This was my first tarot book, and I still love it. It's a great support if you want to read intuitively; the authors look very closely at every card. Colours, shapes, facial expressions - things we "read" in everyday life with ease.
There is little to no esoteric "baggage" which makes it an ideal beginner's book. You don't feel hit over the head with a ten-year-study-program just to pull your card of the day. With this book, you start reading what is on the card. Once you are more familiar with the tarot, its structure and different interpretations, you can always go and fill your head with astrology, kabbalah and alchemy ;-) But still, the skill of looking at a card and "reading" it like you would read a person next to you, her expressions and way of dress and body language, is a core skill for tarot readers IMO.
If you work through Tarot for Yourself afterwards, you really know to find your way into new decks and readings.
I also like that they look at three decks, Aquarian, Morgan Greer and RWS, and talk about the differences. That makes it easier to accept that there are more ways of looking at a Hierophant than just one. The decks are close enough so they won't confuse a beginner, but there are nuances and differences.
Yes, it's a very optimistic book and reminds me a bit of the fortune teller Lisa Simpson met. Death? Wonderful card! But they also show the shadow sides of the cards and even talk a bit about shadow work, and all of it in a non-threatening way.
This book was one of the starting points of my tarot journey. I bought it on a whim in the early 90s, still remembering an amzing Thoth reading a friend gave me in 1982 or 83... I didn't find the card that I was looking for and that had stuck in my mind (Lust), but I found so much to interest me that I bought a deck of cards later, not even looking at them opened before. I liked the box. When I opened the cards, I recognized the Thoth...
My second deck was the Morgan Greer; the buy was inspired by the book Spiritual Tarot.
I can recommend the book, it gives you good basis and even spread sheets to copy for your tarot journal. Mine is full of pencil notes. Always a good sign.