Learn to read with your own voice and get the answers to all of your questions.
For years, Melissa Cynova has been sitting down with friends and neighbors who are curious about the tarot. She’s heard all the questions and misconceptions that can confuse newcomers (and sometimes more experienced readers, too). Kitchen Table Tarot was written as a guide for anyone looking for no-nonsense lessons with a warm, friendly, and knowledgeable teacher.
Join Melissa as she shares straightforward guidance on decks, spreads, card meanings, and symbols. Filled with real-life examples and personal explanations of what it’s like to read the cards, this book tells it like it is and provides the information you need to read with confidence.
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SYLVIA MENDOZA –
Love this book. Author hilarious. I will keep in my library for reference. I learned a lot from Author. I liked how she explained each card
Elaine –
Well written, well explained, or I should, say easily explained. A must have book for anyone learning Tarot and a great read for those that have been doing Tarot as the author gives a very different perspective on the cards. You are always learning with Tarot!
Amazon Kunde –
I loved this book, first it cames new and without any damage, second I loved reading it, very friendly, easy to understand, fun to read and have a good time while learning about tarot.
Kristina –
What a wonderful book this has been. I collect tarot and oracle cards, and I have many books on the subject and they are all the same. Usually the only difference in them are the authors personal beliefs about things which are usually rigid and full of personal pride. Or they’re just dull.
First off, this author is a wonderful writer, she pulls you in immediately. It really does feel like a conversation at the kitchen table with a good, very interesting friend. She tells you the things you would actually ask about and want to know.
The reason I bought this book (yet another tarot book) is because I loved the kitchen table tarot idea. I have always thought of it like that. Maybe it’s the southern girl in me, but sitting at the table with my girls enjoying the magic and mystery of the tarot, having some sweet tea while supper cooks in the crockpot is just heaven. Highly recommended!
coffeescripting –
As someone completely new to tarot, I wanted a more modern look into the tarot that wasn’t quite as focused on the old, historical connotations of the RWS. I tend to lean towards more diverse or symbolic style decks so it’s not really a surprise there.
Kitchen Table Tarot is a funny, cute, and conversational approach to tarot. It doesn’t try to make it seem like it’s this all-consuming all knowing thing but also guides you through the basics of tarot, and the author even caps it off with some funny stories of her more unique tarot readings.
The main reason why I’m giving it 4 stars is that of an early section of the book where the author mentions that the RWS deck might be “too traditionalist and focused only on straight white people” (paraphrase) but you should buy it anyway because it’s the “core” deck. Which was… disappointing to say the least. I’ve appreciated from other books (Tarot 101, Modern Tarot by Michelle Tea, and many others I’m forgetting) that they acknowledge that not everyone may want the traditional RWS deck, but that it should follow some basic guidelines to get the most of the book. The author here acknowledges that there might be valid reasons to not want a RWS deck and then says we should spend our money on it anyway which made me question why they even bothered to bring up at all.
So a small flaw, but not enough to discount it. The descriptions of the cards can get quite cringe-y at times, but overall it’s a good book.
Ravi –
Reads like you are visiting with an old friend. Down to earth, practical, observant and astute. And interesting.
If you get this book, some Pitisci and Benebell Wen, you will have a rock solid foundation upon which to begin your studies and practice.
The retro-themed cover art is a gas, and nicely printed illustrations abound within.
Juan –
Excelente material, totalmente recomendado si estás iniciando con el tarot. El libro basa su encanto en las experiencias que ha tenido la autora siendo tarotista profesional, si bien, no es tan profundo en el tratamiento de los significados y con la información, el libro es muy ameno. Ojo, se encuentra en inglés.
Lo recomiendo ampliamente.
Lindsay Parkhurst –
I’m a fan of this book and recommend it for all tarot readers. It is a useful tool to have in your arsenal, if nothing else.
I have not read it cover-to-cover, yet. I’ve been using the book as a reference only but it has been very useful for just that. There is plenty of reading material other than card explanations in the book that I will sit down and digest in due time. The writing style is unique and pretty easy to read. The author did a nice job writing in a story-telling fashion without it feeling too cheesy. Most of the cards have an anecdote attached which I feel is very useful for learning card meanings. It’s easier to remember a story someone told you than it is to remember lists of meanings and information. I found that a few of the interpretations of the cards were unique and I found new perspectives in this book, that alone makes it a worthwhile read to me. Whenever I hit a block during a reading, I reference this book.
Something I look for in a tarot book is real life meanings and interpretations that go beyond spiritual guidance. I can Google endless resources for learning that Death is about change, but what kind of change? Drawing out the relevant real-life details is one of the trickiest parts of divination and this book does a decent job of exploring that side of reading for prediction. It gives you a direction to explore and makes you move your feet, so-to-speak. Getting the reader in motion like so is a great way to break through diviner’s fog. This book is not the only tarot resource you will ever need, but it will be useful.
Karen S D Robinson –
I loved this so much I bought both the kindle version and the paperback. I’ve been playing around with tarot for 45 years, and have read a lot of books. (I don’t think tarot has any magical powers, but it’s powerful in the way myth and poetry are powerful.) This book would be very accessible to a beginner, but it also gave me a lot of new ideas to think about.
I loved the author’s voice: down-to-earth, funny, conversational. It reminds me a lot of another author I love, Emmie McKellen, whose book Tarot Tangents would make a great companion piece to this one. This book is instructional, and McKellen’s book is a collection of essays on tarot history, but the delightful writing style is so similar I had to check to see that they weren’t the same author.
My only suggestion for improvement is directed at the publisher. The kindle edition really needs a more detailed table of contents, with a link to each card, or at least each value (ace, two, three etc.) Someone learning tarot would want to be able to look up a particular card easily, and the table of contents isn’t detailed enough to make that possible. I added a bunch of bookmarks, but that’s just a work-around.
Other than that, it’s perfect. I really recommend this to anyone interested in tarot, from the beginner to the veteran.
Juan –
Livro super despretencioso. A autora é muito transparente nas colocações e nas suas experiências com o Tarô. É um livro para quem está inciando mas não deixa de ser interessante para quem já tem experiência com o tarot.
Michela83 –
Un libro interessante per chi vuole approcciarsi all’argomento. L’autrice e’ assolutamente brillante, pungente, unica nel suo genere.
Kylie Tipping –
Great book for those new to tarot. I liked the way the book was structured, going through the Minor Arcana by number rather than suits – made it much easier to understand. I really enjoyed the way the author described everything & her humour was great too. Very enjoyable and am already reading again.