Hi,

I will be starting my PhD in October and was thinking of investing in one of these PhD survival books. Has anyone read any of these and, if so, which would you recommend (if any) to splash out on? I've seen Joan Bolker's "Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day" mentioned on here, but that's all I've come across so far. Any suggestions? Are these books worthwhile in your opinion?

Thanks for your help :)

'How to write a thesis' by Rowena Murray is worth reading because it is very practical. It helps you improve your writing throughout the PhD process through various exercises. It also tells you how to approach particular sections of the PhD such as the literature review.

thanks for your reply - I'll check it out

Hello,

I read two books before starting my PhD:

Your PhD companion by Dr Stephen Marshall & Dr Nick Green
The Unwritten rules of PhD research by Gordon Rugg and Marian Petre.

They were both useful for an overview of doing a PhD and all the stages, but both gave very similar advice and information.