Best books for competitive exams

Indian Polity (Telugu), 8th Edition

M. Laxmikanth

The standard Polity reference, in Telugu, with 13 years of solved Prelims questions and 12 years of Mains questions built in.

Indian Polity, 8th Edition

M. Laxmikanth · McGraw Hill Edge Courseware

The same standard reference in English, with the same solved past-year questions.

Governance in India, 4th Edition

M. Laxmikanth

A separate GS paper from Polity in most syllabuses, but the same author, so the style matches if you're already using the Polity book above.

Indian History Based on NCERT, 9th Revised Edition (Telugu)

Seenaiah Sir

Built specifically for UPSC, APPSC, TGPSC, SSC and police exams, in Telugu.

India’s Struggle for Independence: 1857–1947

Bipan Chandra

The freedom movement, which most GS papers test as its own section separate from ancient and medieval history.

Modern Indian History, 3rd Edition

Snehil Tripathi & Sonali Bansal

Chapter-wise solved past-year questions and quick revision capsules for the modern-history portion specifically.

Indian History – Culture (1526 CE – 1964 CE)

Telugu Medium

The Mughal era through independence in one book, in Telugu.

Oxford Student Atlas for India, 7th Edition

For the map-reading questions that show up across SSC, state and police exams alike.

PMF IAS Indian Physical Geography

Physical geography specifically, the part of GS most static-GK books cover thinly.

PMF IAS Physical Geography

The general (not India-specific) physical geography companion to the one above.

Geography of India, 11th Edition

Majid Husain & Pallavi Saxena

Colour maps and charts, with video lectures included.

Indian Economy Courseware, 7th Edition

Nitin Singhania

Same courseware series as the Art & Culture pick below, so the format stays consistent across subjects.

Indian Economy Courseware, 18th Edition

Ramesh Singh

The other major Indian Economy reference — commonly cited as the standalone standard if you'd rather have just one Economy book.

PMF IAS Environment

A concise, exam-focused pass through a section most static-GK books cover too thinly.

Environment, Agriculture & Disaster Management Courseware, 4th Edition

Dr. Ravi P. Agrahari

Goes further into agriculture and disaster management, which show up specifically in several state PSC syllabuses.

Indian Art and Culture Courseware, 6th Edition

Nitin Singhania

The reference most exam syllabuses point to for this often-neglected topic.

PMF IAS General Science

Keeps the science portion of GS exam-focused rather than textbook-deep.

Arihant GPS General Science Book (2026-27)

Goes beyond pure science into History and World History too, so it overlaps a little with the History books above — useful if you'd rather have one book cover both.

Arihant Computer Capsule Handwritten Notes (2026-27)

Quick-revision notes with shortcuts and formulas for the Computer Awareness section several SSC, Railway and Banking papers include.

Arihant Computer Awareness (Revised Edition 2025)

A fuller pass through the same topic if the capsule notes above feel too brief.

The Blackbook of English Vocabulary (2026 Edition)

Nikhil Gupta

Vocabulary drawn from actual past exam papers, not a generic word list.

Arihant Objective General English (2025 Edition)

S.P. Bakshi

Broad grammar and usage coverage shared across SSC, banking, defence and other objective-style exams.

Arihant General English Book (2025)

5,000+ practice questions and 10,000+ words and sentence structures — a bigger practice-volume option alongside the two above.

Aditya Ranjan Sir SSC Maths, 3rd Edition

6,500+ chapter-wise, type-wise questions built specifically for the SSC pattern.

Quantitative Aptitude Book (2026–2027 Edition)

Broader than the SSC-specific pick above — aimed at banking, railway, police and CLAT exams too if your prep spans more than one exam type.

A New Approach to Reasoning (Verbal, Non-Verbal & Analytical)

B.S. Sijwali & Indu Sijwali

One of the most commonly recommended standalone Reasoning books — all three types covered together.

Chandan Sir's Arithmetic and Reasoning Class Notes 6.0

Bilingual — Telugu & English

Covers both arithmetic and reasoning in one set of notes, useful if you'd rather study them together than buy separate books.

