PMP Exam Prep Books


Prepare for the PMP Exam With These Books


Here I am providing you with a few PMP and PMI-RMP exam reference books with short reviews.

All these books are authoritative; you can use any of these books for your exam preparation. Please note that these are my personal reviews, and have nothing to do with either the authors or the publishers of these books.

Head First page book

Head First PMP


When I opened this book for the first time, it appeared a little weird to me as it has a lot of comic images, handmade drawings, signs, non-linear tilted-inclined text and lot of notes in the margins. However as I started following it, I found this book amazingly easy to understand. I really enjoyed reading it. 

This book will make you comfortable with mathematical questions, especially for Time, Cost and Risk Management knowledge areas. This book teaches you everything required to pass the PMP exam. This book has a full length mock test, which helps you with identifying your knowledge gaps.

Head First page book

Kim Heldman page book

Kim Heldman


This book explains the concepts according to project phases instead of knowledge areas. I liked it because the explanation of projects based on project sequence seems more logical to me. 

Each chapter of this book shows you the list of “Exam Essentials” and key terms. This helps you remember and grasp the key concepts of the chapter. This book comes with a CD which includes exam preparation software, an assessment test, electronic flashcards, and some audio recordings. If you study this book, I don’t think you will have any problem passing the PMP exam.

Rita PMP page book

Rita Mulcahy


Rita Mulcahy’s book is the most famous book to study for PMP certification exam preparation. If you study this book, attempt all questions given in the exercise, and try a few more practice questions, you will be in a comfortable position to attempt the exam.

Rita is very good at giving real world examples. Reading this book will be like a reading a novel. One thing I like about this book is its process chart. Rita has a process chart in her book, just one look at this chart clears many doubts, and helps you remember the project management processes in sequence.

Rita PMP page book
Andy Crowe pmp page book

Andy Crowe


Rita Mulcahy’s book is the most famous book to study for PMP certification exam preparation. If you study this book, attempt all questions given in the exercise, and try a few more practice questions, you will be in a comfortable position to attempt the exam.

Rita is very good at giving real world examples. Reading this book will be like a reading a novel. One thing I like about this book is its process chart. Rita has a process chart in her book, just one look at this chart clears many doubts, and helps you remember the project management processes in sequence.

Andy Crowe pmp page book
PMBOK Guide page book

Kim Heldman


This book explains the concepts according to project phases instead of knowledge areas. I liked it because the explanation of projects based on project sequence seems more logical to me. 

Each chapter of this book shows you the list of “Exam Essentials” and key terms. This helps you remember and grasp the key concepts of the chapter. This book comes with a CD which includes exam preparation software, an assessment test, electronic flashcards, and some audio recordings. If you study this book, I don’t think you will have any problem passing the PMP exam.

PMP Formula Guide page book

PMP Formula Guide


Many people struggle with solving mathematical questions, which constitutes a significant part of the PMP exam. If you are not comfortable with mathematical questions, you are not well prepared.

This PMP Formula Guide explains the mathematical concepts to you and decode their results analytically. This guide has the simplest examples to explain these formulas so that you can understand them easily and apply the concepts in the exam. Once you complete reading this guide, you will be in a much better position to solve mathematical questions in your exam.

Rita RMP page book

Rita’s Risk Management


Like Rita’s PMP exam preparation guide, this is also the most famous book for PMI-RMP certification exam preparation. This book is a step ahead of its sister book for PMP exam preparation in storytelling; it is more like a novel than an exam preparation guide.

This book explains risk management concepts very well, and it is written in a simple language. Although, this book explains the risk management concepts well, it does not cover the mathematical part very well, and has a very few practice questions. Overall, this is a good book to go with.

Rita RMP page book
Abdulla Kuwaiti page book

Abdulla Alkuwaiti


This book is focused on the exam content. It covers the whole syllabus, and walks you through all processes. This book emphasizes practicing ITTO so that you never miss questions based on it. Moreover, this book has a full length mock test at the end to test your knowledge.

The only drawback of this book is that it has some typos and error in the answers to the practice questions (hopefully these errors will have been corrected in the latest edition of the book). Overall this is a good book; it covers all points very precisely, and it is a good choice to go with it.

PMI RMP page book

PMI-RMP Question Bank


I wrote this eBook, and writing this eBook took more time than any of my previous books because here the syllabus is short and I wanted every question to be unique. Although in the real exam you are going to see some repeated questions, in this question bank I tried to avoid similar types of questions. This question bank has 170 PMI-RMP exam sample questions.

Answers are given with detailed explanations and are cross referenced to the PMBOK Guide (whenever applicable). This will help you understand the PMBOK Guide better.

PMI RMP page book
EVM page book

EVM for the PMP Certification Exam


Many people struggle with solving mathematical questions, which constitutes a significant part of the PMP exam. If you are not comfortable with mathematical questions, you are not well prepared.

This PMP Formula Guide explains the mathematical concepts to you and decode their results analytically. This guide has the simplest examples to explain these formulas so that you can understand them easily and apply the concepts in the exam. Once you complete reading this guide, you will be in a much better position to solve mathematical questions in your exam.

The above links are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you make a purchase after clicking. Please understand that I recommend these resources because they are useful, not because of the commissions I make. Please do not make a purchase unless you feel you need the materials or that they will help you achieve your goals. Please read the disclaimer.