Recommended tarot books for beginners and experts

So you want to pick up a new tarot book? You’re in luck — there are thousands of tarot books in the world, with more being published every year as tarot continues to grow in popularity. But the sheer volume of books can be a bit daunting, especially if you aren’t quite sure what you’re looking for. How do you know which tarot books will be right for you?

In my own quest to find the best tarot books for practitioners of all levels, I’ve read a lot of them — and eventually, even wrote my own. And while you may find new favorites along the way, I’ve compiled some of my top recommended tarot books for your reading pleasure.

Some of the newest and popular modern tarot books out there were written by professionals in the Moonlight community, including cult classic Queering the Tarot by Cassandra Snow. Originally written as a column for Little Red Tarot, Snow’s first book is a generous, immersive, inclusive and easy-to-read text that moves beyond traditional definitions and encourages readers to see tarot archetypes through a queer lens. Snow’s latest book, Lessons From the Empress, was co-written with the brilliant radical witch Siri Plouff and looks at the entire deck through the lens of the lush, creative, abundance-oriented Empress archetype, providing exercises, activities, prompts, and more ways to connect with your own inner Empress. 

My own book, Finding the Fool, was released earlier this year and encourages readers to explore the tarot through the eyes of the Fool archetype, with an emphasis on inclusivity, accessibility, and radical transformation.

And while numerologist Rebecca Scolnick’s incredible The Witch’s Book of Numbers isn’t solely focused on the tarot, her explorations of the cards via numerology is a must-read for anyone who is eager to expand their perspective on correspondences. This is especially handy for learning the Marseille deck.

For tarot beginners or folks looking to go beyond the little white book, Mary K. Greer’s iconic Tarot for Your Self helps to support readers who want to begin building personal connections with the cards, rather than simply memorizing standardized meanings. Packed with spreads, exercises, and journal prompts, Greer’s generous writing style and easy-to-follow guidelines make tarot accessible for anyone. 

If you’re looking to read something with a more personal touch, Modern Tarot by the clever and hilarious writer Michelle Tea reads almost like a memoir, something Tea does extraordinarily well. This book offers personal reflections for every card, along with spells and spreads to encourage personal connections and powerful explorations.

A few of my favorite tarot books tackle the cards from different angles, providing support around using the cards in specific ways. Written by social worker and scholar Jessica Dore, Tarot for Change (2021) takes a therapeutic view of the tarot, exploring how one can use the cards in a holistic, supportive way.

Similarly, Tarot for Troubled Times (2019) by the incredible Theresa “The Tarot Lady” Reed and Shaheen Miro offers kind and supportive ways to use the cards when dealing with some of life’s biggest emotional, physical, and spiritual challenges. 

I love turning to The Creative Tarot (2016) by Jessa Crispin when looking for ways to use the cards for artistic inspiration.

And the recently released Wild Card: Let the Tarot Tell Your Story (2023) by Jen Cownie and Fiona Lensvelt encourages readers to use the tarot to write their own unique and personal story, particularly when reading collaboratively with friends or trusted companions.

And although it’s less of a traditional work, tarot reader and astrologer Liz Worth’s The Power of Tarot encourages readers of all levels to consider their personal beliefs about tarot, and to dive deep into tarot philosophy, intuition, and timings. This book is beautifully comprehensive and provides a lot of structure for engaging with the meaning of tarot readings, helping readers put their cards into context.

Another gem for those particularly interested in a symbolic analysis of the Marseille tarot deck is Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Way of Tarot: The Spiritual Teacher in the Cards (2009). Jodorowsky, known for his profound approach to performance art and spirituality, offers a deeply introspective journey into the path of tarot. His approach is both poetic and philosophical.

Finally, no tarot book roundup would be complete without two of the biggest powerhouses in the genre: Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by tarot revolutionary Rachel Pollack and Holistic Tarot by the truly gifted Benebell Wen. While these books are much heftier than the others on this list, and may be too advanced for true beginners, both are classics in their own right, and are incredible texts to have on your shelf. 

Rachel Pollack was one of the most famous and respected tarot writers around, and her most well-known book, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom (1980), is rigorous in its investigation of the symbolism, history, and layered meanings of the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck. Even if you don’t use the original RWS in your readings, this book explores correspondences, color theory, religion, and philosophy in such an in-depth way that readers using any deck can still find meanings to integrate into their own practice. 

Also investigating the Rider-Waite-Smith, Holistic Tarot (2015) layers Jungian philosophy, psychological theory, Chinese divination, and rich history into each card, providing a substantial and intricate exploration of the tarot. This book is incredibly comprehensive, and while it may feel intimidating to those just getting started with the tarot, offers something for everyone.

When considering your tarot resources, I highly recommend picking up books or reading articles from multiple writers. Everyone brings their own unique perspective to the cards, and it’s worth the effort to check out different writers and see whose style is a good fit. You might be surprised by what you resonate with, and by what doesn’t work for you.