I finally got the Rider Waite tarot and I was impressed with that, it was the first modern tarot card deck and it became the standard that all other decks are judged by. Arthur Waite was a master of the arcane and a famous person and Golden Dawn member from its heyday in the late 1800s and early 1900s. You could get this book just as a sampling of the greatness of the author Mr. Waite and the occult mastery he stood for. But as a referance for his own masterpiece the Rider Waite tarot it is indespensible and thee source for more information on the cards other than that given in the instruction booklet. The beginning of the book is a history of the tarot cards and then the meanings of the cards with pictures of each individual card. The meanings of the cards themselves take up one page each and the picture of each card also takes up one page each. As for the ease of reading, I would say if you can go to at least a division III university and pass English 101 or any other English class numbered 100 or higher, you could read almost anything. The thing about these books available for enjoyment that you can buy at bookstores is they don't use very big words, just technical information as it pertains to the sibject. Something like the 4 of cups if you didn't have a previous knowledge of tarot that might confuse someone. They do not use geeky versions of words, for example the word hate they would not use in a published book the word "animosity" as a synonym for the word hate. If you can read and enjoy Stephen King than you might like occult literature.

There are tons of books out there on how to read Tarot, but get serious - they are all knockoffs from the master himself. Waite more than anyone, as co-author of the most frequently used deck in the last century, can take you into the mysteries surrounding the Tarot to help you better divinate the symbolism - especially if you are just developing your intuitive skills. If you are at all serious about Tarot, you must own this book!