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You’ve just decided to take the GRE, maybe for a master’s program abroad. You haven’t solved a geometry problem or read a dense academic passage under time pressure in years, and every forum recommends a different stack of books.
The book you start with decides whether your prep is focused or scattered. The best GRE prep books use real ETS questions or match them closely, so your practice scores mean something. Third-party questions that don’t match the real exam can leave you confident in practice and surprised on test day.
My advice is simple. If you’re starting GRE prep, I’d start with one book: ETS’s The Official Guide to the GRE Test. It comes from the people who write the exam, so its questions are the real thing.
There are 2 exceptions. If school math feels far behind you, Manhattan Prep’s GRE All the Quant is the better first book. If you want one book that teaches strategy for every section, Manhattan Prep’s All the GRE is the better choice.
Quick Comparisons
My suggestion is to find your situation in the table and jump straight to that book. The last column matters most: official books use real ETS questions, and third-party books write their own.
| Book | Best for | You should know | Questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Official Guide to the GRE Test (ETS) | Your first book | Nothing; start here | Official |
| Official GRE Super Power Pack (ETS) | All official material at once | Nothing | Official |
| 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems (Manhattan) | High-volume drills | The basics of each topic | Third-party |
| GRE Complete (Kaplan) | A guided course in a box | Nothing | Third-party |
| GRE Prep by Magoosh | A light strategy companion | Nothing | Third-party, older |
| All the GRE (Manhattan) | One full strategy course | Nothing | Third-party |
| GRE All the Quant (Manhattan) | Rebuilding rusty math | School math | Third-party |
| GRE Prep Plus (Kaplan) | Practice tests | Nothing | Third-party |
| Princeton Review GRE Premium Prep | Test-taking techniques | Nothing | Third-party |
| Official GRE Value Combo (ETS) | Extra official questions | The Official Guide first | Official |
Best GRE Prep Books by Goal
Each heading names the job that book does best, so you can jump straight to yours. Every entry also says who I’d send elsewhere.
Best first book: The Official Guide to the GRE Test
The Official Guide to the GRE Test from ETS, the company that writes the exam, is the book I’d start with. It explains every section and question type and gives you real GRE questions, so the difficulty you practice is the difficulty you’ll face.
The 4th edition is the current one, and its question types are the ones you’ll see on the shorter GRE that ETS introduced in September 2023. Third-party books write their own questions, and none of them matches ETS’s wording as closely as ETS does.
Its explanations are short and it teaches little strategy. That is why I’d pair it with the free POWERPREP tests for practice and add a strategy book only if your diagnostic shows a clear gap.
The Official Guide to the GRE Test, Fourth Edition
- By Educational Testing Service
- Best for: official questions and format
- Level: Start after a diagnostic
- Main strength: Provides the exam maker's explanations, section guidance, and real practice material.
- Watch-out: Instruction is less detailed than a full teaching course.
- Verify the exact edition, format, and seller
Best official bundle: Official GRE Super Power Pack
The Official GRE Super Power Pack bundles the Official Guide with ETS’s separate Verbal and Quantitative practice books. It is the most official GRE material you can buy in one purchase.
The GRE’s question types didn’t change when the test got shorter, so these official practice questions stay useful. I’d buy the bundle in place of the Official Guide alone if you know you’ll want more official practice later.
- By Educational Testing Service
- Best for: more official Verbal and Quant practice
- Level: Best for complete review
- Main strength: Combines the Official Guide with section-specific official books.
- Watch-out: The overlap and cost are unnecessary if you only need one weak-area book.
- Verify the exact edition, format, and seller
Best for practice volume: 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems
Manhattan Prep’s 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems has more than 1,400 practice problems, organized by topic and difficulty. It is the volume book on this list.
It drills skills and doesn’t teach them from scratch. My advice is to use it after you’ve learned a topic, to build speed and find the question types you still miss.
5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems
- By Manhattan Prep
- Best for: high-volume practice
- Level: Use after learning concepts
- Main strength: Offers a large, organized bank of problems for targeted repetition.
- Watch-out: Question style should be calibrated against ETS material.
- Verify the exact edition, format, and seller
Best all-in-one course: GRE Complete
Kaplan’s GRE Complete combines content review and strategy with 6 full practice tests and more than 2,500 practice questions. It suits students who want one guided course in a box.
Kaplan’s own questions aren’t ETS’s, so I’d still calibrate with the free POWERPREP tests. It is my pick if you want structure and a lot of practice in a single purchase.
- By Kaplan Test Prep
- Best for: a guided all-in-one plan
- Level: Beginner to intermediate
- Main strength: Combines content review, strategies, practice tests, and online material.
