If you had to choose only one book on learning the tarot, what would it be?

VioletEye

funny that this thread should pop up just now - "tarot - the open reading" was recently recommended to me, and i was just looking at it on amazon this morning! you have the option to "look inside", and i was reading a bit of it; it looks like it's packed with information, and written in a very accessible way. i mean, i'm pretty good at reading dense text, but sometimes books on the tarot can leave you scratching your head and reading the same paragraph three times in a row...

and to be on topic, my favorite book that i actually have read is the already recommended rachel pollack's "78 degrees of wisdom". i refer to it ALL the time - and the more that i study the tarot, the more i'll notice some juicy little detail that i had overlooked the last time! it keeps getting richer ~
 

vinLove

I feel that each different type of deck, it needs books written for the deck type specifically. For instance I find Yoav's "Tarot The Open Reading" excellent for TDM decks, but not totally relevant to RWS or other non TDM decks.
 

Thoughtful

I have just ordered Yoav's book as it does deal purely with Marseille decks and the illustrations are of his own tarot deck, l have been wanting a book like this for a while. It will be interesting reading his book l'm looking forward to it. The reviews on amazon are all 5 star.
 

Laura Borealis

It's on US Amazon too - and wish listed. :)
 

3ill.yazi

Skimmed these. Now I'm torn between ben Yoavs book and Joan Bunning or Dusty White. Yoavs is the least expensive, so I may go there.
 

ann823

If you join Dusty White's forum you can see a lot of the exercises in various threads there. His book is more experiential than most books and you can get a sense from the forum whether or not this is what you're looking for. On his "easy tarot lessons" site he has quite a few podcasts, all free.
 

kaushalyaandfrank

If you join Dusty White's forum you can see a lot of the exercises in various threads there. His book is more experiential than most books and you can get a sense from the forum whether or not this is what you're looking for. On his "easy tarot lessons" site he has quite a few podcasts, all free.

Dusty White or Biddy Tarot's Foundations, both are practically oriented and encourage you to develop your own intuitive understanding of the cards.
 

DamianStraton

The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals, by Mary K. Greer.

Great book.
 

3ill.yazi

I've now had a chance to purchase and get into Dusty White's book, so I'm amending my vote to be for his book.
 

shadowmack

I am surprised not to see Tarot 101 on this list - by Kim Huggens. It's filled with great exercises that help you build a relationship with each card. Check it out!