Choose a tarot card and discover your next reading We have paired the major arcana with book recommendations to read

We are increasingly indecisive about what to read. Most of the time we let instinct guide us, hoping that our current mood will help us find the perfect read for that moment, or we make endless lists of all our TBR books and let chance decide (which might actually be the best method, since it’s often when we let fate choose that we understand what we truly want, in all aspects of life). It’s like using shuffle mode in music, but ultimately we keep skipping until we find the song we really want to listen to. With books, it’s the same, but often what stops us is the length of the pages, the topics we may not be ready to face, or simply being in a phase of life where we don’t know exactly what we want in general, let alone choosing a book to accompany our leisure moments. And what if tarot could help us even in this situation? We have matched a book to each major arcana, spanning genres to please everyone, from classics to more recent releases. Which one you’ll pick will be decided by chance… or by destiny?

A book to read for each major arcana

0) The Fool - The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien

The Fool represents a journey to undertake, just like what happens to Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit: just as his mission was to defeat the dragon Smaug and help the Dwarves reclaim Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, you are about to embark on an important journey… both physical and metaphorical. Will you let Thorin Oakenshield’s company guide you?

1) The Magician - The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

The protagonists of The Night Circus are two magicians initially rivals (and later lovers) competing in a challenge set by their mentors; but it’s also the story of Le Cirque des Rêves, a place that appears at sunset and vanishes at dawn across the globe during the Victorian era (and beyond). The circus is born from its creator’s creativity, and The Magician represents exactly that: creativity, the talent that Celia Bowen and Marco Alisdair possess in performing magic. It’s the power of Le Cirque des Rêves to transform imagination into tangible reality.

2) The High Priestess - The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown

The entire Da Vinci Code revolves around the hidden sacred feminine throughout history, and which card could be more fitting than The High Priestess, so mysterious and symbolic of hidden spiritual power? Both carry a truth to decipher, and if Robert Langdon managed to solve the mystery of the Holy Grail, perhaps you can also find an answer to what occupies your mind.

3) The Empress - Blackwater: The Flood, Malcom McDowell

If the Empress symbolizes feminine power, the Blackwater saga centers on the female figures of the Caskey family, especially Elinor, the mysterious woman who appeared during the flood of the Perdido River, gradually winning over the community members and seeming to share a strong bond with the river itself. In this case, the Empress is Elinor, but also Mary-Love, and later Elinor’s progeny, all of whom exercise their power within the family in their own way, whether they realize it or not.

4) The Emperor - Lapvona, Ottessa Moshfegh

In Lapvona, the theme of power and its exercise is central, and its metaphor of a harsh modern world fits perfectly with the Emperor card, which represents authority and how dominance may seem stable on the surface but can hide deep cracks—especially when power becomes synonymous with imposition and oppression. Perhaps it’s the sign you were waiting for to break free from a figure of authority that is currently holding back your growth.

5) The Hierophant - Pura Vida, Gianluca Gotto

The Hierophant symbolizes spirituality, and who is more spiritual today than Gianluca Gotto with his Pura Vida philosophy for achieving happiness and serenity? Both the card and the book share a spiritual journey to undertake, and only with the right mindset can we face it. Are you ready?

6) The Lovers - The Switch, Beth O’Leary

The Lovers card embodies unconditional love in all its forms, and The Switch teaches us exactly that: love takes many forms and must be accepted regardless. Leena’s story, along with her grandmother Eileen and how the house swap benefitted them both, is a prime example of how love can arrive unexpectedly… and it’s up to us whether to open the door or not.

7) The Chariot - Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton

If you ever find yourself face to face with a huge dinosaur that should theoretically be extinct, The Chariot asks us to maintain control and face the chaos before us. Of course, if the risk is being dinosaur chow, maybe the best option is to run away…

8) Strength - Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf

Strength is the card of inner questions, of the stream of consciousness of Mrs. Dalloway during her day, the daily courage to face one’s emotions and above all to recognize their presence. Just as the protagonist questions herself, we too must reflect on our daily lives and what we can change about ourselves (and what we must accept).

