about our July 2018 book club selection, Cherie Burns’s mysterious Diving for Starfish. 

Burns’s book is a real-life mystery story starring a magnificent piece of jewelry: a ruby and amethyst starfish brooch produced by Boivin, a famed French jewelry house. This post is your chance to weigh in with your thoughts on the book, including praise and critiques. I’m going to switch things up this month and post discussion questions in the comment section, so you’ll be able to respond in individual threads. (Hopefully that will help keep our conversation organized!)

Don’t forget to stop by later today for the announcement of our August 2018 book club pick!

Drumroll, please! Our July 2018 selection for The Court Jeweller Book Club is…

Diving for Starfish by Cherie Burns! I recently finished this one, and it was a brisk, captivating read that lovers of this blog are going to absolutely eat up. The book details the writer’s attempt to solve a jewelry mystery, tracking down the whereabouts of a series of three (or four? or five? or more???) amazing ruby and amethyst starfish brooches made in the 1930s by the French jeweler Boivin. 

The journey takes Burns from New York to London to Paris and back, from famous auction houses to the homes of private collectors. The book sheds light on the immense secrecy that shrouds so much of the jewelry industry and emphasizes the difficulty of establishing reliable provenance for famous pieces. You’re all going to love it.

Diving for Starfish was published this spring, and it’s currently available in both hardcover and e-book editions from Amazon (and from other retailers). Used copies of the book can also already be purchased via Amazon. Grab a copy, dig in, and we’ll discuss the book here on the blog on July 26th!

Note: Some links on this page are Amazon affiliate links. I put all money that I receive from these affiliate links back into materials for review on the blog (including the books reviewed in this post), so if you want to read more reviews, consider purchasing items through the affiliate links in this post and throughout the site. Thanks, everybody!