Books to Buy for SSC CGL Tier-I exam:
The list of Books to buy for SSC CGL Exam (Staff Selection Commision Common Graduate Level Exam) I provide here are just basic books. There are three tiers in selection procedure. Tier-I (Written MCQ) , Tier- II (Written MCQ) and Tier- III (Interview/Skill test). I’m listing books for Tier-I Exam.
Total Marks = 200; Total time = 2 hour;
English Comprehension – 50 Marks
They have mentioned that in Tier – I there will be only Comprehension for English which means there won’t be any grammar or Vocabulary. Obviously there is no need to study for comprehension and so we just need to practice by reading news papers like The Hindu and solving some previous year question papers. If you want to practice for comprehension go for UPSC level or CAT level preparation so that it will be easy for you in Exam. even though we can’t recommend books for this I have mentioned Comprehension book which has some practice sets especially for UPSC. So if you are also an UPSC aspirant you can buy this book. It will be good if you have good vocabulary knowledge and that can be obtained by reading books like Word Power made easy. Go for such books and do extensive reading if you like to do so.
-> English Comprehension – TIME
-> Word Power Made Easy – Norman Lewis
SSC CGL Official Notification says: Candidates’ ability to understand correct English, his basic
comprehension and writing ability, etc. would be tested.
Quantitative Aptitude – 50 Marks
If you are not from Maths background and you have no tuition masters for Quantitative Aptitude you should go for Analytical Reasoning ((BSC Publication). Don’t choose this book if you have less time to complete vast syllabus. If you are an engineering student or a science student and if you can jump topics rapidly just by reading a brief notes you can definitely choose ‘Fast Track Objective Arithmetic- Arihant’. I have mentioned this book as Recommended because now a days 90% of the aspirants are engineers and so we will have some mathematical background to understand topics easily.
-> Fast Track Objective Arithmetic (Arihant Publication) *Recommended* 
-> Analytical Reasoning (BSC Publication)
SSC CGL Official Notification says: The questions will be designed to test the ability of appropriate use of numbers and number sense of the candidate. The scope of the test will be computation of whole numbers, decimals ,fractions and relationships between numbers, Percentage. Ratio & Proportion,Square roots, Averages, Interest, Profit and Loss, Discount, Partnership Business, Mixture and Alligation, Time and distance, Time & Work, Basic algebraic identities of School Algebra & Elementary surds, Graphs of Linear Equations, Triangle and its various kinds of centres, Congruence and similarity of triangles, Circle and its chords, tangents, angles subtended by chords of a circle, common tangents to two or more circles, Triangle, Quadrilaterals, Regular Polygons , Circle, Right Prism, Right Circular Cone, Right Circular Cylinder, Sphere, Hemispheres, Rectangular Parallelepiped, Regular Right Pyramid with triangular or square base, Trigonometric ratio, Degree and Radian Measures, Standard Identities, Complementary angles, Heights and Distances, Histogram, Frequency polygon, Bar diagram & Pie chart.
General Intelligence & Reasoning Ability – 50 Marks
Instead of buying two books separately for Verbal and Non Verbal Reasoning buy a single book from Arihant Publication. This book is better than R.S. Aggarwal. Other than these two books there are also BSC publications available.
-> A New Approach to Reasoning : Verbal, Non – Verbal & Analytical (Arihant Publication) *Recommended*
-> Buy A Modern Approach To Verbal and Non Verbal Reasoning – R.S. Aggarwal
-> Non Verbal Reasoning (BSC Publication)
-> Verbal Reasoing (BSC Publication)
SSC CGL Official Notification says: It would include questions of both verbal and non-verbal type. This component may include questions on analogies, similarities and differences, space visualization, spatial orientation, problem solving, analysis, judgement, decision making, visual memory, discrimination, observation, relationship concepts, arithmetical reasoning and figural classification, arithmetic number series, non-verbal series, coding and decoding, statement conclusion, syllogistic reasoning etc. The topics are, Semantic Analogy, Symbolic/Number Analogy, Figural Analogy, Semantic Classification, Symbolic/Number Classification, Figural Classification, Semantic Series, Number Series, Figural Series, Problem Solving, Word Building, Coding & de-coding, Numerical Operations, symbolic Operations, Trends, Space Orientation, Space Visualization, Venn Diagrams, Drawing inferences, Punched hole/pattern –folding & unfolding, Figural Pattern – folding and completion, Indexing, Address matching, Date & city matching, Classification of centre codes/roll numbers, Small & Capital letters/numbers coding, decoding and classification, Embedded Figures, Critical thinking, Emotional Intelligence, Social Intelligence, Other sub-topics, if any.
General Awareness – 50 Marks:
-> General Knowledge – Lucent GK *Recommended*
-> General Knowledge 2015 – Arihant Publication
SSC CGL Official Notification says: Questions in this component will be aimed at testing the candidates general awareness of the environment around him and its application to society. Questions will also be designed to test knowledge of current events and of such matters of every day observations and experience in their scientific aspect as may be expected of any educated person. The test will also include questions relating to India and its neighbouring countries especially pertaining History, Culture, Geography, Economic Scene, General Policy & Scientific Research.
I din’t find other books in market worth enough for money or difficulty level. If you have an alternate opinion just comment below so that it may help other aspirants.