The 15 Astrology Books You Need on Your Bookshelf

A master list of my all time favorite astrology books

Happy Gemini season everyone!

Since Gemini is the sign associated with the sharing of ideas and learning random tidbits of information, I thought that talking about my favorite astrology books would be the perfect topic for this month’s newsletter. There are so many astrology book options out there that figuring out which ones are the best can feel overwhelming at times. Out of my personal library of 50+ astrology books, I’ve narrowed it down to my 15 absolute favorites. These include a mix of beginner, intermediate, and more advanced books. And if you have astrology books that you absolutely love and want to recommend to people, feel free to leave a comment below. 

Before we get into it, I have some life updates. For anyone who doesn’t follow me on social media, I got engaged at the end of April! So I am now planning a wedding for next year. I’m not going to lie, I knew the engagement was coming, but I was surprised by the exact day it happened. Based on the astrological transits, I had written down a list of potential dates I thought it might be. However, my partner somehow managed to choose the one day I didn’t suspect, because it was on his birthday weekend, and I thought no way would he propose that close to his birthday. I guess I should have known something major like this would occur during eclipse season though! On a side note, I will have to do a future newsletter on what to look at astrologically when you’re choosing a wedding date or doing something big like launching a business or buying a home. 

And my first book comes out next week on June 1!!! I can’t believe it’s already here. The description of what the book is about is in this list below, and it would mean the world to me if you preordered it ahead of its release (I recommend using Blackwell’s for shipping to the US). Preorders are very important, because they influence how many copies bookstores decide to stock. I’m also in the process of planning an exciting book event in London in June for anyone who lives there , so stay tuned for more information on that. 

Monthly Recs

TV/Movies: I rewatched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and cried so hard at the end. I love how the characters played by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett meet in the middle as one grows older and one grows younger. I also went to see Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret in theaters, which was cute but obviously geared towards a pre-teen audience. It’s a weird feeling as you get older and find that you relate much more with the parents’ perspective in movies and tv than you do with the teenagers.

Non astrology books: 

Speaking of Judy Blume, I recently read one of her adult novels, Summer Sisters, which was published in 1998. It’s about an intense female friendship and how it evolves as both girls get older. The book covers their lives from the ages of 12 to 30. Such a good, easy beach read. 

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett. This book is a masterpiece. It has everything I love in a plot - a family history spanning decades and it’s set in midcentury America. It’s basically about a brother and sister who get thrown out of their family home by their stepmother, and they continue to fixate on this house for the entirety of their adult lives. There’s also the interesting contrast between their biological mother who has abandoned them in order to devote her life to helping the poor and the stepmother who is obsessed with money and having this enormous house.

My Top 15 Astrology Books

The Basics

You Were Born for This by Chani Nicholas. This book is great if you’re a complete astrology beginner. It gives good explanations on your sun, moon and rising signs, as well a the other planets like Venus, Mercury, Mars, etc and what they mean when they’re placed in different signs and houses in your chart. If you are already familiar with your birth chart though, you likely won’t learn anything new here. The author’s app called CHANI is another amazing resource for looking at your chart.

The Twelve Houses by Howard Sasportas. The houses are just as important as the signs in astrology, even if you don’t have planets falling in a few of them. Especially when you get into predictive astrology, every house will be awakened for you at some point in your life because of planets transiting through the houses, so you need to have the significations of all twelve houses memorized. In addition to describing the meaning behind each house, the author gets into what it means to have planets there too.

Aspects in Astrology by Sue Tompkins. This is the best book on aspects out there. I felt so seen by her interpretations of some of the aspects I have in my own chart, and she gives such helpful insight that I have found nowhere else. Another great component of this book is that it goes in depth on the various moon phases you can be born under, like what it means to be a new moon baby, full moon baby, or somewhere in between. 

Astrology and the Authentic Self by Demetra George. Demetra is the type of astrologer I aspire to be in 30-40 years time. She’s been practicing since the 1980s, and she has some amazing books out there on traditional astrology techniques. This book is ideal for anyone who wants to be a practicing astrologer and is curious about what to prioritize in a chart reading. It doesn’t give individual meanings for the signs, planets, houses, etc, because you’re already expected to know that information coming into it. But what it is good for is synthesizing all of the various parts of your chart, and knowing how they work together as a whole. She covers topics like planetary rulerships, sect, moon phases, and how to determine a person’s career calling by analyzing specific parts of the chart.

