LSAT Prep Book Recommendations

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Here's the moment you've all been waiting for: my LSAT prep book recommendations.

Happy holidays to everyone. There WILL be more tips next week too, don't worry - not everyone is on vacation. :D Recommendations below. Stay warm!

PrepTests 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56
by LSAC

Each are only sold individually, as LSAC has not yet published a book of ten exams containing them. Because the exam has changed in recent years, you'll need several of these to study effectively.

When to use: after you've completed the other PrepTests.

The Next 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests
by LSAC (older edition)

Contains PrepTests 29-38 and is the newest book of ten. It's essential that you get your hands on these in order to study effectively.

When to use: during exam prep.

10 More Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests
by LSAC (older edition)

Contains PrepTests 19-28.

When to use: during exam prep.

10 Actual Official LSAT PrepTests
by LSAC (older edition)

Contains most PrepTests from 7-18. Only worth doing if you're studying far enough in advance that you'll have enough time to do the most recent exams as well.

Note: These exams are really old - from 12/92 - 9/95. Don't be concerned if some of the games are a bit difficult. You'll rarely see these types on recent exams.

When to use (if at all): in early stages of preparation to familiarize yourself with the exam.

The Official LSAT SuperPrep
by LSAC (older edition)

Contains a few exams you can't find anywhere else: 2/96, 2/99, and 2/00. The explanations within are the biggest selling point, but most people find them to be confusing and technical.

When to use (if at all): in early stages of preparation.


June 2007 LSAT exam (PDF)
by LSAC

Free sample exam. Treat it as if it were PrepTest 52.5 when making your study schedule.


Logic Made Easy: How to Know When Language Deceives You
by Deborah Bennett (older edition)

Although not explicitly written for test-prep purposes, this book contains several logical reasoning-type questions and reviews several common fallacies. The author is clearly familiar with the LSAT, and this makes the book more relevant for our purposes. I highly recommend reading this because it is clear, full of simple examples, and concise. You can skip the parts on the history of logic.

American Scientist's review.

When to read: Before you begin LSAT prep or when you need a break from practice exams.

Informal Logic: A Pragmatic Approach
by Douglas N. Walton (older edition)

Clearly explains and demonstrate multiple examples of valid and invalid arguments. Walton is obsessed with logical fallacies and covers many of the common ones appearing on the LSAT.

When to read: Before you begin studying or when you need a break.

Elementary Logic: Revised Edition
by William V. Quine

At 144 pages, it's short and sweet. It's also the first-ever logic textbook (originally published 1941, revised 1980). It discusses many basic issues (necessary/sufficient, etc.) relevant to LSAT logic. If you have the time/inclination, feel free to look it up, but it's by no means necessary.

When to read: Before you begin studying or when you need a break.

How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method
by George Polya (Older editions)

Simple advice on problem solving and logical thinking. It's useful because it gives you a framework to identify and analyze the relationship between evidence and conclusion. Wikipedia, this summary, and the following will probably be enough for you.

The book gives you some questions to ask yourself about any Logic Game or Logical Reasoning Stimulus:

1. What information is unknown/provided? Does the evidence/premise satisfy the conclusion?
2. How is this game/stimulus similar to others you've done? Questions do tend to come back in future exams (with different topics, of course).
3. Does a restatement (the contrapositive) of the argument help?
4. What inferences can you make?
5. How can you use these inferences?

Another nice summary.

When to read it: Before you begin studying or when you need a break.

The Little Luxe Book of Sudoku: 335 Easy to Hard Puzzles and The Little Black Book of Sudoku: 400 Puzzles
by Will Shortz

Number puzzles exercise your brain and get it ready for the logic games.

When to use: Before you begin studying or when you need a break.

That's it - see you next year!

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Next week: How to study for a retake (or what to do when you've already used too many PrepTests)...

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5 Easy Logic Games Tips: How to Solve LSAT Logic Games with Diagrams in Minutes, not Hours

These Logic Games tips will help you to tackle each Logic Game in under 7 minutes. Think it's impossible? Think again! (Click here for several more Logic Games tips.)

1. Draw a diagram.

LSAT prep companies often say you need to draw a grid for each game, rather than a simple slot diagram. What is a slot diagram? I describe it in detail in my free subscribers-only Logic Games tip sheet. I also demonstrate it at my regularly-held free LSAT workshops. However, I'll briefly explain: it's a simple way to map the information in linear and combination games (games with both a linear and grouping element). Grids are time-consuming, but drawing slots for each letter (in a six person/thing game, it looks like: _ _ _ _ _ _ ) requires less space and time.

2. Use diagrams from earlier questions.

Keep your diagrams from the first few questions of each game because they will often save you time in later questions. If you haven't noticed this yet, try something new. Draw a separate diagram for each "if" question next to the answer choices for that question. Use the space at the bottom of the page to sketch your main diagram, which should contain your inferences from all the rules. In the vast majority of games, at least one previously-drawn diagram will help you solve a later question in a particular game. This lets you get through the question without having to draw a brand-new scenario.

3. For all "If" questions, draw a diagram before you look at any answer choices.

If you've look at any LSAT logic game, you'll probably see a question like the following: "If R is placed in the third position, which one of the following must be true?" or "If S is placed last, it could be true that..." I tell my students to stop reading the question right after the first half of the sentence (where the comma is) and to immediately sketch what must be true. More often than not, this bare-bones sketch alone will lead you to the correct answer. Rather than reading through the answer choices and trying each one out, you have effectively predicted the correct answer, saving valuable time.

4. Apply each rule, one-by-one, to the answer choices in the general "acceptability" questions.

The majority of games start with a question like "Which one of the following is an acceptable ordering / grouping / assignment..." etc. Four of the choices will each contain a scenario violating one rule or another, while only one will be acceptable. There are two ways to attack these questions. The first is the slow way - you might look at choice "A" and see if it follows each of the approximately five rules of the game. If it doesn't, then move to choice "B", etc. However, this approach requires you to go back and forth between the rules and the choices, costing you over a minute for what is typically a game's easiest question. The more efficient method is to take an "assembly-line" approach to this question type. Take the game's first rule and check it against each answer choice. After (hopefully) eliminating one or two choices, take the next rule and apply it to the remaining answer choices.

5. When the possibilities in a game are limited, map them all out.

Sometimes a game's rules interact in very restricting ways. For example, in Game 2 of PrepTest 37 (June 2002), which is about placing seven trucks in a certain order, the possibilities for the first three spaces become severely restricted after placing the other four trucks. Trucks X, Z, and U are the only ones left to be placed. Because Z must come before U, the only options are "X Z U", "Z X U" or "Z U X". Of course, you could just map one possibility, and if that doesn't work, start another. However, many students end up trying one possibility, and then they become frustrated when it doesn't work, wasting valuable time.

It's faster to sketch out the "skeleton" or "must be true" aspects of each possibility and then see which of those might actually work. I recommend listing each possibility immediately and then going through the game's questions. The bottom line: do one type of task at a time (diagramming each possibility, then reading the answer choices for each question). This will significantly decrease the amount of time you spend on each game.

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