CAT Books for 2025: Check Section-wise List recommended by Experts

Candidates must read books on economy, philosophy, science, astronomy, psychology, sociology, history, geography, psychoanalysis, economics, astronomy, art & culture, literature, fiction novels, auto-biographies and biographies. Most of the passages that appear in any MBA entrance exam are based on these topics. The RC passages length may vary but most of the times the language is tough with foreign words and expressions or a good amount of data.

It is also recommended to candidates to read research papers, survey reports, etc. to have the practice of understanding and relating data in a quick read. Always refer to dictionary for word meanings while reading books.

CAT lays a lot of emphasis on analytical skills so the questions are asked mostly from those topics which require deep learning and practice. The three sections of CAT question paper are designed in such a way that candidates have to use their ability of minute observation and fast calculation. Shared below are the section wise main topics from which questions are asked in CAT. Verbal Ability: Parajumbles, Parasummary, Sentence Completion and Inferences

• Reading Comprehension: Questions based on passages, Para meaning, Order of sentences 
• Data Interpretation: Tables, Graphs, Pie Charts, Venn Diagram, Data Sufficiency
• Logical Reasoning: Blood Relation, Seating Arrangement, Syllogism, Coding-Decoding, Sets and Caselets, Family Tree, Assumptions
• Quantitative Aptitude: Geometry, Algebra Number System Modern Math, Arithmetic, Mensuration

The difficulty level of CAT questions is usually moderate to high. Only a few questions are easy and quick to solve. To crack the CAT exam, one needs to pay attention to the abovementioned topics.

Quantitative Aptitude is the last section of CAT. By the time you reach this section, it is natural for fatigue to set it. Don’t get bogged down by fatigue. Stay energized and alert as this section requires Mathematical calculations. Read the questions calmly and then choose the ones you can solve with maximum accuracy. The CAT Quantitative Aptitude section is dominated by Mensuration and Arithmetic, so have a good control on those topics.

Do not spend too much time on any question that is posing a challenge to you. Do not get greedy and fall in the trap of negative marking.

The best way to prepare for DILR section is through practice. Before starting the preparation, aspirants should check previous years’ question papers. Since there is not much conceptual understanding required in this section, practice is important.

Some of the most popular books on DILR section that you can refer are How to Prepare for Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning for CAT by Arun Sharma, Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT by Nishit Sinha, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning for CAT by Pearson, to name a few.

CAT question papers are released within a week of the exam in the form of a PDF as a response sheet and answer key. Candidates who have appeared for the test are able to access the CAT question paper and answer key. The question paper of every slot is released on the same day along with candidate response sheet and official answer to all question. If any candidate needs previous year CAT question papers for preparation purpose, then they can download them from Shiksha website. We have hosted last five years' CAT question papers for aspirants to download and practice. These official CAT question papers are available for download free. You can download the CAT question paper PDFs at this link: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/cat-exam-question-papers Candidates must check and practice the latest CAT question paper to know the latest exam pattern and difficulty level.

Experts recommend that aspirants must practice at least 40 CAT mock tests to score above 99 percentile well in the exam. Most of the CAT test takers take up to 50 mock tests of various types and difficulty level. CAT toppers in previous years have practiced even up to 80 mock tests during their preparation. However, candidates must decide the number of CAT mock tests depending on their control and confidence on topics as the exam day comes closer. Mock tests are the best way to judge your performance viz. The important topics of CAT. The more one practices CAT mock tests, the more accurate they get in solving questions from all subjects. It is very important to know which formula to apply to which type question to solve the problem accurately. Mock tests help candidates in this aspect which is why practicing mock tests is most important in CAT preparation.

The CAT VARC section is dominated by RC questions. Out of 24 questions about 14-16 are based on Reading Comprehension passages and the rest of them are based on parajumbles, para completion, etc.

CAT has about 12-16 RC question. Since, it is not mandatory to solve all the questions, candidates can maximize their scores by leaving out the questions related to the passage they find the toughest. There is negative marking in CAT so candidates must ensure that they mark only the correct options or do not mark any option at all.

It is difficult but not impossible. If you give yourself a good enough time to improve English comprehension, grammar and vocabulary, you will be able to do it. Yes, a non- English medium student will require longer time for CAT preparation as they will have to start reading and improving English comprehension. So, may be they need to start English preparation for CAT in the second year of graduation, instead of final year (much earlier than English medium students). They may also need two attempts to crack CAT with high percentile. But that's not true for all. If you work hard and study smartly, you will be able to crack it. 

To prepare for CAT Quantitative Aptitude by self-study, one needs to take help from reference books and sample papers, mock tests and practice questions. The books will help in understanding QA concepts and practice questions will help in understanding application of concepts.

For getting 99 percentile in Quantitative Aptitude section of CAT, one needs 32 to 34 marks. So, out of 22 questions, 10 to 12 correct attempts will be good. There is negative marking so candidates must choose questions carefully. They must aim for 85% accuracy.

The best books for Quantitative Aptitude preparation of CAT exam are listed below. These books are recommended by experts and mentors not only for CAT but also for other MBA entrance exams.

1. NCERT Mathematics books (Class 9-10) 
2. How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT by Arun Sharma 
3. Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations by Abhijit Guha 
4. Quantitative Aptitude Quantum CAT by Sarvesh Verm
5. Quantitative Aptitude for CAT by Nishit Sinha 
6. Quantitative Aptitude by RS Aggarwal 

The NCERT Mathematics book is recommended for CAT preparation because it is the best source of building or revisiting the fundamentals of Algebra Geometry, Trigonometry Mensuration and Arithmetic. The NCERT books are extremely helpful to students from non-Engineering background. Quantitative Aptitude books by Arun Sharma, Abhijit Guha, Sarvesh Verma, Nishit Sinha and RS Aggarwal are the main books for CAT preparation as they cover all the topics at advanced level. They also have 1000s of sample questions of easy, moderate and high difficulty levels for practice.

There are a range of books available for preparation of Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension section of CAT. However, the most recommended books are mentioned below:

1. How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT by Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay
2. Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for the CAT by Nishit Sinha 
3. Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis 
4. High School Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin 
5. 30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary by Wilfred Funk and Norman Lewis/Simon and Schuster 
6. For English Grammar and Vocabulary, High School Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin is the best book. 

For Verbal Ability preparation, practice questions of different difficulty levels are a major part of preparation. The abovementioned books are the best resources of Verbal Ability and practice questions. To prepare for Reading Comprehension, candidates should read books, novels, magazines, research papers, newspaper editorials, etc. Along with these books.

CAT syllabus includes all the important topics of subjects that are relevant for business aptitude. For CAT exam, candidates have to study, Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension VARC Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning DILR and Quantitative Aptitude. Given below are the key topics included in the CAT syllabus.

• VARC topics:  Parajumbles, Paracompletion, Parasummary, Verbal Reasoning and Reading Comprehension. 
• Quantitative Aptitude topics: Arithmetic, Geometry, Algebra Trigonometry Modern Math, Number System and Mensuration.
• DILR topics: Puzzles, Pie Charts, Venn Diagram, Tables and Bar Graphs, etc.