- Watch-out: The size can waste time for students with only one weak section.
- Verify the exact edition, format, and seller
Best budget strategy guide: GRE Prep by Magoosh
GRE Prep by Magoosh is a short, friendly strategy guide built around Chris Lele’s explanations. It is easy to read and costs little.
It was written before the shorter GRE, so I’d skip its Argument essay chapter, which no longer applies. The question strategies themselves still hold up, and I’d use it as a light companion to the Official Guide.
- By Magoosh and Chris Lele
- Best for: a concise strategy companion
- Level: Beginner friendly
- Main strength: Provides approachable explanations and a manageable path through the sections.
- Watch-out: It works best with the larger Magoosh platform or official question banks.
- Verify the exact edition, format, and seller
Best full strategy course: All the GRE
Manhattan Prep’s All the GRE is a single detailed strategy course for both Verbal and Quant, written by its top instructors and updated in 2025.
It teaches more strategy than the Official Guide and fewer practice tests than Kaplan. I recommend it if you want one well-explained strategy book to work through from start to finish.
- By Manhattan Prep
- Best for: students who want one detailed, structured course
- Level: GRE beginners to intermediate
- Main strength: Combines section strategy, practice, and a digital resource pack from Manhattan instructors.
- Watch-out: The book is large and can slow students who only need one weak area repaired.
- Verify the exact edition, format, and seller
Best for weak math: GRE All the Quant
Manhattan Prep’s GRE All the Quant rebuilds the math the GRE tests, from arithmetic and algebra to geometry and data interpretation, with strategy and practice for each topic.
If school math was years ago, this is where I’d start your Quant prep. It covers no Verbal, so it works best next to the Official Guide.
- By Manhattan Prep
- Best for: students targeting a stronger Quant score
- Level: High-school math
- Main strength: Focuses on mathematical foundations, strategy, and practice without repeating full verbal review.
- Watch-out: It does not address Verbal Reasoning or Analytical Writing.
- Verify the exact edition, format, and seller
Best for practice tests: GRE Prep Plus
Kaplan’s GRE Prep Plus focuses on practice, with 6 full-length tests, more than 1,500 practice questions and online video support.
It overlaps heavily with GRE Complete, so I’d buy one Kaplan book, not both. Prep Plus suits you if you mainly want tests, and Complete fits better if you want more teaching.
- By Kaplan Test Prep
- Best for: students who want tests, question banks, and video support
- Level: All GRE candidates
- Main strength: Provides six tests, a large practice bank, and guided digital resources.
- Watch-out: Third-party questions should be calibrated against official ETS material.
- Verify the exact edition, format, and seller
Best for test-taking techniques: Princeton Review GRE Premium Prep
Princeton Review GRE Premium Prep teaches concise test-taking techniques, such as process of elimination, and includes 6 practice tests and online tools.
Its techniques help most when you’re stuck on timing. I’d pick it over Kaplan if you prefer shortcuts and short explanations to long content review.
Princeton Review GRE Premium Prep
- By Author or maker shown on the exact listing
- Best for: students who prefer concise strategies and guided review
- Level: GRE beginners
- Main strength: Combines section review, six tests, and online tools in an approachable plan.
- Watch-out: Some shortcuts are less valuable than careful official-question analysis.
- Verify the exact edition, format, and seller
Best extra official questions: Official GRE Value Combo
The Official GRE Value Combo bundles ETS’s Verbal and Quantitative practice books without the Official Guide.
I’d buy it after the Official Guide, once you’ve used up its questions and want more of the real thing. Buying it together with the Super Power Pack would duplicate the same books.
- By Educational Testing Service
- Best for: students who need additional ETS-authored verbal and quantitative questions
- Level: All GRE candidates
- Main strength: Combines official material with the wording and difficulty closest to the real test.
- Watch-out: It provides fewer teaching explanations than a comprehensive prep course.
- Verify the exact edition, format, and seller
Free GRE Prep Resources
If I had no budget, I’d start with one free resource: ETS’s POWERPREP Online practice tests. They are the closest thing to the real exam, and they give you an honest baseline before you spend anything. The other one below is an alternative for a specific need.
- ETS POWERPREP Online: free official practice tests in the real exam format, with timed and untimed options.
- ETS GRE Prepare hub: official section overviews, sample questions, a math review and essay topics.
ETS also sells POWERPREP PLUS tests with answer explanations. I’d buy those before any third-party practice test, because a score on real ETS questions is the most reliable sign of where you stand.
