A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (4th)

For taking PMP test, you MUST have this book.

However, you probably don't need this book if you are going to take PMP test and here is why:

1. Taking PMP exam costs you $555.
2. Membership of PMI is $105, student membership is $40. Almost anyone can join PMI.
3. If you are PMI member and then taking PMP exam is $405.
4. It is cheaper to join the PMI and then take PMP exam.
5. After you join PMI, you will be allowed to downloaded a digital copy of PMBOK, as many languages as you want, such as English, French, Chinese (2 of them), Spanish, ....

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Starting off, I'm a certified PMP. I went through the process, memorized everything PMI wanted me to memorize, and passed the test. That said, this book isn't worth the paper it's written on.

The good:
- You have to memorize the PMI project management process step by step, as a lot of the test questions involve what comes next, what comes first in this phase, etc. This book does go through all the steps one at a time, with some description.
- It makes a good paperweight or looks impressive on a bookshelf.

The bad:
- It must have been written by aliens, come to earth to mess with aspiring project managers through developing the most unreadable reference book ever.
- Many of the charts and graphs just aren't that high quality - as if they were done by a child in crayon then translated to digital
- It is very expensive, and doesn't help you actually pass the exam.
- Minor changes from the third edition - but you'll be tested on the most recent edition. This is like a college textbook money grab.

Summary:
Buy another book. I used the Rita Mulcay book and found it very helpful, as it had hints on the types of questions that will be used, as well as helpful exercises to study, and questions at the end of each chapter. It was also written by someone with faculties in any human spoken language.