Interesting Books to help boost reading comprehension and vocabulary?

[prehsilla]

I did not score high enough in the verbal reasoning section of the GRE.  I have heard reading The economist and other scholarly magazines help with reading comprehension and vocabulary.  However, on a more personal level, I feel like reading a book would be more engaging and fun.  

 

Is there any books or does anyone know a list of books that will help boost my reading comprehension and vocabulary for the GRE?

 

Thanks!

[iojove]

I don't know what kinds of books interest you, but it's hard to imagine any book above the elementary level not improving your vocabulary at least somewhat - I'm reading the Hunger Games series right now, which are teen books, and even they use a couple of good GRE words now and then (Yes, I was surprised, too!  Lol).

 

Here are some good non-fiction books I've read lately that may help you:

 

Full Planet, Empty Plates - Lester R. Brown 

The Post-American World - Fareed Zakaria

Cindarella Ate My Daughter - Peggy Orenstein  (I don't have kids, but this is a hilarious account of the new ultra-fem culture of young girls)

Numerati - Stephen L. Baker  (An interesting look into the ways that the Western world (mainly focused on U.S.) will become even more digitized.)

 

Also, even though you are mainly interested in books, don't rule out The New Yorker.  Even though it's a periodical, they publish essays (great for GRE studies!) and short stories as well. 

 

Happy reading!

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

I don't really get it. I'm a great writer (have had some published undergraduate papers). I'm also taking a grad class as an undergrad and read 3 research studies per week and am one of the only students to fully comprehend all the discussion and jargon. I seem to be well above average with comprehension in real life, but when I took the GRE I learned that I was below average. Anyway, so yea, I have to improve my reading comprehension apparently. Not to mention, I'm also a poor writer according to GRE. 

Edited April 12, 2013 by JoeyBoy718

[iojove]

Another great book... I just started reading the classic novel, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes.  The Prologue alone contained several great GRE words and many others that I have never heard of (and doubt that even ETS has, haha)!  Also, unlike most 350 year old books, it's actually quite entertaining

 

JoeyBoy - I think the key to scoring well on the GRE in any subject is to get into the minds of the test-creators.  They do everything they can to throw obscure words and tricky phrasing at you.  Have you checked out Princeton Review's Cracking the GRE?  It is very helpful to enhance your understanding of what ETS is looking for.  Even Shakespeare would have fallen short on GRE Verbal!  

[wsc215]

Lots of undergrads read three research papers a week, Joey. Some read three a day.

 

The GRE isn't really a good descriptor of your abilities IMO but it is very learnable nonetheless. You'll see your performance go up with each hour you invest into it.