What are the best books for upsc ?

I am mentioning the list of books which I followed during my UPSC Preparation. I secured AIR 77 in UPSC CSE 2017. It was my first attempt hence did not get the chance to cover multiple sources. My booklist will be to the point and simple. The best strategy is to follow limited sources and revise them again and again. I completed and revised the following sources in around 1 year.
You are free to choose your own sources as no strategy is perfect. You are free to opt for any resource.
MAIN POINTS TO REMEMBER
· NCERTs are mandatory. Start from VIII standard and go up to XII. Don’t read every NCERT. I have mentioned the useful ones.
· No need to read bulky books. Our motive is to clear the exam and not to research on subjects. It is General Studies hence require a general level of understanding. Only in optional subject, you need to have a specific knowledge of Post Graduation Level.
· Newspaper should be read on daily basis. For English Medium, Either the Hindu or The Indian Express can be referred. GS Preparation is incomplete without newspaper.
· Coaching material can be replaced with source of your choice. I joined Vajiram and hence referred their yellow books. You are free to follow reading material of other institutes or standard books.
· Online and Offline combination. A good combination of online and offline sources helps. Opt for online videos if you think the topic is too heavy for you and you need extra help.
BOOKLIST
SOURCES FOR PRELIMS

• ANCIENT HISTORY

Ncert Ancient India (Class VI), Ncert Rs Sharma (Class XI), Jain Sir Notes (Vajiram)

• ART AND CULTURE

CCRT Book, Vajiram Yellow Book, Unacademy Videos, Vision Pt 365 on Culture for Current Events

• MEDIEVAL HISTORY

Vajiram Yellow Book / Medieval History Ncert

• MODERN HISTORY

Ncert Bipin Chandra (Class XII), Pratik Nayak Sir Videos (Mrunal Youtube), Parmar Sir Notes (Vajiram)

• POLITY

XI and XII Ncerts (4 Books), Indian Polity by Lakshmikanth, Objective Lakshmikanth for Practice, Vajiram Class Notes, Constitution Handbook by PM Bakshi

• POLICIES AND ACTS

PRS, Vision Material on Government Schemes

• ECONOMICS

Ncert XI, Ncert XII (Macro Economics), Vajiram Class Notes, Vajiram Yellow Book, Budget Speech, Budget Material (Vajiram/GSscore), Economic Survey (Vajiram/GSscore)

• GEOGRAPHY

Ncert VIII (Resources and Dev), Ncert X (Contemporary India Ii), Ncert XI and XII (4 Books), GC Leong, Vajiram Class Notes, Atlas (Orient Black Swan)

• ENVIRONMENT

Ncert VII Class (Our Environment) , Vision Material on Environment , NCERT XI (Natural Hazards)

• SCIENCE AND TECH

Vajiram Notes, Current Events Through Various Sources

• INDIA YEAR BOOK

Any Coaching Material
ADDITIONAL SOURCES FOR MAINS

• HINDI (Language Paper)

Samanya Hindi (Unique Publication) , 5 Previous years papers

• ENGLISH (Language Paper)

Solved 2 previous years papers

• ESSAY PAPER

Any coaching material, Quotes from newspapers and internet, Vajiram’s Yojana Summary for relevant topics like women, environment etc

• ETHICS (GS PAPER 4)

110+ Ethics Book (Golden Peacock Publication), Vajiram Yellow Book on Case Studies, GSScore material on terminologies , Ethics portion from 2nd ARC

• WORLD HISTORY

Story of civilization NCERT (Vol 1 and Vol 2) , Pratik Nayak Sir Videos (Mrunal channel on YouTube) , Vajiram Class Notes (Ojha Sir)

• SOCIETY

Vajiram Class Notes , Government Schemes from Vision Material and Current Events

• GOVERNANCE

Vajiram Class Notes, Vajiram Yellow Book, 2nd ARC Summary, PRS, Vision Material on Schemes

• INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Vajiram Class Notes (Pavneet Sir), Current Events from GKToday and other online sources

• ANSWER WRITING PRACTICE

INSIGHTS SECURE
SOURCES FOR CURRENT AFFAIRS

DAILY NEWSPAPER (HINDU / INDIAN EXPRESS)
VISION / VAJIRAM CURRENT AFFAIRS MONTHLY MODULE
INSIGHTS DAILY QUIZ, BIG PICTURE ON RSTV
VISION PT365 (EVERY SUBJECT) BEFORE PRELIMS and MAINS365 before Mains

All the Best !!