salam,

dear all i have studied u people posted threds. well, u all have mentioned ur good and fruitfull ideas i relly like them all. but i have my personal experience of competative exams including pcs and css. i have given my css exam recently from abbotabad centre. i have passed my two pcs exams against the posts of Inspector in Excise and texation and another for the post of Senior instructor through NWFP comission. as i have posted earlier tht i have visisted several libraries and some experinced teachers here in lahore. but the net results and findigs are as follows regarding preparation and selection of subjects and related books.


first of all i will like to tell u tht how to choose ur subjects. its all depends upon the qualification of the candidate. but it should be kept in mind tht selecting og 100 marks subjects are good than 200 ones because it will goive u more marks and some relax time during ur papers. but not neccessary, i have seen students who have got top positions of have 200 marks subjects.

secndly, selection of books.books of some reputed writers will not only give u some reliable information but will also flourish ur ideas and will brodens ur vision. it will creat maturity in ur ideas and will improve ur expression.always try to buy good books rather than spoiling ur time in layman approach books.

thirdly, i will recomend u people some books and sources for compulsory and optional subjects.


compulsory

1.english essay .............. sohail bhatii book for english essays ( it will also cover quotational essays for ur 2nd eng paper)

2. english preci and composition.
exploing the world of enlish , but what u people should look in it .

u must look all idioms and pair od words regulary mean to say every day. sentence correction and direct and indirect are also of the same importance.

buy GRE book and start craming vocablry portion. if u could nt memorise all of the words then cram all the excercise at least.

write preci twice in a week regulary. there are so many methods of wrting it.

deletion, and others but what will i prefer to u people is tht of making 3 drafts of ur preci. in 1st draft u write it in bullets form . in 2nd draft conect tht bullets . and in 3rd give it an order . ( i will expain it later on in my next threads or u people can call me on my cell as well).

3. genral knowledge paper
it includes threee subjects having 300 marks. paasing marks are 120. so no need to worry about.

subjects are
pak affairs.................. books: pak affiar by imtiaz shahid, towards pakistan and struggle for pakistan.

but how to study them all also require some tactics

imtiaz shahid book is all comprehensive so it will take much of ur time therefore u must look last five years papers and then study it accoringly.
towards pakistan books are of two type one is originally wrtten my khaliq u zaman and anther is in question and answer form . now its up on u people to which one u like but both are good.

struggle for pakistan should be studied after studying above two books. because it s analytical one so will take some time to understand.

Everyday Science..................... there are 4 types of books

one by imtiaz shahid which is more than comprehensive and more allabrative u may say tht time consuming bcz we are not going to do master in ths subjects.
another is Encyclopedia to everydat science. its also comprehensive but good. its also in much detail.

third one is by Raizul gaq also in detail but very easy to understand . i will recomend it for all those students who have not remained the students of science in thier acdamic. its good for those who weak in ths subject.

fourth one is by Akram kashmiris. i have studied ths book from A to Z . it has been recomended by my seniors who have passed thier css and my teachers too. but the problem is tht this book is good for those who have some good background of scince subjects. it is short and authentic one. u must read the excerices whch hav been given at the end of every chapter. study it from A to z.

and anyone has the text books of FSc it will be more beneficial.

current affairs........................ Dawn/ press reviw of it, monthly digest by safdar mehmood, world time, the cutting edge, friday time and much more.
this paper needs some techniques to be followed.

4. islamyat....................... Islami nazrya hayat by dr. khurshid ahmad
or anothr book by Laqaul hassan
and read islamic page in dawn f ur going to attempt it in english other wise Daily Mashriq dont mis it .

it will be good to attempt ths paper in urdu;

__________________
Mother – that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries.