sschub - Manorama Year Book 2013
A good year book helps boost your IAS Prelims preparation since a year book contains all the important current events and GK data that matters for the IAS exam. In this post I not only review the latest 2013 edition of Manorama Year Book but I also list why you should refer MYB and which sections to focus your attention on in Manorama Year Book. Also useful for SSC CGL and State PSC exams.Why Manorama Year Book for IAS Prelims
- The information is accurate and reliable
- It contains diverse but relevant information on numerous topics
- Helps build your GK base along with current affairs bits
- It is a trusted source for UPSC
The final point is particularly important. UPSC relies on Manorama Year Book and till a few years back, about 15-20 questions used to be asked directly from this year book. Even now many questions can be traced to MYB.
2013 Edition Different from Previous Versions
There are two noticeable changes in the latest edition of Manorama Year Book. Firstly, the page and print quality are far better. Pages feel thicker and smoother. It seems the publishers upgraded the quality of page used. Secondly, there are far more colour images in the 2013 edition; this is a welcome change from the black and white images found in the past editions.
Which Topics to Read in Manorama Year Book 2013
Following topics in Manorama Year Book are of greater relevance for Prelims as compared to others:
- Current Events: India and the World
- World Panorama: country-wise information is always relevant and good source of GK
- India section: you can choose and pick here if you are referring other books on the same topics
- General Knowledge: Quiz show, Awards and Honours, Books and Authors
- Sports: India @ London Olympics, India’s ODI titles, Batsmen with most double centuries, Leading run getters in test cricket and ODIs, Tennis and other sports
The Quiz Show containing 500 questions on current events and GK is a great feature of Manorama Year Book. I suggest you attempt these questions since some of them can and have been asked in the Prelims.
There is also very useful information on Science and Geography but if you are referring standard books for these topics then MYB can be skipped for such kind of information.
How to Read Manorama Year Book
The best way to read MYB is how you would read a novel or a magazine. Pick a topic that you find interesting or arouses your curiosity and try to know more about it. For instance, let’s say you want to find more about the previous election commissioners of India then you go through the section in greater detail knowing the name of the first election commissioner and who succeeded him and so on.
Similarly, if you want to build up your vocabulary for tackling Paper 2 English grammar-based questions, you should look in to the section on Vocabulary Acquisition.
The idea is reading a year book should not be a monotonous chore rather a fun-filled rewarding experience. The book is written in such a manner that it can be a stress buster as well to relive you from the stress and monotony of the conventional topics like History, Science, Economy and others.
Should You Buy the Latest Edition
Unlike reference manual that contain more or less the same information between two successive editions, year books contain a lot of recent information based on the events occurred in the immediate past and for this reason it makes sense to get the latest edition of Manorama Year Book.
All in all, I would recommend the Manorama Year Book as a must have reference year book for Prelims preparation.
