I’ve got an extensive collection of books and I have in the past read a lot of tarot related books. Whether they were kindle books or physical books, there is a very large list of books that I would recommend, especially for Tarot books for beginners.
Before getting into my top 10 tarot books for beginners, I wanted to make you aware that the majority of these books are based on the Rider Waite Smith (RWS) Tarot and it is wise to grab yourself one of the tarot decks which are listed in my post sharing cheap tarot decks you can get for under £16. There are two of them which are below:
Original Rider Waite Tarot
Radiant Rider Waite Tarot
These 2 decks are great for starting your tarot journey and the majority of guide books you will find are based on these particular tarot cards. So with 1000’s of books, it’s a great start to your tarot journey.
Most decks are based on a RWS system and this makes them pretty easy to master most decks once you have the fundamentals down. If you learn the basic Rider-Waite-Smith tarot cards, you can transfer the fundamentals over to any deck that are based on this system. Generally you have the Major and Minor Arcana which follow the same parrtern and suits.
So once you generally learn one, you can read them mostly all.
So, let’s get into some books I have read and my thoughts on them.
Top 10 Tarot Books – Tarot Books For Beginners
The Pictorial Key To The Tarot – A.E Waite
The Pictorial Key To The Tarot – A.E WaiteA.E Waite is one of the people involved in creating the very famous and widely used Rider Waite Smith Tarot. There is no doubt you either have a deck or you have heard about them and seen them used by many who use Tarot.
The Pictorial Key To The Tarot is the official guide book to using the RWS style tarot cards and many have read this at some point, or at least had it recommended.
I’m not a fan personally, but it really is good for learning and understanding the cards in their original form. But I always recommend using your guidance when reading as well as your intuition and knowledge of the cards.
The Key To The Tarot – The Original Rider Waite
The Key To The Tarot – The Original Rider WaiteThe Key To The Tarot is a trendy tarot book and you may have seen people mention this book. If you purchase the Original Rider Waite Tarot, you also get this book. But if you wanted it separately, then you can purchase the book on its own.
It’s great for learning about tarot and a great way to start your journey. I always recommend this book for anyone starting as it is the bare bones of the cards meanings/interpretation.
The Ultimate Guide To Tarot – Liz Dean
The Ultimate Guide To Tarot – Liz DeanI really enjoy reading The Ultimate Guide To Tarot as it is colourful, informative and very easy to read and follow.
The version I have is a hardback version and I’m really enjoying reading it. I do use it quite often to refer to specific cards at times if I feel I am blocked and not quite picking something up, I tend to reach over to this book as it has a lot of advice about tarot, but also spreads and various other elements.
Everything about the book makes it easy and I’d found I picked up a lot from reading this book.
Kitchen Table Tarot by Melissa Cynova
Kitchen Table Tarot by Melissa CynovaHands down, the Kitchen Table Tarot is my favourite tarot book. It’s funny, informative and super easy to read. This has to be my number 1 book when people ask me about reading material.
Giving you a deep insight into the cards, this will help you read like a pro and also giving you other guidance such as caring for your cards, spreads and how to use your cards.
An all-rounder book but at the same time, it’s witty and hilarious!
Your Tarot, Your Way – Barbara Moore
Your Tarot, Your Way – Barbara MooreBarbara Moore writes a lot of the booklets and companions for tarot decks mostly published by Llewelleyn and this book is a great book for learning about tarot, or even to brush up on your skills.
Your Tarot, Your Way is the perfect book to learn to read pretty much any Rider-Waite-Smith style deck and this gives you so much information on how to read it in a way that suits you.
Highly recommend this for anyone, whether new or old to the tarot, it’s so full of wonderful information!
Tarot Spreads
Tarot SpreadsI can’t give a list of books without including one on Tarot Spreads. It’s important to learn a few different tarot spreads as they can be used for an array of questions you have been presented with, or using a particular tarot spread for particular guidance, like on career.
This is by far the best book I have read on tarot spreads and gives you a tarot spread for all of your needs!
Tarot Made Easy – Nancy Garen
Tarot Made Easy – Nancy GarenAnother easy to use book is Tarot Made Easy which I have had for a while and read quite often!
Giving you an in-depth guide into tarot, how to read tarot and also some information on spreads and various aspects.
If you want an easy to use guide – then this one is for you!
Exploring Tarot Using Radiant Rider-Waite
Exploring Tarot Using Radiant Rider-WaiteExploring Tarot Using Radiant Rider-Waite is a guide book that is more in-depth than the little guide you get with the tarot deck.
It was created through U.S Games to fit with the tarot deck and gives you much more information on how to use the tarot deck along with the meaning of the cards and a little on tarot spreads.
Fits really well with any Rider Wait Smith style deck if I am honest, so you don’t have to get it for the Radiant version only.
Tarot For Beginners
Tarot For BeginnersHere we have another Tarot For Beginners tarot book that really goes in-depth on how to use and read tarot cards, giving you insight into the world of tarot and giving you enough information to read well.
It’s another wonderful beginner book and do recommend this as one of my tarot books for beginners that is helpful in understanding how to read.
Tarot – Learn how to read and interpret the cards – Hay House/Kim Arnold
Tarot – Learn how to read and interpret the cards – Hay House/Kim ArnoldWhen looking for Tarot books, you want an all rounder that helps you read the deck you have purchased. Some books can be used for many different decks, especially any deck based on a Rider-Waite-Smith layout.
Final thoughts
As I said earlier, once you learn one, you have a general idea of the rest. Any based on a typical RWS system gives you insight into the meanings of many other decks as they follow a similar system but may have subtle changes.
These books are reasonably priced and there also is Amazon Kindle Tarot Books out there you can read for free with Kindle Unlimited.
You can get a free 30 day trail with Kindle Unlimited and there are a lot of tarot books on there too for free!
What is your favourite tarot book? Are there any worth mentioning that I haven’t listed?
