Best books for CAT, by section
The IIMs do not recommend any book, and CAT has no official syllabus. The books below are the main CAT titles from Indian test-prep publishers, with the current edition, publisher and ISBN checked on 9 Nov 2026. One good book per section, plus timed practice and mocks, is enough. We earn nothing from any of these books and carry no affiliate links.
Do the IIMs recommend any books for CAT?
No. The official FAQ on iimcat.ac.in says CAT does not have a defined syllabus and points candidates to the official mock test. It names no book or publisher. Any "official CAT book" claim is marketing. See what has actually appeared in the paper on the CAT syllabus page.
Best books for CAT Quant
| Book | Author | Publisher | Edition checked | ISBN-13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courseware on Quantitative Aptitude for CAT 2026 The current Arun Sharma Quant title from McGraw Hill; the earlier titles in his series were How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT. | Arun Sharma | McGraw Hill India | 13th edition, 2026 | 9789364442978 |
| Quantitative Aptitude for CAT Edition confirmed by two retailer listings; Pearson's own page was down. | Nishit K. Sinha | Pearson India | 7th edition, 2025 | 9789367133422 |
| Quantum CAT (Quantitative Aptitude) About 1,350 pages of practice problems. | Sarvesh K. Verma | Arihant | Current Arihant listing, 2026 (no edition number given) | 9789373942278 |
If your school maths is rusty, start with the free NCERT textbooks before a CAT book. NCERT has replaced its Class 8 and Class 9 maths books with new titles, so older chapter-by-chapter advice no longer matches. The official PDFs:
- Class 8 Ganita Prakash, Part I (ncert.nic.in)
- Class 8 Ganita Prakash, Part II (ncert.nic.in)
- Class 9 Ganita Manjari, Part I (ncert.nic.in)
- Class 9 Ganita Manjari, Part II (ncert.nic.in)
- Class 10 Mathematics (ncert.nic.in)
Topic weights from recent papers are on the CAT Quant page.
Best books for CAT DILR
| Book | Author | Publisher | Edition checked | ISBN-13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courseware on Data Interpretation for CAT (2026) | Arun Sharma | McGraw Hill India | 10th edition, 2026 | 9789364446471 |
| Courseware on Logical Reasoning for CAT (2026) | Arun Sharma | McGraw Hill India | 9th edition, 2026 | 9789364446136 |
| Data Interpretation for CAT Seen on one retailer listing only. Pearson split its earlier combined LRDI book into this and the next title. | Nishit K. Sinha | Pearson India | 3rd edition, 2025 | 9789367133569 |
| Logical Reasoning for CAT Seen on one retailer listing only. | Nishit K. Sinha | Pearson India | 3rd edition, 2025 | 9789367136447 |
Books give you set types to learn. DILR is then won by practising full sets under time and choosing which sets to skip, covered on the DILR page.
Best books for CAT VARC
| Book | Author | Publisher | Edition checked | ISBN-13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Courseware on Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension for CAT 2026 | Arun Sharma, Meenakshi Upadhyay | McGraw Hill India | 13th edition, 2026 | 9789364444842 |
| Word Power Made Easy Vocabulary, not CAT-specific. CAT does not test vocabulary directly, but it helps reading speed. | Norman Lewis | Penguin India | Penguin India paperback, 2015 (no edition number given) | 9780143424680 |
No book replaces daily reading. VARC is two thirds reading comprehension, so read long-form essays and opinion pieces every day and summarise each in two lines. Pearson's VARC title by Nishit Sinha exists, but the newest edition we could find was from 2022, so we do not list it as current. Wren & Martin's grammar book (S Chand) is a school grammar reference; CAT has not had grammar questions in the recent papers covered on the VARC page.
Books of CAT previous year papers
| Book | Author | Publisher | Edition checked | ISBN-13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chapter-wise Solved Previous Years' Papers for CAT | Arun Sharma, Meenakshi Upadhyay | McGraw Hill India | 4th edition, 2026 | 9789364448765 |
| 43 Topic-wise CAT QA / DILR / VARC Previous Year Solved Papers (2025-1994), three books ISBNs from a retailer; Disha's pages do not print them. | Deepak Agarwal, Shipra Agarwal | Disha | 19th edition, 2026 | QA 9789371865326, DILR 9789371863605, VARC 9789371868006 |
| 21 Year-wise CAT Previous Year Solved Papers (2025-15) ISBN from a retailer. | Deepak Agarwal, Shipra Agarwal | Disha | 6th edition, 2026 | 9789371869881 |
These are private compilations. The IIMs do not publish question papers for the public, so these books rebuild them from other sources, and we cannot check how close each is to the real paper. Read what the official sources offer before you buy one.
How to choose and use a CAT book
- One book per section. Finishing one book beats starting three. The McGraw Hill set covers all sections in one style; Pearson's books are an alternative.
- Check the edition. Prefer the 2025 or 2026 edition. Question types change; para jumbles, for example, were missing from CAT 2024 and back in 2025.
- Buy used if you like. Concepts change little between editions. Only the practice tests inside go stale.
- Pair the book with mocks. Books teach topics one at a time. The exam mixes them under a clock. Take a free full mock every few weeks to see what the book has fixed.
Preparing on your own? The CAT plan without coaching lays out a schedule around one book per section.
Common questions
Which is the best book for CAT preparation?
There is no official answer; the IIMs recommend no book. The common CAT-specific choices are Arun Sharma's McGraw Hill books (13th edition Quant and VARC, 2026) and Nishit Sinha's Pearson books. Pick one per section and finish it.
Which book is best for CAT Quant?
Arun Sharma's Courseware on Quantitative Aptitude for CAT 2026 (McGraw Hill, 13th edition), Nishit Sinha's Quantitative Aptitude for CAT (Pearson, 7th edition) and Sarvesh Verma's Quantum CAT (Arihant) are the main options. Start with NCERT Class 8 to 10 maths if your basics are weak.
Which book is best for CAT VARC?
Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay's Courseware on Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension for CAT 2026 (McGraw Hill, 13th edition) is the current CAT-specific VARC book we could verify. Daily reading of long essays matters more than any book.
Are NCERT books enough for CAT Quant?
They cover the school maths that much of CAT Quant builds on, and they are free on ncert.nic.in. They do not train CAT-level speed or question styles, so add a CAT book and timed practice.
Is Arun Sharma's How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude still published?
The current Arun Sharma Quant book on McGraw Hill India's site is Courseware on Quantitative Aptitude for CAT 2026, 13th edition. We found no newer edition under the old How to Prepare title.
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Last checked 9 Nov 2026. Found an error? Tell us and it goes on the errata page.