When it comes to the LSAT, there is a massive selection of study books and resources available to help you prepare. Each has its own merits and drawbacks, and not every book is right for every test taker. However, some clearly stand out. Check out our comprehensive analysis of the best LSAT study books on the market to help you get into a top-rated law school.
Find our top five rated LSAT prep books below, each of which we have reviewed and ranked:
Keep reading for more information about our team’s list of the top rated LSAT prep books.
Kaplan has been a leader in LSAT prep for years, and their LSAT Prep Plus book is no exception. This is a must-have resource for every test-taker in my mind.
Determining whether it’s your sole book depends on your specific needs and learning style. It offers hundreds of sample LSAT questions taken from the real exams in recent years. Each offers a detailed explanation of the correct answer so you can more clearly understand the reasoning behind it.
This book also offers access to a ton of online resources, including interactive workshops led by online instructors and LSAT teachers. Kaplan knows the test, and they offer one of the most popular LSAT courses in the world.
This LSAT prep book has recently been updated to cover the new digital version of the test, as well as the August 2024 exam format changes. It breaks down the two main sections of the test and offers practical tips to help you master the digital interface.
What I found especially useful is that they provide you with a full-length exam created by the LSAC, the actual test maker for the LSAT. This allows you to become familiar with the actual testing format. It’s as close as you’ll get to the real thing.
Kaplan’s LSAT Prep Plus combines real test questions with detailed analysis, expert insight, and online analytics to illustrate your performance on each section of the test and type of question. An added bonus with Kaplan’s LSAT Prep Plus is that you’ll get access to a full year of their free online resources.
This is our clear #1 choice.
👉 RELATED: Read our review of the Kaplan LSAT prep course
The Princeton Review is another LSAT prep company that ranks way up our list and offers a killer standalone prep book. Their The Princeton Review LSAT Premium Prep has been updated for the digital version of the exam, as well as the August 2024 exam updates, and offers extensive and detailed prep resources for the LSAT.
The book contains two official practice tests, with each containing targeted strategies for every section. Like with Kaplan, it also offers premium online extras through its portal.
The book itself functions as an instructional manual that breaks down over 100 actual LSAT problems from previous exams to provide step-by-step test-taking strategies. It covers every major topic, including arguments, reading comprehension, writing skills, and more.
Each section is designed with input from expert instructors and offers specific, targeted test-taking strategies customized to each section. These questions serve as practice drills before you dive into the full-length practice exams.
All of your practice exams are accessible online, and include thorough and detailed explanations for each answer. I found these explanations to be useful in helping me understand the reasoning behind incorrect answers.
The techniques used here are tried, true and proven to work. The book includes a full breakdown and analysis of common mistakes people make and how to avoid them. It focuses on how to work smarter rather than harder and features essay tips, study guides, admission guides, law school profiles and more.
This book is solid all-around and was a slam dunk for our list.
👉 RELATED: Read our review of the Princeton LSAT prep course
While it might not be as thorough or guided as the Kaplan or Princeton guides, The LSAT Trainer is built for students who are driven, self-motivated, and can apply certain study techniques.
This book is designed to be very straightforward, simple to digest, and smart. It is an incredibly effective book if you have the drive and self-motivation to dive in and get the job done.
While not nearly as step-by-step as some other books, it’s considered by many teachers, reviewers and students to be among the most effective and advanced LSAT books available today.
I think it’s an invaluable resource if you’ve already dug into your preparation and need a new, additional resource with extra exercises to take your preparation to the next level. It offers full lessons, strategies, solutions and drills to help you work on strengthening your skills, addressing areas of weakness and improving your overall performance.
This simple and straightforward manual includes over 200 official questions and answers from the LSAT, with proven strategies for mastering logical reasoning and reading comprehension questions.
The LSAT Trainer includes over 30 drills that are unique to this resource and are built to help you develop skills and habits that are ideal for approaching the LSAT and getting into the right mindset for the exam. Finally, it offers access to a range of special resources that I liked.
I was particularly impressed with the study scheduling resources and notebook organizers found between the covers of this book.
👉 Also Worth Reading: Blueprint LSAT Prep Course Review
In my opinion, the PowerScore LSAT Bibles offer the most focused prep guidance for tackling the exam that you might find. That’s because each book is specifically targeted to attack one specific part of the exam.
What I liked about this resource is that it teaches you to make accurate and efficient inferences, as well as giving you tips and techniques to manage your time.
The Logical Reasoning Bible separates the different types of questions you will see with detailed breakdowns of over 100 logical reasoning questions drawn from past versions of the LSAT. It offers tips, tricks and techniques to improve your reasoning and ability to make inferences while managing your time to tackle the test efficiently.
The Reading Comprehension Bible also offers explanations for 12 reading comprehension passages, again drawn from recent versions of the LSAT, with substantial analysis of how to read and deconstruct each passage and tips and tricks to break down and attack the problems.
I like that it offers insight on how to recognize and avoid traps and trick questions within the exams, as well as managing your time on this section of the exam.
👉 Looking for a cheap prep course? Check out Magoosh
Drill, drill and more drill. That’s what the 5 lb. Book of LSAT Practice Drills is all about. It’s less of a resource for test-taking strategies and more of a supplement that allows you to dig into the questions you’re going to face on the exam.
It was developed by some top-tier LSAT instructors and offers a crazy 5,000 different questions to help you drill on the skills and techniques you’ve learned to improve your score.
The thousands of questions in this book are divided among 180 drills that include cheat sheets to give you the tips and knowledge you need for every question type on the exam.
The book also offers detailed and thorough review guides to help you build your fundamental reasoning, comprehension, reading, and analytical skills.
It offers a specific comparison to other forms of prep so that you understand why different approaches are valuable, as well as complete planning resources, including on-the-go study resources.
While these five books are among the best LSAT prep books on the market today, there are literally dozens of options out there, including many completely online resources.
If you find that test prep books aren’t getting the job done for you, you might want to consider taking a comprehensive LSAT prep course or hiring a top-rated LSAT tutor. You can check out our list of expert reviewed and ranked best LSAT prep courses here.
And before you claim a prep course is too expensive, think again. Princeton Review and Kaplan aren’t the only ones who offer LSAT courses. There are plenty of LSAT prep companies, like Magoosh and LSAT Lab for example, that offer prep courses for less than $200. Many students find that prep courses are more effective than prep books since they often come with other study resources such as video lessons, flashcards, classes, etc.
The LSAT is split into four multiple-choice sections, followed by an unscored writing sample, with 35 minutes allowed for each.
One of the four sections, however, is simply an experimental section and does not contribute to your score. For the ones that do count, the first two are logical reasoning, and the other is reading comprehension.
The LSAT went digital a few years back, with the full test — both the multiple-choice portion and the writing section — administered using online portals that make use of secure proctoring software.
You can register for the test online on the Law School Admission Council website or by phone. There is a range of fees based on the test you’re taking and the location. These fees can also be found on the LSAC website.
Our team recommends purchasing LSAT prep books through online retailers like Amazon, or your local book store. You’ll just want to make sure you are purchasing the latest edition of the book you are interested in.
The short answer is – it depends. If you are more of a self-studier, then purchase a prep book that contains a ton of practice problems. If not, you may want to purchase an LSAT book that also includes access to online resources like flashcards, forums, videos, and more.