Hello.

The basic book that you have to read for any English literature exam,is the history of English literature and have to go through all the important writers of all the ages and the works they are most celebrated for. There are a lot of great books available for that and you can choose any book according to your preference. Apart from that you also need to go through literary criticism, Literary Theory , literary movements etc. Also,there are a lot of entrance related books available that you can go for ,for extra guidance and to get an idea on the pattern. It is also very important that you go through the bachelor's course of the University you're applying for.