Top 10 Books for a Well-Rounded Tarot Library

It's been a few years since this topic has been covered, it seems, and new books have been published, so . . .

What are your top ten books for a well-rounded Tarot library?

If a person could only read 10 books about or related to Tarot, which you choose? Why those books? How important is it to cover topics like court cards, elemental dignities, positional interpretations, ethics, history, interpretive and symbolic systems, astrological associations, kaballah, psychological applications, reading techniques, reversals, spreads, symbolism, etc?

Let's assume this is for intermediate-beginner to advanced Tarot readers/students/aficionados -- the books in question are for someone who is, at the very least, familiar with the structure of the deck, basic meanings for each card, etc.

Also, if you know any books you recommend are out of print, please note that.
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ETA:
The compiled list, as of post #30, arranged by number of recommendations, then author. Not a comprehensive "Top Ten" list yet (not enough votes) but what we have so far:

7 votes:
78 Degrees of Wisdom, by Rachel Pollack

4 votes each:
21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card, by Mary K Greer
Thirteen's Tarot Meanings ebook (here on Aeclectic!)
Tarot Reversals, by Mary Greer

3 votes each:
EveryDay Tarot, by Gail Fairfield
Tarot 101, by Kim Huggens
Tarosophy: Tarot to Engage Life, Not Escape it, by Marcus Katz
Tarot Plain and Simple, by Anthony Louis
Tarot: History, Symbolism and Divination, by Robert Place
Tarot for Life, by Paul Quinn
Tarot Tells the Tale, by James Ricklef
Pictures from the Heart, by Sandra Thomson

2 votes each:
The Book of Thoth, by Aleister Crowley
A Wicked Pack of Cards: Origins of The Occult Tarot, by Ronald Decker (out of print)
Understanding the Tarot Court, by Mary K Greer
Tarot Decoded: Understanding and Using Dignities and Correspondences, by Elizabeth Hazel
Easy Tarot Guide, by Marcia Marsino
Tarot Spreads: Layouts and Techniques to Empower your Readings, by Barbara Moore
Jung and Tarot, by Sally Nichols
Tarot Wisdom, by Rachel Pollack
Tarot Awareness: Exploring the Spiritual Path, by Setphen Walter Sterling
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, by A. E. Waite

I don't have 10, but Seventy Eight Degrees of Wisdom should absolutely be on this list.

Not that famous but one of my favorites is Tarot Plain and Simple by Anthony Louis.

Imo: EveryDay Tarot by Gail Fairfield would be on my list of Top Ten. And of course the Joan Bunning Tarot books.

Gail's book goes into the meaning of numbers and reading intuitively and she writes in short, simple statements making it easier to remember the cards meanings!

Also AT's Thirteen's Tarot Meanings should be there, too! Talk about writing in a simple, easy-to-understand-and-remember....

Tarot Tells the Tale - James Ricklef
Tarot - Get the whole Story - James Ricklef
Taking the Tarot to Heart - Mark McElroy
Putting the tarot to Work - Mark McElroy
21 Ways to Read the Tarot - Mary Greer
Understanding the tarot Courts - Mary Greer
Learning Tarot Reversals - Joan Bunning
Pictures from the Heart - a Tarot Dictionary - Sandra A Thomson
Power Tarot: More Than 100 Spreads - Trish Macgregor

These would be my top 9. Covers everything from spreads, linking cards for 3 card readings, reversals, courts, symbolism. Not sure much more would be needed.

My favorite is
Cynthia Giles "The Tarot"

For a well-rounded tarot top ten:

*78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack - Some don't like the way she writes but I think it's worth reading.
*A Wicked Pack of Cards: Origins of the Occult Tarot by Ronald Decker - I don't have this one...yet.
*Tarot: History, Symbolism and Divination by Robert Place
*Pictures from the Heart by Sandra Thomson - Get a hard copy. E-books for reference material are just too cumbersome.
*Tarot 101 by Kim Huggens
*Tarot for Your Self by Mary K Greer
*Thirteen's Tarot Meanings ebook
*The extended companion book for the Tarot Illuminati which currently is only available in ebook format (Kindle). - This is available separately from the kit.
*21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card by Mary K Greer
*Understanding the Tarot Court by Mary K Greer

That there's overlap with some of the previous posters should be no surprise.

I would also add Tarot Spreads: Layouts & Techniques to Empower Your Readings by Barbara Moore

RunningWild said:

That there's overlap with some of the previous posters should be no surprise.

Click to expand...

Well, of course. How else would I be able to compile a general list of Aeclectic members' top ten books?

You recommend the companion book to the Tarot Illuminati -- is it that useful, even if a person doesn't have/want the deck?

It's been a while since I read any tarot books that weren't a companion to a deck. But I looked on my bookshelf to see which ones were left after my last clean-out (meaning they were either important or of sentimental value to me):

21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card - Greer
Dictionary of Symbols - Penguin Pub.
A Magical Course in Tarot - Michele Morgan
Pictures of the Heart - Sandra Thomson
Mastering the Tarot - Eden Gray
78 Degrees of Wisdom - Pollack
Easy Tarot Guide - Marcia Marsino
Tarot Tells the Tale - James Ricklef
The Thursday Night Tarot - Lotterhand
The Crowley Tarot - Banzhaf
Everyday Tarot - Gail Fairfield
Tarot for Life - Paul Quinn

Sorry its more than 10!

A well-rounded Tarot library is a complicated concept. Some of the most useful books pertaining to Tarot are not even about a pack of cards. I don't even have ten books which are explicitly about Tarot. The few that I have are so heavily used that they never find their way onto a bookshelf. For what it's worth, they are:

The Book of Thoth (Aleister Crowley)
The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (A. E. Waite)
Qabalistic Tarot (Robert Wang)
The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages (P. F. Case)