question about your newest LG book

[mokkyukkyu]

Hi, I have old ver of your book (2008 edition...)
Does the newer ver. include a lot of new/different info?
Do you use newer questions on practice questions in the book?

And...
Should I buy the newer book or can I keep using the old ver book?
I bought it when I was in the college but decided to work after graduation and now started to prepare for LSAT again...

Thanks,

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Mokkyukkyu,

Thanks for the question! The short answer is that I would definitely upgrade to the newest version. The differences between the 2008 and 2016 versions are vast, and the 2016 version is far more comprehensive. So, if you do upgrade, I would stop using the 2008 version and use just the 2016 version (the 2016 version includes all of the info in the 2008 version, and then much much more).

Ok, with the short answer out of the way, let me give you some additional info on the differences. Since I've been asked this question in the past, I've written about it on our blog several times, so I'll link those articles here, and then add a short summary. This should give you a better sense of the scope of the changes since 2008.

First, here's a general discussion of why I change the Bibles each year: The 2016 LSAT Bibles: Do You Need the Newest Editions? Part I. Most relevant to you, this explains how I track changes in the LSAT and then make changes in the text of the books, and that I do the same for the questions students ask (which helps the book get clearer and easier to use each year)

Next, in this article I discuss the changes in each Bible over the years: The 2016 LSAT Bibles: Do You Need the Newest Editions? Part II. The LGB is the first book covered there, and the 2008 version was about 416 pages whereas the 2016 version is around 700 pages. So, the newer edition has almost 300 more pages, and within those pages are a lot of useful tips and strategies. As I discuss within the article, the changes over time included "new, refined, and expanded discussions of many critical Logic Games concepts, expanded discussions of question types and solution strategies, multiple new and expanded drills, added and changed LSAT Logic Games, a glossary/index which defines each term in the book, and a ReChallenge section dividing all of the games in the book into Challenge sections. There was even multiple upgrades to the book website, where we ultimately presented dozens of pages of supplementary drills and online presentations on challenging concepts and questions for free."

Last, I'll link two of the articles I've posted showing some of the individual changes from year to year.

• ■ This article shows the changes we made in 2013, as compared to the 2012 version. I include this because 2013 was a year where we made significant alterations to the book, and I think it might be helpful to see some of those specifics: PowerScore Announces the Revised LSAT Logic Games Bible for 2013
  
  
  ■ This article compares the 205 and 2016 LGB versions, and similar to 2013, 2016 was a year in which significant changes were made. The 2015 vs 2016 PowerScore LSAT Logic Games Bibles

I think that should explain in depth why I believe that getting the 2016 version would be a big help to you. I'm generally quite sensitive to the cost of these books, and so I don't just make a blanket recommendation to always get the newest version when ask about upgrading. However, in your case,t he 2008 version is so different that I feel that you would be missing to on a lot if valuable information if you did not upgrade. So, that's my recommendation here

Please let me know if that helps, and if you have any additional questions that i can help out with. Thanks!

[mokkyukkyu]

Hi, thank you for your reply.
I think I will get the new one then

[mokkyukkyu]

Hi,

I was just wondering, do you know which pages are not include in 2016 ver?
I think I would like to read only the added pages when the book is arrive and while waiting I will review the 2008 ver.
It would be really helpful to know which chapter or pages you added.

Thank you!

[Dave Killoran]

Hi mokkyukkyu,

Hmm, there's not really a page-by-page comparison of two versions that are 8 years apart. To be entirely honest, I never thought the old books would still be in circulation at this point, so I never created such a comparison. And at this point, it would be extremely difficult to create one—it would require going from year to year and comparing each book page by page.

As I note above, the 2008 version was about 416 pages whereas the 2016 version is around 700 pages. In other words, about 40% of the book is new! Here's the nice thing, the older versions aren't "wrong," and so it's not as if reading it hurts you; it's just that the 2016 version has so much more and is more useful. The one area that functionally changed was Sequencing diagramming, so that's different, but the underlying principles are identical.

Here's how I'd go about it: as you read through the 2016 book, when you encounter ideas you feel comfortable with, fast forward through them to the next section. Then, if you haven't seen that, slow down and read it; if you have seen it, skim through it until the next section. Then repeat the process. You'll quickly realize that while you've seen a lot, there's a ton you haven't seen.

Thanks!

[mokkyukkyu]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your reply.
Yeah I bought the book a long time ago...actually have not touched LSAT for a while.
300 more pages does sound to contain a lot of useful info. looking forward to reading the new ver.

[Dave Killoran]

That sounds good! If you have any questions along the way, please feel free to come back here and post them. We'll do our best to help out. Thanks!