9) The Hermit - The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas

Edmond Dantes faced a period of semi-solitude in the Château d’If, alleviated only by the presence and teachings of Abbe Faria, which helped him meditate on and plan his revenge. Obviously, we don’t need to devise a plan worthy of The Count of Monte Cristo, but the Hermit teaches us that sometimes solitude is necessary to understand the next step and how to navigate the world.

10) Wheel of Fortune - Yellowface, R. F. Kuang

Kuang’s book teaches that fate can favor us one day and betray us the next. Just as June appropriates her friend Athena’s work and becomes famous, the reader realizes that life is a spinning wheel, and fortune, scandals, and twists can contribute to its motion. But do we really want to help her negatively?

11) Justice - Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens

In Where the Crawdads Sing and in the Justice card, we find a balance between guilt and responsibility, showing how even the smallest action can affect outcomes. The protagonist is judged guilty from the start, but what is true justice? Perhaps the answer lies at the end of the novel…

12) The Hanged Man - The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick

The Hanged Man speaks of suspended situations, moments frozen in time, and The Man in the High Castle depicts a dystopian world where Germany and Japan won World War II. It’s a forced suspension of normality and freedom; the Hanged Man teaches us to look at things from another perspective, and this book shows how history could have gone very differently.

13) Death - Pet Sematary, Stephen King

Death is transformation, as is Pet Sematary, one of the most unsettling works of the horror master. Here, dead animals return more furious than ever (and not just animals), but something deep changes, which is precisely the meaning of the card: accept upcoming changes for what they are. Let’s maybe avoid resurrecting old elements of our past… or children (that’s risky, the book warns).

14) Temperance - Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes

Temperance is the card of balance, and here there is a true equilibrium between human and animal, emotion and reason, growth and personal limits. The card invites us to find a mediation between two opposing poles: in medio stat virtus, right?

15) The Devil - Sharp Objects, Gillian Flynn

The Devil is the card of addiction and obsession, and also of the dark side of our soul. Sharp Objects, another masterpiece by Gillian Flynn besides Gone Girl, explores how the darkest shadows often hide in the most innocent souls… and that no one is fundamentally safe from their truest self.

16) The Tower - Give Me a River of Blood, Carlo Vicenzi

The Tower represents the necessary downfall, and in Give Me a River of Blood the author expresses ultimate sacrifice to save something greater (the world itself). Not a book for everyone, but one that hurts and captivates simultaneously.

17) The Star - Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree

The Star card represents hope after a difficult time: the protagonist, Viv, an orc who is tired of raiding and killing, wants to retire and open a café where a mouse bakes cookies and cakes, letting the town of Thune taste a latte for the first time. Hope is always the last to die, and this arcana (and this book) teach us to never give up in the face of adversity.

18) The Moon - We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson

Both The Moon and We Have Always Lived in the Castle explore the unconscious, mystery, and share an elusive, unsettling aura, where what lies beneath the surface is only the tip of an iceberg of horror that intensifies with each page. Shirley Jackson remains a master of suspense, revealing the dark side of the Moon and the human mind.

19) The Sun - The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune

The House in the Cerulean Sea radiates warmth like the sun on a spring day. Arthur Parnassus’ magical and dysfunctional family is a comforting presence, making you laugh, cry, and feel at ease, teaching that no matter how different you are, having people who accept you as you are makes all the difference.

20) Judgement - The Midnight Library, Matt Haig

Judgement is about the evaluation we give ourselves, and in Haig’s book the protagonist, suspended between life and death, must judge her life choices, paths taken, and opportunities missed. It’s a conscious rebirth, true to this card, emerging from honest reflection on what we have left behind and what we can still become.

21) The World - Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell

The World requires a book that narrates the entirety of human experience, weaving destinies and stories into a web of seemingly distant lives that in reality share common dreams and hopes: every story, every life, every journey makes sense only as part of a larger, harmonious design.