So I am wrapping up a College Algebra course from my local community college and am scheduled to start the first semester of a two semester precalculus course next month. The text book I worked out of for the Algebra course was "Algebra for College Students" by Kaufmann and got up to chapter 9 "polynomial and rational functions". I would like to start preparing for my upcoming precalculus course by getting a text book that I can work out of for the next 4 weeks. Would like to mention that it has been over ten years since I was last in school and that this recent Algebra course was the first math i have done since then. This is my first semester back to school. I did do algebra 1, 2 and geometry in highschool but never paid much attention or put forth much effort. This time is different and I am actually enjoying the math and plan on taking calc 1, 2, 3 and differential equations. So, based on this information would Blitzer Precalculus be your recommendation to me? or is there something better suited for my situation?
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$\begingroup$Yes, it seems like precalculus an appropriate next course for you. Blitzer seems like a reasonable next step given your situation. It is extremely similar to the text I used when I first learned the subject: Precalculus: A Graphing Approach by Larson, Hosteler, and Edwards.
Since you are looking to progress to calculus 1, 2, 3, and differential equations in the future, I also recommend purchasing Precalculus by Richard Rusczyk. This text is challenging since many of its problems are nontrivial, but working through them will provide you with a very strong foundation that will make it significantly easier to understand Calculus 1, 2, 3, and differential equations. A benefit to this text is that the solution manual has step-by-step solutions for every single problem, so you can always check your work and understand your mistakes. This is the book I wish I had in high school since it is both rigorous and makes math fun. If you are able to solve the problems in the following pre-test (linked below), then you are prepared to use this book.
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