Your Mercury Guide to the Best Books for Your Sign

First published in online Stellar, a free astrology magazine: https://www.astrologicalassociation.com/stellar/

Mercury indicates the stories we gravitate towards, the themes and styles of expression that draw us in. Find your own Mercury story….

Mercury in Aries

 Fast-paced narratives with an engaging plot. Elements of combat and self-assertion. Biographies of pioneers and leaders. Characters who initiate action and take charge. Suggestions: Enzo Ferrari: The Man and the Machine by Brock Yates (the excitement of speed and entrepreneurial spirit through the biography of Ferrari’s founder); Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir (page-turner; urgency and rapid problem-solving). Red Rising by Pierce Brown, pacy sci-fi, full of battle and betrayals.

Mercury in Taurus

Stories of resilience and earned success. Slower build-up. Descriptions of sensory experiences. Interest in financial matters. Narratives featuring classical beauty and pastoral nature.

Suggestions: Medici Chronicles by Matteo Strukul (Italian Renaissance; focused on the House of Medici, powerful Florentine dynasty of bankers and cultural patrons); I, Mona Lisa by Natasha Solomons (story of resilience through centuries and lasting value, narrated from the perspective of the painting). Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel, food and sensuous delights.

Mercury in Gemini

Versatility, both in form and content. Short stories, essay collections, letters and journals. Witty and youthful elements in storytelling. Exploring friendship and sibling relationships.

Suggestions: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (journal entry form; teenage narrator; romance and sibling dynamics); Lady Susan by Jane Austen (epistolary novella; satirical comedy; social intrigue).

Mercury in Cancer

Emotional memory and the past, both personal and collective. Multi-generational narratives and family dynamics. Deeply subjective experience and perception. Introspective, emotionally attuned characters.

Suggestions: Arturo’s Island by Elsa Morante (poetic, first-person reflection on childhood and adolescence; complex relationship with place of origin and family); The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery (sensitive and cautious protagonist steps out of her comfort zone in search of independence).

Mercury in Leo

Stories with a prominent hero/heroine. An appreciation for the dramatic and epic. “More is more” approach. Explorations of personal identity. Memoirs and biographies of public figures and royalty.

Suggestions: Blood and Beauty by Sarah Dunnant (dramatic and flamboyant; set in 15th century Italy, around the notorious Borgia pope and his family); Gentlemen Prefer Blonds by Anita Loos (fun and glamorous).

Mercury in Virgo

Purposeful reading, for gaining specialised knowledge or developing a skill. Realistic stories centered around the ‘average’ person’s experience. Well-structured and detail conscious narratives.

Suggestions: Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier (focused on the servant girl modelling for Vermeer’s painting; elegant, attentive to detail and the day-to-day experience); Atomic Habits by James Clear (self-help book on building productive habits).

Mercury in Libra

Relationship dynamics and social relations. The theme of inner dilemmas and choice-making. Explorations of romance and friendship. Lighter atmosphere and refined language.

Suggestions: The Ladies’ Paradise by Emile Zola (social commentary and love story, set around an affluent Parisian department store); Vanity Fair by W.M. Thackeray (satire; social ambition and superficiality contrasted with moral values).

Mercury in Scorpio

Thematically and emotionally intense. An element of crisis and coming to terms with loss of control. The idea of transforming and re-building on all levels. In-depth exploration of the human psyche.

Suggestions: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (questioning social norms around sin, guilt and revenge; occult and supernatural imagery); The Red and the Black by Stendhal (one of the first modern psychological novels; deep exploration of motivation and hypocrisy).

Mercury in Sagittarius

Adventure, exploration and action. Mythology and an element of the heroic. Search for higher meaning and fulfilment, often through philosophy or religion. Narratives focusing on the journey, rather than a concrete end-goal.

Suggestions: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (adventure; personal transformation; questioning justice and revenge); Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (novelistic retelling of the Norse myths).

Mercury in Capricorn

Realistic stories of success and hardship. Coming of age narratives. Classics. Biographies and memoirs of professionally successful people. Clear structure and purposeful conclusions.

Suggestions: The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy (questioning the value of financial success and social status; clash between material and non-material values; multi generational); The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder (life story of one of the world’s most successful investors). Apple co-creator bio Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.

Mercury in Aquarius

Interest in the wider collective through political topics and ideology. Class dynamics. Explorations of the evolution of humanity, with a future oriented outlook.

Suggestions: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and 1984 by George Orwell (dystopian classics); The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (power, class inequality and media propaganda).

Mercury in Pisces

Fantasy, elements of fairytale, surrealism and escapism. Narratives involving a spiritual thread. Bending genres and conventional rules of literary form and style.

Suggestions: The Neverending Story by Michael Ende (epic fantasy, “story within a story”, philosophical and spiritual reflections); Never by Jessa Hastings (modern re-telling of the Peter Pan in fantasy romance genre). JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series.