More Advanced Techniques

Trust Your Timing by Alice Bell. You didn’t think I would create this whole list and not include my own book?! This is a book on relationship astrology, but instead of worrying about if your signs are compatible with someone, it is about empowering yourself by understanding your own dating and relationship patterns. The book is split up into 4 sections: the first being an introduction to looking at your birth chart, the second is about looking at your chart through the lens of relationships - it goes deep into moon, Venus and Mars signs, the relationship houses and how to deal with difficult relationship placements in your chart, the third section is all about what to prioritize when you’re analyzing a synastry chart, and the fourth is about using transits to track periods of both relationship happiness and growth as well as relationship stress. You do not have to be single to read this book, as it can show when your relationship might go through different phases, and it helps you to better understand relationship patterns you might not even be aware of. To reiterate, it’s out June 1 and available to order here.

Planets in Solar Returns by Mary Fortier Shea. For those who aren’t familiar with what a solar return chart is, it is essentially a chart that refreshes every year on your birthday and shows what the vibe is for that particular 12 month period. It explains why some years of your life might be super fun and social, while others are much more career focused or possibly a time when you’re focused on mental health or family relationships. Solar returns add another layer of interpretation to how a particular transit will go for you. This book describes what every single planet in a house of the solar return chart means, as well as the different types of solar return chart configurations you can have. 

Astrology, Karma & Transformation by Stephen Arroyo. This author is one of my favorite astrology writers out there so check out his other books too. This book jumps around a lot and covers many different topics. He gets into things like the Saturn return, outer plant transits, secondary progressions, and aspects in your birth chart to planets like Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto. I remember having so many ah-ha moments while reading this. 

The Gods of Change by Howard Sasportas. This book focuses specifically on the transits of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, and how these transits tend to bring about major, once in a lifetime type of changes. It goes through what it means to have these planets transiting through specific houses of your chart as well as over natal planets. If anyone has Aquarius, Taurus, Scorpio, or Leo placements, you will definitely want to read this book to get a better idea of what Pluto moving through Aquarius means for you. The author also gets into pivotal turning points in life marked by the Uranus opposition (mid-40s) and the Uranus return (age 84), as well as the Pluto square (40s) or the Neptune sextile (mid to late 20s). 

Planets in Transit by Robert Hand. This is a must have book for every astrologer’s library. It essentially lists out what every single planet transiting through every single house and over every single planet means, almost like an astrological dictionary. This is the book that immensely helped me when I started writing horoscopes in 2019. 

Astrological Time by Brian Clark. This book is jam packed with information on transits, progressions, and planetary returns. It’s definitely more complex, kind of like a textbook, but a great resource to understand how these main timing techniques work.

Super Niche Topics 

Saturn in Transit by Erin Sullivan. This author is another one of my favorites (I’ve listed another book by her below). Here, she focuses solely on Saturn transits through the houses, as well as the various cycles of Saturn over the course of your lifetime, like the Saturn square, Saturn return and Saturn opposition. If you are in the midst of your Saturn return right now (Feb 1994-March 1996 birthdays) and are trying to make sense of what you’re feeling, this is the book you need to be reading. In general for everyone though, it’s helpful to know what house Saturn is currently transiting in your chart, because that’s likely an area where you’re likely feeling a lot of pressure and stress. 

Planets in Therapy by Greg Bogart. This book approaches astrology through the lens of mental health. It gives a psychological approach to the planets and houses, and gets into transits that might make you prioritize your mental health more. Even if you’re an astrology beginner, this book is still fairly easy to read and isn’t super dense. 

Body Astrology by Claire Gallagher. If you’re curious about what the best wellness practices or exercise routines are for you based on your chart, this book is a must read. The first part of each sign can be read for your sun, moon and rising, and then she gets into what it means if other planets are placed in that sign like Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, etc. At the back of the book, she also gives helpful tips on how to pay greater attention to certain planets when they are being affected by transits. For instance, if you have Mercury in Pisces, the current transit of Saturn in Pisces will urge you to take the health themes associated with Mercury a lot more seriously for about a year long period. 

The Astrology of Midlife and Aging by Erin Sullivan. Astrological events like the Saturn return get talked about so often (I’m definitely guilty of doing this), but what happens after that? This book gets into the transits to watch out for starting in your mid to late 30s going all the way to your 90s. I love understanding the astrology behind specific phases of life, which is what this book does so well.

Cosmos & Psyche. This book is not an easy read, but it’s a must if you’re wanting to understand how astrology ties into major world events, like what the astrology is at times of war, recessions or on a more positive note, major creative breakthroughs and scientific innovations. This is the field of astrology referred to as mundane astrology. Major outer planetary alignments, like Saturn aspecting Pluto or Jupiter aspecting Uranus, happen every few years and when that occurs, history tends to repeat itself.