<p>I used only the blue book. Other books tend to ask questions that are different in style from the real SAT questions. I don’t recommend memorizing a ton of vocab as I only learned strategies (compare and contrast, definition in the sentence, etc) to figure out the correct words for the sentence completions. If you want to memorize vocab, start by learning the words on the sentence completions in the blue book. I also played devil’s advocate and eliminated the wrong answers in the reading comprehension questions. The best strategy for critical reading will be a personal strategy, a mix of strategies that you like and some of your own. Keep on practicing and I guarantee you that you will eventually see a score boost. I started at a 60 CR on my Sophomore PSAT and boosted it to an 800 CR on the Oct. 9 Junior SAT so practice helps greatly. Don’t feel discouraged about your scores; I was stuck at a 700 CR for 5 practice tests but I suddenly improved drastically with my 6-7 practice tests.</p>