good books on learning tarot and spreads?

Looking for some new books..any suggstions?

Tarot Spreads: Layouts & Techniques to Empower Your Readings
Power Tarot - More Than 100 Spreads That Give Specific Answers to Your Most Important Question
The complete idiot's guide to tarot spreads illustrated

Are you looking for two separate things here? Books on learning tarot and books about tarot spreads?

Or just books on learning tarot spreads?

I would suggest saving some money and utilizing the Tarot Spreads forum. Check out the index. There are spreads for every occasion there.

As for books on learning tarot, there are so many. Which way do you learn best? Do you read a book and more or less memorize or do you enjoy interactive lessons?

21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card by Mary K. Greer is a great workbook and in the Tarot Study Groups area there is a subforum for those working through the activities.

78 Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack is one of my favorites.

Many here have mentioned Tarot Plain and Simple by Anthony Louis as being a good learning tool.

There's also John Mangiapane's book: It's All In The Cards

There are other threads asking the same kind of question. Take a look through them and see the various suggestions.

Enjoy!

I just finished "The Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination" by Robert M. Place. The book tells in detail where tarot came from, shows how the images on the early decks evolved over time, and discusses the symbolism which eventually was incorporated into the Rider Waite deck. The last part of the book gives instructions for a 3 card layout which can form the basis for larger spreads giving more detail about specific aspects of a querant life and environment.

Mr. Place has authored a number of books on tarot, and also created several tarot decks.

For a different approach, I can recommend the Deck of 1000 Spreads. It comes in a deck-and-book set, and once you understand how to use the deck (which is really easy) you can design your own spreads - tailor-made for your needs.

The book gives a lot of insight about the different elements of spreads, how a spread can be built etc. If you are interested in spreads, you might like the deck, the book, and the approach underlying it.

I recently purchased a few Tarot books myself, and one of them is Tarot 101. It's basically a TOME of everything you need to know about Tarot, and you can peruse it for the basics, or glean a lot from it as a more advanced reader as well.

The Watkins Tarot Handbook is a good buy as well, but only if you really plan on getting into detail with the cards. This book goes heavily into the Kabbalistic references of the Tarot, so if this is something you are not interested in right now, pass on this book for the moment.

The Pictoral Key to the Tarot is good for someone working with the traditional Rider Waite deck, but it is a bit hard to read, considering it was written hundreds of years ago by Arthur Waite himself.

I'm currently reading Tarot for the Curious Spirit; Awakening the High Priestess Within, and while the title sounds like it would be just for women, it's not. This is a FABULOUS book for leaning how to bond and connect with your deck, and I highly recommend it.

I've also got on my to-read list Tarot and Psychology, which looks promising, and the 78 Degrees of Wisdom book that was recommended earlier.

Really, I think you should just start reading, and see what speaks to you! Every book will cover spreads in at least a basic format, and I find that making up my own spreads has helped the most, as I can tailor the spread to exactly the kind of wisdom and advice that I need for each problem. The respectable meanings of the cards, and the intuitive meaning of the cards to you is the most important part, spreads, I think, is really the part where you can throw out the rules and do what suits you.