Best books to read before law school? Forum

[NoDayButToday]

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[Clyde Frog]

The Bible

[tsutsik]

Thank Jesus someone finally decided to address this topic.

[cinephile]

Anything by Nick Hornby.

[Merylian]

Literally anything other than books having to do with law, or law school, or lawyers.

Seriously. Once August starts, you will spend 9 months reading nothing but law. Take this summer and enjoy having the time to read things for pleasure. It's one of the things I've missed most as a 1L.

Nothing you read over the summer will give you a leg up come class time. Your professors will be assuming no one knows a damn thing, and will teach from the bottom up. At best you'll waste your time because the material you read over the summer will just be canvassed in class, or at worst you'll confuse yourself by reading about crap your professor doesn't cover, or covers differently, or something.

If you haven't read Game of Thrones, the time is now Seriously, ENJOY this summer of freedom.

[PrideandGlory1776]

Consensus is don't worry about it. But if your intent upon preparing beforehand and hope to book your 1L classes the best books according to most students are as follows:

Getting to Maybe
1L of a Ride
Law School 101
LEEWS
Examples & Explanations Supplements

For more extensive reading list see WUSTL suggested reading list:

About Law School
Law School Without Fear by Helene Shapo and Marshall Shapo
Surviving Legal De-Education: An Outsider’s Guide by Ann Scales
The Bramble Bush by Karl Llewellyn
Going to Law School? by Ehrlich, Thomas & Hazard
Introduction to the Study & Practice of Law by Kenney Hegland
From Here to Attorney by Arnett, Coon & DeGeronimo
Looking at Law School by Stephen Gillers
Getting to Maybe: How to Excel on Law School Exams by Richard Michael Fischl

Legal Cases and Practicing Law
Confessions of a Criminal Lawyer by S. Wishman
Unequal Justice by J. Auerbach
Women In Law by C.F. Epstein
The Buffalo Creek Disaster by Gerald Stern
My Life in Court by Louis Nizer
Unlikely Heroes by Jack Bass
A Crime of Self-Defense by George Fletcher
Simple Justice by Richard Kluger
A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
Gideon’s Trumpet by Anthony Lewis
The Lawyers by Martin Mayer

Historical
The American Judicial Tradition by G. Edward White
A History of American Law by Lawrence Friedman
Major Legal Systems of the World by David & Brierley
The American Supreme Court by Robert McClosky

Theoretical
Introduction to Legal Reasoning by Edward Hirsh Levi
The Nature of the Judicial Process by Benjamin Cardozo
The Spirit of the Common Law by Roscoe Pound
Anatomy of the Law by Lon Fuller

[ph14]

Open Book.

[thsmthcrmnl]

Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, Ulysses

[lawhopeful10]

Read the how to succeed in law schools guides on this site and decide if you want to do 0L prep and if so how much. I did and it worked out but let me caution you as others have and will and say don't do much substantive work with the law. General overviews from the E&E can be fine but your teacher will teach it their own way and it would waste your time to really care about the details.

[NoDayButToday]

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[Cal Trask]

Next up on my list, The Goldfinch.

Following the Pulitzer hype-train, eh?

[banjo]

If you like history, read English history from 1066 onwards, especially about feudalism (property), commerce (contracts), and industrialization (torts). The common law of crimes has fossilized into statutes, but it might be fun learning what "mayhem" is anyway.

If you are going to a school that requires Con Law during 1L year, read a little bit of American history too, especially about the New Deal era.

None of this will really make you a better law student, so only do it if you would find it fun anyway.

[martymoose]

There are always people who say you don't need to, or shouldn't, read anything having to do with the law or law school. I know this seems impossible, but those people are right. I read Getting to Maybe, OneL, 1L of a Ride, and they didn't do a thing for me. This is not to say these books are garbage. Their content is perfectly reasonable. The point is, you don't need them. If you are smart enough to get into law school, you will do just fine without these books.

Considering all the law I have to read now, I look back and can't believe I wasted my time on any of those books. If you must read, read something trashy. Read some sci-fi, some adventure, some romance. Take a trip. Enjoy your summer. It's the last summer that you'll be able to just put your feet up.

[dsmitter]

Everyone on here is right. You should NOT read anything actually related to the law. When you get to law school, Civil Procedure will tell you everything you need to know about summary judgment. Read whatever good books you want to get to now. However, you can definitely still read for pleasure while in law school. I am a 1L and I am still reading 1-2 books for pleasure at any given time.

The only things that will actually help in law school are context books. Read what will give you context--history especially. English and American history.

[spleenworship]

Song of Fire and Ice

Hobbit/LOTR

Assassin series by Hobb

Ender's books (despite their author being a douchebag)

Stranger in a Strange Land

The first three dragon books by Anne McCaffrey

Every book written by Douglas Adams

Every book written by Terry Pratchett


Why do I recommend these books instead of good literature that will expand your mind and (with the exception of Douglas Adams and possibly to a lesser degree Pratchett/Stranger) make you a better person? Simple - first, I'm a huge speculative fiction geek, and second (and more importantly) these books are easy and relaxing to read (except SOF&I, which isn't relaxing because Martin is a f***ing murderer).

[kaiser]

I read substantive material before law school. Complete waste of time. At the time, much of it won't make sense (so you would have to go back to a book like "Getting to Maybe" at some point mid-semester for it to actually sink in). And to the extent that I was able to gain some substantive knowledge (for example, in a slightly easier course like torts), your advantage only exists at the beginning of the semester. Unfortunately, grades are determined on the last day, not the first. And by the time exams rolled around, any leg up I had by knowing the elements of battery on the first day of class was long gone.

[kalvano]

World War series by Harry Turtledove or the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson.

[spleenworship]

World War series by Harry Turtledove

How many of these are there, and are they all good?

[Toby Ziegler]

The Black Swan by Nassim N. Taleb

It's a great book about randomness and uncertainty. Excellent read if you're interested, even a little bit in, philosophy.

[Clearly]

[joran]

A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones): Everything you need to know about how to comport yourself in law school and the legal profession.

[kalvano]

World War series by Harry Turtledove

How many of these are there, and are they all good?

There are 4 in the original series and then a couple of follow-up series I believe. Maybe 10 books total?

The Change series by S.M Stirling is good too, starting with Dies The Fire.

[chem!]

World War series by Harry Turtledove or the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson.

Have you read The Darkness series by Turtledove? I really liked those, but I am an admitted fantasy/sci fi fool.

[kalvano]

World War series by Harry Turtledove or the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson.

Have you read The Darkness series by Turtledove? I really liked those, but I am an admitted fantasy/sci fi fool.

Can't say I have. I go more for the alternate history stuff. Turtledove is a really good writer though.

[spleenworship]

World War series by Harry Turtledove or the Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson.

Have you read The Darkness series by Turtledove? I really liked those, but I am an admitted fantasy/sci fi fool.

Can't say I have. I go more for the alternate history stuff. Turtledove is a really good writer though.

He wrote this book with Richard Dreyfuss (yes, the actor) about an alternate US where the Revolutionary War never happened. British mystery novel in style. I loved it. Read it three times. Wish I could remember the title. Lost it years ago.