This was an easy book to follow and understand.
It gives you detailed spreads for your readings.
Definitely a book to buy and keep on hand as you learn how to read cards.

Coming from a background of reading tarot cards and having a basic understanding of reading lenormand as well, made going into this book interesting to me. I love that the author pulled from some traditional meanings but made the card meanings more applicable to modern times. Another thing I liked was that playing cards are so easily accessible that it would make a great starter to card divination. Especially in situations where money is tight or where a person might want to be discreet in their practice.
It was interesting to see that much like tarot, each suit had a general meaning and each number had a general meaning. I think for this reason, switching from one method to the other makes sense and one could easily learn each method of divination more readily if the were already familiar with this type of system.
Things the book did well...explaining this method of divination, giving us a short story as a background for each card meaning, listing consice and readily understood card meanings, and giving us some layouts or techniques to use for readings. I liked that the book was short and to the point without adding any unnecessary stuff.

I'm really digging Stephen Ball's take on divination using regular everyday playing cards. He's come up with a really fun system, using stories to help the reader remember what each card means and how it relates to the other cards in the spread. This turned out to be a way more interesting read than I was expected, and I'd highly recommend it for anyone intrigued by card divination!

#PlayingCardDivination #NetGalley

I didn't start reading this in time and my review expired. I read the begining of the book tho. I'm glad to have read it, it's interesting and I'll defenitely try divination with cards ! I'll probably pick it up in physical form to read the rest. For what I have read the writing is smooth and everything is well explained. The division of the chapters is coherent and I feel like the book would be very easy to use and flip through because of that.

I have experience using the Lenormand deck, and this book provided an opportunity to learn to read regular playing cards. The author gives clear, concise advice on layouts and detailed descriptions of each card and their meaning. I had a great time trying out the different layouts with a friend and deciphering their deeper meaning. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in cartomancy.

I received an arc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed learning about the differences between tarot and playing card divination. There’s a good amount of history presented here, along with a highly useful look at how to read playing cards. This sparked my interest and led to me ordering several packs of cards to experiment with. I still prefer tarot, but it’s nice to have another option up my sleeve.

This is a really fun book and covers something that I had been curious about. It's great for anyone familiar with using specialized card decks and interested in exploring an alternative.

I learned to read cards using playing cards and was very curious about this book.
It's interesting and I learned a lot of new things that I will surely try.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Playing Card Divination by Stephen Ball was a pleasant surprise when I began to read it. I am a novice at reading tarot and expected a book similar to the others I had been delving into. However, the author has taken a creative spin to using playing cards as a divination tool and I found his approach to be engaging and intuitive. Stephen Ball has great skill at communicating his thoughts and I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an independent system for divining from cards, I do not recommend this book for those who might be searching to augment their previous tarot knowledge, seeing as this system seems substantially different. I plan on returning to read this book again when I am in search for a new system to use.

Thank you to to Llewellyn Publications and Netgalley an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

When I dove into Playing Card Divination by Stephen Bell, I expected to have a fair amount of knowledge on the subject as a tarot reader and thought I would be looking at playing cards as a substitute for tarot. I discovered quickly into the book that the material the author presents is more original in nature and unique to his system. A system, to me, that is not interchangeable with tarot based on traditional card meanings. The author has done a fabulous job at writing a tale that walks the reader through the cards one by one. In this manner, comprehension of these unique meanings is better understood. Many thanks to Llewellyn Publications and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Looking for an alternative to a tarot deck? In Stephen Ball's new book, he takes you through the art of reading a deck of playing cards. Includes a description and story for the meaning of each card.

Part fantasy anthology and part divination manual, this book is an amazing reading for anyone who decides to give it a chance. Enchanting style, balanced description and some historical facts. I loved it!

At first glance this may be another take on an old tradition, but it’s more of an imaginative reboot for modern times. Along with outlining a good variety of card spreads, Stephen’s descriptions of the pip cards (in numerical order) and the court courts feature a very interesting approach. Each is given a name (e.g., Ace of Clubs: “Hunter’s Promise”) that introduces a narrative that draws the reader into the theme of the card. The card is then followed with thoughtful and oftentimes historical background. The story lines are both symbolic and descriptive, encouraging intuition to unfold. The organization of material is masterful and will be of great use to divination students and practitioners alike.

This is a new favorite book for me! I've been wanting to get into reading just plain old playing cards for so long because I just love them so much. Now I can! I also love that each card has a story, just makes it so much richer and easier to remember! Now I just need to go out and buy a really pretty set of cards just for readings.

The writing is easy to understand and rich when it comes to the story of each card. I couldn't have asked for a better book to help me learn playing cards!

A must have for anyone who has ever wanted to know about this subject!

Will go live on the blog: 3/25/2020

Having thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Ball's previous book, Elemental Divination, receiving an advanced copy of his next book was a great gift. And it did not disappoint.
I spent all day today with Playing Card Divination and a brand new pack of cards. What an amazing journey!
The book starts with the suits and numbers, then moves on to interpreting each card in the deck. I love how each of them is introduced by a two page fictional story, making the meaning so much clearer.
Upon finishing I felt like I'd gone down the rabbit hole and entered this brand new world. Just for fun and to practice what I'd learned, I did a deck interview with my cards (being a tarot reader that's what I do with a new deck), applying the meanings I'd collected from the book. It totally blew me away! I'm absolutely inspired.

Thank you Netgalley and Llewellyn for the ARC.

Oh my gosh, I love this book! I was initially drawn to it because I love playing cards and because I have always felt a strong connection and magnetic pull towards tarot and divination, which I can't explain. I have never actually practiced the art personally, so I was a little unsure at first. There are a lot of pages in this book and the amount of reading does seem a bit overwhelming at first glance, so I decided the best thing to do was to grab a deck of cards and just jump right in.

The author is right, playing cards are so accessible and I of course had a deck on hand. The reading was fantastic. I had the most amazing spiritual experience, I am just blown away! And I never would have had it, had I not picked up this book.

The book ended up being so easy to follow and understand, the layout is great and it makes finding your card a breeze. The writing is descriptive but not too much, so you don't get lost, and it is to the point.

I have always been attracted to playing cards, they have a certain energy and history about them and this book has helped me discover why. I'm not sure how seasoned card readers will view this book, but as a total newbie, I am in love!

***E-Arc received from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.***

This is a great book on everything you need to know about playing card divination. I've always wanted to learn more about this system and this book did not disappoint!

A brief history of this divination, how to do readings, and detailed meanings of each card are also included. I liked that the author included example readings and some spreads because reading playing cards are a little different than reading Tarot or Lenormand cards.

I did some readings for myself and for some others and found the readings to be very deep. They spoke to me on a more emotional level than the Tarot and were to the point and very honest which I really liked.

I look forward to purchasing this book soon and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in cartomancy. It's an easy system to use that will of course take a little bit of practice, but offers a rich and moving experience for both querent and reader.