Chandan Sir's Reasoning Class Notes 6.0

Telugu & English

Reasoning on its own — pairs with the arithmetic and reasoning notes above if you'd rather split the two.

Lucent's General Knowledge (2026, 15th Revised Edition)

History, Geography, Polity, Economy, Science, Environment and Computer Knowledge together — the GK book almost every SSC topper names as a base resource.

Arihant SSC CGL Tier 1 & 2 Complete Notes (2026)

One book across the whole SSC syllabus, with mock tests and past papers included — a reasonable starting point instead of buying separate books per subject.

SSC CGL 2026–27 Ultimate Guide for Tier 1 & Tier 2 (2nd Edition)

Ten years of chapter-wise solved papers (2016–2026) plus 3,600+ questions in the newer Eduquity + TCS pattern.

PARMAR SSC Fatman (GK/GS Theory, 2nd Edition 2026)

Parmar Sir

The GK/GS theory portion specifically, aimed at SSC's CGL, CHSL, CPO, MTS and Steno exams.

Arihant Know Your State Andhra Pradesh (General Knowledge)

State GK with maps, tables and practice questions — a good starting point for the AP-specific portion of any syllabus.

Socio Cultural History Of Andhra Pradesh

Telugu Medium

Culture and society specific to AP.

Geography: World, India & Andhra Pradesh (2026-27 Edition)

Dr. Sri Hari Kakarla

Covers world and India geography too, not just AP — useful for both Group I and Group II.

Indian Society — APPSC Group-II Screening Test

M. Deepika Reddy & B. Krishna Reddy · GBK Publications

Indian Society specifically as APPSC Group-II tests it, not a general sociology text.

Andhra Pradesh Economy (2026 Edition)

I.S.N. Raju Sir · Telugu Medium

Includes the 2025-26 Economic Survey and 2026-27 Budget — figures that change yearly, so worth checking you have the current edition.

APPSC Group 2 Mains: Science and Technology & Environment

RRR Publications · Telugu Medium

Covers the Science, Technology and Environment portion of the Group 2 Mains paper specifically.

APPSC Endowment Department: Hindu Philosophy – Temple System

GBK Publications

Very specific — this is for the Endowment Department Executive Officer Grade-III exam's Paper 2, not the general Group 1/2 papers.

APPSC Group II Prelims: Indian Society (భారతీయ సమాజం)

RRR Publications

Indian Society for the Prelims paper specifically, with practice questions and a booklet of tables included.

APPSC Group 2 Prelims Previous Year Solved Papers

RRR Publications · Telugu Medium

Past papers across History, Geography and General Mental Ability, following the new 2026 syllabus.

Andhra Pradesh Geography — Comprehensive Coverage of 28 Districts

Kodali Bhavani Shankar · Telugu Medium

District-by-district detail, worth adding once you've covered AP geography at a broad level elsewhere.

Arihant Know Your State Telangana (General Knowledge)

State GK with maps, tables and practice questions — the Telangana counterpart to the AP book above.

History of Telangana Movements

The statehood movement specifically, tested as its own topic in TGPSC's history section.

Telangana History & Culture

Dr. M. Abdul Kareem

History and culture covered together.

Telangana History-Culture

Telugu Akademi

The English-medium counterpart to the option above.

Telangana Movement – State Formation

English Medium

The path to Telangana becoming its own state in 2014 — distinct from the pre-independence movements covered under General Studies.

Telangana Economy — For Competitive Exams

English Medium

State economy specifically, the Telangana counterpart to the AP Economy book above.

Telangana Socio Economic Profile 2026 (Multicolor Edition)

Telugu Medium

The state's official-style socio-economic figures for the year, in one place.

Telangana Geography, Economic & Social Development & Policies

Combines geography with the state's development policies in one book.

Telangana Regional Geography & Telangana Schemes & Policies (2026-27, Pack of 2)

English Medium

Two books together — regional geography plus the current year's government schemes and budget.