BOOKLIST FOR IAS EXAM

Basic tips

No strategy is perfect. The best strategy is to follow limited books and revise them again and again. You can opt for any resources as per your convenience.
No need to read heavy books. Our aim is to clear the exam and not to research on any subjects.
Old question papers are the most important. It is because many times questions repeat, directly or indirectly. Second thing, we can understand the important areas of the subject from the exam point of view. You can refer to Arihant’s old question paper book.
Newspapers should be read on a daily basis. For English Medium, either The Hindu or The Indian Express may be referred. The preparation of General studies is incomplete without a newspaper.
You should keep one thing in your mind and it should never be forgotten anymore that the “UPSC exam is not predictable, so we should give equal importance to all subjects.”
NCERTs books are basics/foundation for UPSC preparation. We should complete NCERTs before step into standard books. So, for every subject, first, cover NCERTs and then standard reference books.

Polity

Indian polity is one of the easiest and highly scoring subjects.
Nowadays, UPSC is asking questions based on basic concepts like Liberty (2019), Constitutionalism, Social capital (2019). Such questions can’t be covered by Laxmikanth. For this, NCERTs are important. So, you can refer to Class IX and X NCERTs. Also, Class XI NCERT- Indian Constitution at work is very important.
After finishing NCERTs, you can refer to Laxmikanth.
From Lakshmikant, the first half is very important you need to give a lot of time, and the second half especially constitutional bodies and non-constitutional additional bodies you have to make notes short notes and make a comparison.

Economy

In the economy, many questions are basic levels like Budget, inflation, CRR, SLR, etc. For this, NCERT XI (Indian Economic Development), NCERT XII (Macro Economics) are important. Especially, focus on the glossary part.
You can also watch Mrunal Sir’s Economy lectures.
After finishing the basics, you can refer to Indian Economy Key Concepts – Shankar Ganesh. I am suggesting this book as it is brief and crisp. You can revise it easily.
Additionally, you have to cover the Budget Speech, Budget summary, and Economic Survey summary. You can refer to IAS Score or Vision IAS summary.

Geography

Here again, you can follow the same rule. First, finish NCERTs. If your basics are not that good, you can read from Class 6 to 10 NCERTs.
You can also refer to Examrace videos on YouTube, as it is easier to understand concepts by watching rather than reading.
If you are comfortable with your basics, then you can skip Class VI to Class X and directly refer to Class XI and XII NCERTs (4 Books).
Once you are done with NCERTs, now you can read GC Leong. In GC Leong focus more on diagrams and the concepts not covered in NCERTs.
Every year there are at 2-3 questions based on Mapping in the prelims exam. For this, refer to Atlas (Orient Black Swan or Oxford atlas). You can also watch YouTube videos (DRISHTI IAS, Only IAS, etc.) for mapping.

Science

Usually, science and tech is less focused area. However, many serious aspirants lose their year by 0.33 marks. So, har Ek marks jaruri hota he (Every mark is important).
Resources

For basics refer to Class IX, X, XI, and XII NCERTs. Here, focus on the application of science.
Defense chapter of India Year Book
S&T Chapter of India Year Book.
For S&T Current Affairs, you can refer PT 365 of Vision IAS.
Use Youtube videos to understand the basic and advanced concepts of Science and tech. It is easier. You can watch Augmented Reality Vs. Virtual Reality (2019), wearable technology (2019), multi-drug resistance (2019)

Environment

Since the last few years’ more questions are asked from this section. Also, this section overlaps with Science and geography.
Resources

Ncert VII Class (Our Environment)
Ncert Science (Class 8)—Ch7
Ncert Science (Class 9)—Ch14
Ncert Science (Class 10)—Ch15, 16
Ncert Fundamentals of Physical Geography (Class XI)—Ch12, 15, 16
Ncert Biology (Class 12)—Ch13, 14, 15, 16
Ncert India: Physical Environment (class XI)—Ch5
For deeper insights, you can refer Shankar IAS book on the environment.
Environment chapter of India Year Book.

History

If you haven’t read anything or you are completely new to history, you can start with Our Past NCERTs (3 in total). These are very brief books.
For Art and Culture, Textbook for Class-XI (An Introduction to Indian Art – Part-1) is recommended.
According to the trend of questions asked in history, the following reference books are the most recommended Spectrum -Modern History, ANCIENT HISTORY – RS Sharma, MEDIEVAL HISTORY- Satish Chandra.
Focus more on Modern history, and Art & Culture portion.

Current affairs

The best strategy is to read The Hindu or Indian Express, make notes and revise it. I will soon post about How to read newspapers.

Don’t ignore CSAT

CSAT is one of the overlooked parts of the UPSC Civil Service Exam owing to the fact that students need to only qualify for the examination. But in 2019, due to the difficulty level of the questions asked, this has yet again found priority. Take this paper seriously. If you do not qualify CSAT, you will not be eligible for Mains no matter what your score is in the General Studies-I paper.
Strategy

First, solve previous year papers of 3 years. If you score more than 50 % in all of the previous year question papers then there is nothing to worry about and just practice one or two mocks before the prelims exam.
If you are scoring less than 50%, then you have to take it seriously.
There is no hard and fast rule for CSAT. If you are from a mathematics background and clear with your basics such as ratio, percentage, etc. then take any standard available book and practice.
And if your basics are not that good, then learn formulae and solve questions from NCERT maths textbooks of 6–10th class depending upon the availability of topics. You can also refer Free to learn YouTube Videos.
English Comprehension takes up 40% of the question. English grammar improvement can be done by taking up lessons from WREN and MARTIN. This is a good book for those who do not find themselves very comfortable in handling English questions).
For reading comprehension, do editorial readings regularly, particularly on governance articles and environment articles.
Daily practice is much more effective rather practicing whole mock at one go. For Quantitative Aptitude practice, you can use Magical Book on Quicker Maths – M.Tyra
During the exam just attempt that section first which is your strength like it could be logical reasoning or Comprehension or any other topic.

Focus on Mains simultaneously

Don’t prepare for prelims alone, prepare keeping mains in mind. Post prelims, we don’t have much time. We have to revise Optional, cover current affairs, do writing practice and many more things will be there on the list. So, work smart.
While preparing History and Geography, refer to GS I (Mains) papers of past years and try to frame answers mentally. Cover History, Geography, and Culture area from Mains point of view.
Again, while reading Laxmikanth, make separate notes on the Supreme Court judgments given in Laxmikanth. Many times Mains questions can be answered through basic books. Eg. Adovcate General (2019), Kihoto Hollohan Judgement (2017), etc
For other subjects too, you can follow the same strategy. It will save your time and energy post prelims.

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