From textbooks to thesauruses, there are books that everyone should implement into their personal collections to keep on hand for the times you need them. Books are tools that should be utilized for their attribute of salvation; for example, your professor might not like that you cited that source incorrectly, although your paper was phenomenal. These tools can save your grades and help you achieve your goals.
Yes, these costly things sure can save you when you have a test and need to study. How else are you going to learn the material when you failed to go to class earlier this week, and the next class you were absent due to sickness? Students will tend to opt for used textbooks because of their cost as well as the notes that previous students may have put in them. Really, it is not a big deal what the condition of the book is, as long as it is legible and you can learn from it.
Do you want to sound smart? Pick up one of these. I have a pocket-sized thesaurus by Webster on hand in case I need to “dilate the mass of my expression.” In simple people terms, that means expand my vocabulary. Perhaps I over-exaggerated and you will sound like you’re trying too hard, but you get the point.
Before going into the thesaurus, you might want to know what the words you’re about to use mean. I also keep a pocket-sized version (still Webster) of this on hand, as well as a Spanish-English and Korean-English dictionary. You never know what you could need it for.
This book is a life-saver. I have used it many times and will continue to use it. This book offers insight on plagiarism, grammatical help, as well as examples of citations. If there’s anything that’s going to teach you style, it’s this book. Just make sure your teachers and professors want MLA format, instead of APA format.
- (If you are in Advanced Placement courses) AP Test Preparation books
There are several brands of study guides you can choose from. My personal favorites are Kaplan and Barron’s. If you are in any AP courses, try to find a study guide of your course. It gives condensed info and even gives mock tests so you may test yourself at home. Although it is not the best study tip, in the past, I have crammed for an AP test through one of these test preparation books and passed the exam!
Many times, the books listed above can be offered to you through electronic readers or perhaps even the internet itself. Here is a past post on the subject. E-Books offer convenience and can be cheaper than physical books.
Regardless of whether your book is physical or electronic, these are great helps to those in college and even high-school. Keeping these on stock will drastically help to improve your skills with specific subjects, such as vocabulary and citation.