How to Choose a GRE Prep Book
I’d start by taking a free POWERPREP test and then choose books for the section holding your score down. Those 2 steps settle the choice faster than any bestseller list.
Official questions tell you where you stand. Everything else is training for them.
Official or Third-Party?
ETS’s books use real GRE questions, so they show you the exact wording and difficulty. Third-party books from Manhattan, Kaplan and Princeton Review teach strategy and add volume, but their questions are written to imitate ETS.
I recommend building your prep around official material and using 1 third-party book where you need more teaching or practice.
Which Section Holds You Back?
Most test takers have one weak section. If it’s Quant, GRE All the Quant and the 5 lb. book help most. If it’s Verbal, the Official Guide’s verbal questions and steady reading of serious articles help more than vocabulary lists.
Is the Book Current?
Since September 2023, the GRE takes under 2 hours and has 1 essay, the Analyze an Issue task. The question types didn’t change, so older practice questions are still useful. Before you buy, it is wise to check that any strategy book covers the shorter test, or at least to skip its chapters on the old format.
Books I’d Skip as a First Book
Some popular GRE books are useful and still the wrong place to start. These are the ones I’d keep for later or skip:
- The 5 lb. book as a first book: excellent for drills, and it assumes you already know the methods.
- Both Kaplan books: GRE Complete and GRE Prep Plus overlap heavily, so 1 is enough.
- The Super Power Pack and the Value Combo together: they share the same official practice books.
- Pre-2023 editions for timing practice: their practice tests reflect the older, longer exam.
- Vocabulary flashcard decks as your main Verbal prep: the GRE tests words in context, which reading builds better than memorized lists.
How I’d Prepare for the GRE
One main book plus the free official tests is enough to start, and it is wise to finish that book before buying another. Collecting prep books feels productive, but your score moves only when you practice and review your mistakes.
The habit I’d build from day one is an error log. For every question you miss, write down why: a concept gap, a misread or a timing problem. After a few weeks the log tells you exactly what to study next.
For a Standard Prep Plan
This is the order I’d follow:
- A free POWERPREP test, to set your baseline.
- The Official Guide, section by section, with every question reviewed.
- 1 targeted book for your weak section, such as GRE All the Quant.
- The second free POWERPREP test, then POWERPREP PLUS tests closer to exam day.
If Your Math Is Rusty
For a weak Quant score, I recommend this order:
- GRE All the Quant, topic by topic, until the methods feel familiar.
- The Official Guide’s Quant questions at test difficulty.
- The 5 lb. book for speed on the topics your error log flags.
If You’re Short on Time
With only a few weeks, this is the order that makes sense to me:
- A free POWERPREP test, to find your weakest section.
- The Official Guide’s chapters on that section only.
- Timed POWERPREP practice and a review of every mistake.
If you’re also weighing other exams or programs, my guides to LSAT prep books and choosing the right online degree program cover those decisions.
FAQs on GRE Prep Books
What are the best GRE prep books?
My top pick is ETS’s The Official Guide to the GRE Test, because its questions come from the people who write the exam. Manhattan Prep’s GRE All the Quant is the best book for weak math, All the GRE is the best single strategy course, and the 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems is best for practice volume.
Is the Official Guide enough for the GRE?
For some test takers, yes, especially with the free POWERPREP practice tests. If your diagnostic shows a weak section, I’d add one targeted book such as GRE All the Quant rather than a second full course.
Are older GRE books still useful after the shorter GRE?
Mostly, yes. The question types didn’t change in September 2023, so older practice questions still help. What changed is the length and the essay, so I’d ignore any chapter about the Argument essay and use current materials for timing.
How long should I study for the GRE?
It depends on your starting score and your target. My recommendation is to take a free POWERPREP test first, then plan backward from the gap between your score and the score your programs expect.
Are there free GRE prep resources?
Yes. ETS offers free POWERPREP Online practice tests and an official prep hub with sample questions, a math review and essay topics. Many students also use GregMat’s free YouTube videos for strategy.
Which GRE book is best for Quant?
I’d start with Manhattan Prep’s GRE All the Quant if your math is rusty, then use the Official Guide and the 5 lb. Book of GRE Practice Problems for practice at test difficulty.
Can I prepare for the GRE on my own?
Yes. Self-study works well for the GRE if you use official questions, take timed practice tests and keep an error log of every question you miss and why.
Final Remarks
If you’re starting this week, I’d take a free POWERPREP test today and order the Official Guide tomorrow. Let the gap between your score and your target decide whether you need anything else.
Either way, my advice is to buy one book and finish it. Your score moves when you review your mistakes, and no number of new books can do that part for you.
Best of luck.
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