25 Tarot Books You MUST Read If You Want To Grow Your Tarot Skills! By THERESA REED.
Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot by Rachel Pollack – deep and rich with information, no list is complete without this book. If I did have to pick a favorite, this may be it.
Learning the Tarot: A Tarot Book for Beginners by Joan Bunning – based on her online course, this book will get any tarot newbie reading the tarot proficiently in no time.
Mary K. Greer’s 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card by Mary Greer – novel ideas to expand your tarot skills.
The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals (Special Topics in Tarot Series) by Mary Greer – I’m a fan of reversals (they are not mandatory by the way) and this is THE book for those of us who choose to read upside down. (Honorable mention: Joan Bunning also has a good book on reversals, Learning Tarot Reversals )
The Complete Tarot Reader: Everything You Need to Know from Start to Finish by Teresa Michaelson – this book has a massive amount of information – it’s like a little encyclopedia
Tarot Masterclass by Paul Fenton-Smith – this book is rarely mentioned but I think it is pure genius. Not just a tarot primer but also a great section on being a professional tarot reader. (Honorable mention: Fenton-Smith also has a great beginner’s book, The Tarot Revealed: A Beginner’s Guide )
The Tarot Handbook: Practical Applications of Ancient Visual Symbols by Angeles Arrien – featuring the Thoth deck, this book will help you to understand tarot clearly – even if you do not read with the Thoth deck
The Way of Tarot: The Spiritual Teacher in the Cards by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Marianne Costa – This profound book gets super deep with the Marseille deck. How I wish I would have had this book when I first started out!
Tarot Plain and Simple by Anthony Louis – loads of interpretations and a slant towards beginners, this is the book I recommend to all my students
Understanding the Tarot Court (Special Topics in Tarot Series) by Mary Greer – face it, the Court cards are one of the hardest suits for any tarotist to master. Greer spells it all out with clarity. LOVE this one.
Tarot: A New Handbook for the Apprentice, Classic Ed (Connolly Tarot) by Eileen Connolly – this is the first tarot book I ever got my hands on. It’s still a treasured favorite. Some might be put off by her Christian undertones but I find the interpretations to be pure gold. I love all of her works.
SuperTarot: New Techniques for Improving Your Tarot Reading by Sasha Fenton – although this is out of print, it is worth searching for a copy. The techniques contained within will help you expand your tarot skills.
The Secret Language of Tarot by Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone – a fantastic book detailing the symbols in the tarot cards.
Tarot for Life: Reading the Cards for Everyday Guidance and Growth by Paul Quinn – A modern book with real life examples of tarot readings, this one will help you bring your readings to life.
Best Tarot Practices: Everything You Need to Know to Learn the Tarot by Marcia Masino – another great book that tends to be overlooked, this one has novel exercises and good advice on reading tarot professionally.
Tarot: Your Everyday Guide by Janina Renee – this book focuses on using tarot for dispensing advice.
Beyond the Celtic Cross: Secret Techniques for Taking Tarot to an Exciting New Level by Paul Hughes Barlow and Catherine Chapman – a very different approach to tarot – card counting and elemental dignities explained in a conversational format.
Rachel Pollack’s Tarot Wisdom: Spiritual Teachings and Deeper Meanings by Rachel Pollack – once again, Pollack delivers an impeccable and thought provoking book with new insights for the modern tarot reader.
Classic Tarot Spreads by Sandor Konraad – I’ve had this book for years and learned many a good spread from it. (Honorable mentions: Learning Tarot Spreads by Joan Bunning and Tarot Spreads and Layouts A User’s Manual For Beginning and Intermediate Readers by Jeanne Fiorini)
The Spoken Cabala: Tarot Explorations of the One Self by Jason Lotterhand – based on the Thursday night talks from Lotterhand, this book will give you some insight into the Kabbalah and how it relates to tarot. (Honorable mentions: Tarot and the Tree of Life: Finding Everyday Wisdom in the Minor Arcana by Isabel Radow Kliegman for a glimpse on how Kabbalah weaves through the Minor Arcana plus The Tarot Workbook: Understanding and Using Tarot Symbolism by Emily Peach which is a great Kabbalah/tarot primer for beginners)
Tarot Decoded: Understanding and Using Dignities and Correspondences by Elizabeth Hazel – every single dignity and correspondence you can imagine is featured here.
Who Are You in the Tarot?: Discover Your Birth and Year Cards and Uncover Your Destiny by Mary Greer – this is a fantastic book that gives deep insights on your personality, life and journey based on your “birth card”.
Tarot for Beginners: A Practical Guide to Reading the Cards by Barbara Moore – the easiest beginner book out there, this one will appeal to absolute newbies and those who are really sure they can’t “get it”. Moore shows you that you CAN.
Tarot 101: Mastering the Art of Reading the Cards by Kim Huggens – excellent exercises, good reading list suggestions and a unique format make this book one you cannot miss. Good for all levels.
Tarosophy : Tarot to Engage Life, Not Escape it by Marcus Katz – Hip and modern, full of useful information and exercises – plus it has stuff for all levels (beginner, intermediate and advanced). It’s a very intellectual book – this is no “tarot for dummies”.
