General Book Recommendations (Preparing for 1L)

[StressedLlama]

Hello everyone,

I'm currently provisionally accepted at Queen's while I eagerly wait back to hear from Ryerson (I'm on the waitlist).

While I wait, I wanted to start studying certain law concepts to prep myself for September. I want to find  some books to study from but I'm not sure where I should start looking. I want to start studying the various courses that will be covered at Queen's LAW (and law school in general) like Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Public Law, Contracts, Torts, and Property. Does anyone have any recommendations for general books that would serve as a good starting point for diving into these topics (obviously, if/when I firmly accept Queen's, I will buy the specific textbooks for each course anyway but until then, I want so start studying these concepts). 

[Whist]

It's not recommended or helpful to study any of these topics ahead of time. People risk teaching themselves stuff wrong and it's better not to form bad habits/misunderstandings you have to unlearn, versus just starting fresh like most people do when the term starts. "Pre-reading" will at best be a net neutral on your capacity for getting good grades. Familiarizing yourself with the basics of how our legal system works might help a bit, but it's not complicated and law school will teach you it anyway, so it's IMO a waste of time to do in the summer. 

[Renerik]

5 hours ago, StressedLlama said:

Does anyone have any recommendations for general books that would serve as a good starting point for diving into these topics

Consider reading Infinite Jest. It'll make you question your reading abilities.

[Rusty Iron Ring]

You don't need to prep for 1L.  The hard part is getting in. After that, if you make a reasonable effort at studying, you will be fine. 

But everyone should read the Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law before they start articling. 

[Patient0L]

I posted a version of this question awhile ago and people basically told me: “Nothing.”

However there were some book recommendations in there that were good. I’m taking a “for entertainment purposes only” approach to reading them, basically just to get hyped. My reviews so far:

 

Is Eating People Wrong? - Allan C. Hutchinson (awesome!)

The Law School Book - Allan C. Hutchinson (quaintly outdated but good)

Make It Stick - Peter C. Brown (this recommendation is from the Dischord mature-students thread. Did @GreyDude recommend it? It’s about the science of effective learning and I highly recommend!)

 

I’m 2/3 of the way through:

The Canadian Constitution - Adam Dodek

(I’m finding it extremely boring so I’m not going to torture myself with the other 1/3.)

 

Next on deck: 

How to be Sort of Happy in Law School - Kathrine M. Young

 

Hopefully a general overview of the history of the common law + the way in which law is taught won’t be too detrimental to my 0L brain. I’m not trying to study or anything and would probably be entertained by some of these books whether or not I was going to law school.

Here is the original thread:

Good luck this fall!

[GreyDude]

4 minutes ago, Patient0L said:

Make It Stick - Peter C. Brown (this recommendation is from the Dischord mature-students thread. Did @GreyDude recommend it? It’s about the science of effective learning and I highly recommend!)

I think someone else recommended it there, but I went and got it.  I agree, it's really excellent.

[Patient0L]

1 minute ago, GreyDude said:

I think someone else recommended it there, but I went and got it.  I agree, it's really excellent.

It actually makes the bizarre way that law is taught make sense from a science of learning perspective. Who knew?!

[Rusty Iron Ring]

14 minutes ago, Patient0L said:

 

How to be Sort of Happy in Law School - Kathrine M. Young

 

I had a truly wonderful time in law school.  Really.  Three of the best years of my life.  Learned interesting stuff, made amazing friends.  Spent hours and hours and hours debating just about everything over beers with lovely and interesting people who now range from lawyers to politicians to executives to authors to professors to supreme court justice.  

[Damages]

Only book you should read before law school: The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation.

[Philosophy]

On 6/3/2022 at 11:05 PM, Rusty Iron Ring said:

I had a truly wonderful time in law school.  Really.  Three of the best years of my life.  Learned interesting stuff, made amazing friends.  Spent hours and hours and hours debating just about everything over beers with lovely and interesting people who now range from lawyers to politicians to executives to authors to professors to supreme court justice.  

UofA represent baby lets go!!!! 😃

[Philosophy]

On 6/3/2022 at 11:05 PM, Rusty Iron Ring said:

I had a truly wonderful time in law school.  Really.  Three of the best years of my life.  Learned interesting stuff, made amazing friends.  Spent hours and hours and hours debating just about everything over beers with lovely and interesting people who now range from lawyers to politicians to executives to authors to professors to supreme court justice.  

19 minutes ago, Philosophy said:

UofA represent baby lets go!!!! 😃

In all seriousness though, I look forward to carrying on this tradition at the UofA. Especially a group of friends / classmates where topics can be debated and discussed from opposing view points in good faith without anyone being cancelled. Everyone that I've talked to so far from the UofA had nothing but positive things to say about the academic quality of the professors and the student community around them.  Some people even expressed regret at transferring out of UofA.