Best PMI-ACP Exam Prep Books
This blog is reader-supported. When you purchase something through an affiliate link on this site, I may earn some coffee money. Thanks! Learn more.
Read our review guidelines.
Short on time? Pick one book to supplement your
Are you aiming to achieve your PMI
It’s also useful to have books to carry around with you for reference when you can’t access your training materials. Plus, authors tend to have a different way of presenting information, so if you couldn’t grasp the basics from your training, you’ll get a different take on the topic from a deep dive into the topic from a book.
Below, I list the best
I believe you won’t need to read all of the books on the
Note that they aren’t exam study guides i.e. they are not designed to help you get through the syllabus. If you’re looking for those, check out my list of the best agile study guides.
A full PMI-ACP exam prep course. Self-paced with video training modules, you'll quickly be on your way to your agile certification. We love this course from respected trainer Cornelius Fichtner and it's a cost-effective way to prepare for your exam. Upgrades available to add on the exam simulator and study guidebooks.
Receive $50 off the Agile PrepCast Elite PLUS package with code Jul24 for the month of July 2024!
List of the best PMI-ACP books
I read and review a lot of books, so I feel confident recommending these to you! I also speak to a lot of authors and have met many project management trainers over the years.
Keep reading for my analysis and reviews of the best
1. Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile , Extreme by Robert K. Wysocki
Robert Wysocki came up with my favourite definition of what project management is, that I use in most of my training courses.
Despite having one of the most boring covers, this book published by Wiley is in its 8th edition, which shows how much of an impact it has had, and how relevant it still is today. Part 3 of the book covers
The first sections of this book cover the more traditional project management approaches, so you’ll be able to easily compare and contrast. Good for people who have come from a predictive, linear project management background and who want to take their first steps into understanding the complex world of iterative project management.
2. Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products by Jim Highsmith
Jim Highsmith is another big name in the
It is a bit old, and even the most recent edition has been around for a while. However, it covers all the important stuff, organized around the topics covered in the agile manifesto. Chapter 5 covers the
3. Agile Practice Guide
You can’t take the
The good news is that it’s also pretty easy going once you get into it. If you struggled with the old version of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (
Bonus: It’s free for PMI members! If you aren’t a member, join now on the PMI website to take advantage of lower exam fees and a free copy of the
If you want a hard copy, or you aren’t interested in joining PMI, then you can buy it on Amazon.
4. User Stories Applied for Agile Software Development by Mike Cohn
User stories are at the heart of delivering successful
It talks about working with customers and customer proxies, defining acceptance tests and then goes on to discuss ways of
Part 3 of this book goes on to talk about what might go wrong with user stories and some of the other common ‘why are we doing this?’ type questions that you might get asked in an
The book also includes review questions and a set of answers at the back so you can check your understanding as you go.
5. Agile Estimating and Planning by Mike Cohn
Another of Mike Cohn’s books that is worth looking at is
Mike Cohn is cofounder of the
It reads like a step-by-step guide to getting the job done, so if you want to expand your practical knowledge of what it looks like to be part of an
How to choose agile books to support your PMI-ACP exam prep
None of the books I recommend are methodology specific, so they are generally suitable for people working in Scrum, DSDM®, XP, Crystal, FDD or more. You may have to use your professional judgement to see how the concepts would work in your environment if there aren’t specific examples in the text for your particular
However, for the
As an
Earn 30.5 PDUs by listening to The Agile PrepCast and learning more about agile tools and methods.
Other essential PMI-ACP exam prep materials
Once you’ve chosen a book or two to read, you will also want to look at a few other resources to help you get exam confident.
Successful students tend to use an exam simulator for test practice and study guides (books) to help reinforce what their course has covered.
Go here next:
- Best PMI-ACP exam prep courses
- Best PMI-ACP study guides
- Best
PMI-ACP exam simulators (coming soon!)
Whichever materials you choose, good luck with your studies!