Fortune tellers can be found in every city and town, in hidden corners and strip malls. Whereas the carnival types adhere to the campy accoutrements of veils and candles, more modern seers look a lot more like your next-door neighbor than a powerful mystic. Even the most skeptical have probably skimmed a horoscope, consulted a psychic, or intuited hidden significance in everyday occurrences.
October seems like an opportune time to think about fortune tellers and their devices. The following books are centered around prognostication, both in fiction and nonfiction. Whether you believe in the power of foresight or not, curiosity about our fates remains a constant source of reflection and wonder.
![]() | The Immortalists - Chloe Benjamin
"A traveling psychic claims to be able to tell anyone the day they will die. The Gold children—four adolescents on the cusp of self-awareness—sneak out to hear their fortunes and the prophecies inform their next five decades." |
![]() | The Lace Reader - Brunonia Barry
"After vowing never to read lace again, Towner's resolve is tested when faced with the mysterious, unsolvable disappearance of her beloved Great Aunt Eva, Salem's original Lace Reader." |
![]() | The Strange Inheritance of Leah Fern - Rita Zoey Chin
"Leah Fern begins her life as the "Youngest and Very Best Fortuneteller in the World," whose mother posthumously leads her on a journey to nine points on the map." |
![]() | The Probable Future - Alice Hoffman
"Young Stella struggles to cope with her disturbing clairvoyance. Her potential to ruin or redeem becomes unbearable when one of her premonitions puts her father in jail, wrongly accused of homicide." |
![]() | The Moon, The Stars, and Madame Burova - Ruth Hogan
"Before she retires from her mother's fortune-telling business, she has one last thing to do--to fulfill a promise made in the 1970s." |
![]() | The Fortune Seller - Rachel Kapelke-Dale
"A talented tarot reader, Annelise is unlike anyone Rosie has ever met--but when one of their friends notices money disappearing from her bank account, Annelise's place in the circle is thrown into question." |
![]() | The Teller of Small Fortunes - Julie Leong
"Tao is a traveling fortune teller of "small" fortunes when one fortune unexpectedly becomes something more as she is recruited into a desperate search for a lost child." |
![]() | How to Seal Your Own Fate - Kristin Perrin
"Annie Adams is just settling into life in Castle Knoll when local fortune-teller Peony Lane shares a cryptic message only hours before being found dead inside the locked Gravesdown estate." |
![]() | The Tarot of Perfection - Rachel Pollack
"A collection of wildly vivid tales of tarot, divination, imagination, and desire that are by turns profound, touching, and outrageously funny." |
![]() | Fortune Teller's Daughter - Susan Wilson
"Sabine "sees" a tragic event that occurred more than three hundred years ago, which is linked to a painful secret. Now, she must face the gift of "seeing" she's inherited but rejected -- for only then can she learn the truth." |
![]() | The Fortune Teller - Gwendolyn Womack
"A manuscript is both a memoir and a prophecy that appears to be the work of a powerful seer, describing devastating wars and natural disasters in detail thousands of years before they occurred." |
![]() | Diary of a Psychic: Shattering the Myths - Sonia Choquette
"Choquette helps identify specific soul paths to make the most of all the opportunities that are available and helps dissolve the blocks that stop clients from being who they truly are." |
![]() | The Creative Tarot: A Modern Guide to an Inspired Life - Jessa Crispin
"A unique guidebook that reimagines tarot cards and the ways they can boost the creative process with a wealth of anecdotes about famous artists." |
![]() | The Tarot: History, Mystery, and Lore - Cynthia Giles
"With more than 40 illustrations and entertaining text, this elegantly designed book captures the scope, powers, and romance of the Tarot throughout the ages." |
![]() | The Tales Behind Tarot: Discover the Stories Within Your Tarot Cards - Alison Davies
"With keywords and themes to help you understand the meanings of the cards, use this storybook as a tool to learn the tarot, or take your tarot readings to the next level." |
![]() | The Premonitions Bureau: A True Account of a Death Foretold - Sam Knight
"An enthralling account of madness and wonder, of science and the supernatural. With an unforgettable ending, it is a mysterious journey into the most unsettling reaches of the human mind." |
Summaries sourced from publisher materials.
October's Featured Review
![]() | Imaginary Friend - Stephen Chbosky
"Great for fans of sprawling stories with a large cast of lovingly developed characters and anyone who yearns for a book truly worthy of the investment of time." |
Hop on the Holds List
Heart the Lover – Lily Kingfisher
Wreck – Catherine Newman
Mate - Ali Hazelwood
Evil Bones – Kathy Reichs
The Storm – Rachel Hawkins
Quote of the Month:
“The past is always tense, the future perfect.”
― Zadie Smith
Bookish News and Links:
Want personalized recommendations? Fill out a questionnaire to get a customized list sent directly to your email
Love Lists? Try these:
Here is one of many Goodreads lists of books featuring fortune tellers.
What Should I Read Next has some more recommendations on the subject.
If you want to do a deep dive into the Tarot, The Tarot Lady has some suggestions for beginners.
Adaptation News: Upcoming movies and shows based on books:
The Lost Bus, based on Paradise by Lizzie Johnson - Apple TV+, Oct. 3
Steve, based on the novel Shy by Max Porter - Netflix, Oct. 3
The Woman in Cabin 10, based on Ruth Ware's thriller - Netflix, Oct. 10
Frankenstein, a Guillermo del Toro's interpretation of Mary Shelley's classic - Theaters, Oct. 17
Deliver Me From Nowhere, based on Warren Zanes' profile of Bruce Springsteen - Theaters, Oct. 24
Regretting You, the latest adaptation of a Colleen Hoover title - Theaters, Oct. 24
Recent Reads
I have recently finished reading The Contortionist's Handbook by Craig Clevenger and Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. I also just finished listening to She's A Lamb! by Meredith Hambrock..
I am currently reading Play Nice by Rachel Harrison and Aquired Taste, a collection of short stories by Clay McLeod Chapman . I am also listening to the audiobook of Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier.
What is your takeon the existence of psychic powers? If you could learn your fate, what would you want-and not want-to know? Fill me in at: jegan@gpl.org.
Until next time: Be safe, be well, and be well-read!
Joelle
So, who am I, anyway? I am a resident of West Groton, with a husband, four mostly-grown children, and a Samoyed that keeps my vacuum well-employed. I am currently working part-time at the Groton Public Library and writing monthly reviews for Booklist Magazine. In a former life, I was a Director of PR/Marketing at a high-tech consulting firm. My BA is in Psychology, but most of my time was spent in college earning a Concentration in the Novel. That is all to say that I make no claims at being an expert of any kind, and my thoughts, opinions. and mistakes are solely my own. I am just a person whose passion for books has continued to grow from the moment I was first able to grip and gnaw on them. I have been devouring them ever since.
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