XAT Preparation

Some reference books are not enough, if you're studying for MAT or GMAT especially on your own that is. Firstly, if you're studying on your own, make sure that you spend at least 6 hours a day with at least 4-6 months of determined attention towards your studies. Secondly, there are a lot of YouTube tutorials on the Internet that'll help you do the right kind of preparation and keeping the schedule. Finally, coaching for these exams separately or altogether will cost you a lot, so keep that in mind and fuel that as your passion. If you can study this way, you can make a difference. So don't just go by some reference book by the market. There are hundreds of books, plan your schedule properly and use technology along with your studies. Good luck and all the best for your future endeavours.

GMAT preparation books:
Veritas Prep Complete GMAT Course Set
The Complete GMAT Strategy Guide Set by Manhattan Prep
The Official Guide to the GMAT Review 2018
MAT and XAT preparation books -
How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for the CAT by Arun Sharma (Published by McGraw Hill)
How to Prepare for Data Interpretation for CAT by Arun Sharma (Published by McGraw Hill)
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT by Nishit K Sinha (Published by Pearson)
How to Prepare for Logical Reasoning for the CAT by Arun Sharma (Published by McGraw Hill)
Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT by Nishit K Sinha (Published by Pearson)
How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT-by Arun Sharma & Meenakshi Upadhyay.

Hi,
The entrance to some of the most revered B-Schools in India, which include XLRI and XIMB, the Xavier's Aptitude Test or XAT, is a far cry from CAT, and in fact, from any entrance examination for that matter.
XAT is famous for its high difficulty level. XAT syllabus consists of English, Quantitative Aptitude, Logical Reasoning, Data Interpretation, Decision Making, General Awareness and Essay Writing. Here are some syllabus details, based from last year's XAT paper pattern.
Quantitative Aptitude (QA) & Data Interpretation (DI)
In XAT, there are three sets of DI questions. Quant has similar sections like CAT exam. Here are some of the quant topics that are covered in the exam:
Percentage
Profit and Loss
Ratio
Variation
Time and Work
Time, Speed and Distance
Tables and Caselets
Probability
Critical Path
Averages and Partnerships
Alligations and Mixtures
Algebra
Linear and Quadratics Equations
Surds and Indices
Inequalities
Logarithms
Numbers
Mensuration and Geometry, etc.
English Language and Logical Reasoning
Topics in this section include:
Fill in the blanks (vocab and grammar based)
Grammar questions
Para Completion and inference
Reading Comprehension
Verbal Logic
Parajumbles
Topics under this section include:
Decision making
Sets
Logical reasoning
General Knowledge
The GK syllabus consists mostly of the following topis:
Awards and winners
Business
Economy
Government and Politics
Science
Famous Personalities
History
Geography
Current affairs
Important happenings around the World
Static GK
XAT GK section is dominated by current affairs and news, with around seven questions related to international on-going issues like Syrian crisis, Crimean referendum, Boko Haram.
Essay:
Essay section has no fixed subject. Essay topic could vary from general affairs to abstract subject. The idea to present your chain of thoughts on the subject in an order.
The exam has roughly 90-100 questions on English, QA, LR & DI and Decision Making. The test also includes questions on General Awareness.
https://www.shiksha.com/mba/exams/xat/syllabus

There is nothing such thing called important topics. This view depends upon the preparation of the exam you are taking. There are a number of exams conducted in India for the MBA. Exams like CAT, XAT, GMAT, MAT, IBSAT, NMAT, SNAP, etc., have some minor tweaking and variations apart from the main sections. Each of these exams have quantitative aptitude, verbal reasoning, logical reasoning and data interpretation, apart from GK or essay writing section in some of the exams. So, you have to prepare accordingly for these exams either by taking coaching classes, correspondence course, by self-preparation or by following recommended books. After you have prepared for the most difficult level questions, you may try to get some question banks for the specific exam you are targeting either offline mode I.e. books for exams or online mode I.e. free question banks websites or paid question banks for practice.