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XAT Preparation 2020: XAT Study Material and Books

Faizan Bhombal

XAT is the second most tough entrance exam for candidates aiming to enter India’s top B schools. So, for highly competitive exam like XAT correct choice of books and study material for preparation becomes important, with thousands of books claiming to be the best in market. It is obvious for candidates to get confused about which to choose. To help candidates in this, our experts at PagalGuy have prepared a comprehensive list of best study material for XAT 2020 preparation. The books are suggested after robust study of difficulty level and section wise analysis of the exam.

Recommended Books and Study material for XAT 2020

Quantitative Ability

This section is the most time consuming of all because it is based on arithmetical problems.

Here are some books which candidates shouldn’t miss to prepare for the Quantitative Ability section:

  1. How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT – by Arun Sharma (Published by McGraw Hill).
  1. Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by R.S. Aggarwal
  1. ‘Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations’ by Abhijit Guha
  1. ‘Quantitative Aptitude Quantum CAT Common Admission Tests for Admission into IIMs’ by Sarvesh K Verma 

Decision Making:

Decision making is one of the most scoring section of the paper. It doesn’t depend on the factual study but on candidate’s subjective knowledge. Apart from below mentioned books we would recommend that candidate should thoroughly read last year questions on decision making to get an idea of the type of questions to expect in the exam.

  1. Target XAT 2019 (Past Papers 2005-2018+ 5 Mock tests by Disha Experts
  2. Jabbing the XAT Mock test and solved papers by R K JHA
  3. XAT (solved Papers 2008-2019) by Gautam Puri
  4. Analytical and logical reasoning (A&LR) by Arihant Publications

Verbal ability and Logical reasoning:

  1. ‘How to Prepare for Logical Reasoning for the CAT’ – by Arun Sharma (Published by McGraw Hill)
  1. How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT’- by Arun Sharma & Meenakshi Upadhyay
  1. ‘Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT’-by Nishit K Sinha
  1. How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension by Ajay Singh
  1. The Pearson Guide to Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning.
  1. Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning by R. S. Aggarwal
  1. Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning for The CAT and Other MBA Examinations by T.I.M.E.

Data Interpretation:

  1. ‘How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for CAT’ – by Arun Sharma (Published by McGraw Hill).
  1. Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT’ – by Nishit K Sinha (Published by Pearson)

Stay connected with fellow students on PaGaLGuY for XAT 2020 Preparation

XAT General Knowledge:

To get a grasp on the GK section, reading newspapers every day is the most important thing required. Other important study materials required to be thoroughly read every day are as below:

Mock Test series:

  1. Target XAT Exam (Past Papers 2005 – 2016 + 5 Mock Tests)

Candidates should go through all the mock tests possible as this practice would only help them understand the level of their preparations. The final preparation is incomplete without attempting practice test papers and recognizing your weak subjects. As much important it is to study books, it’s equally important to attempt the mock test papers.

Other important study material:

  1. Latest RC Passages and practice questions provided by Study centres like TIME, CL among others
  2. Editorial and short articles published in English newspapers
  3. ‘Word Power Made Easy’ – by Norman Lewis
  4. ‘High School English Grammar & Composition’ – by Wren & Martin
  5. Regularly solve the Verbal Ability questions from your XAT study material especially on Para summary, Jumbled Paragraphs
  6. Barron’s Dictionary
  7. High School English Grammar & Composition by Wren, Martin
  8. 30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary by Wilfred Funk and Norman Lewis
  9. ‘How to build a better vocabulary’ by Maxwell Nurnberg and Morris Rosenblum.

These books will help candidates to improve their vocabulary which is crucial in almost all sections of the exam. Not only here, but these will help candidates in GD/PI rounds.

All the best!

For more XAT Articles please check below: