High School - General Chemistry
The general chemistry text at most universities is pretty decent. Most use Brown, LeMay, Bursten, which is a great introduction to the chemical sciences. The old editions are fine, I compared a 1997 edition Brown ($4.00 including shipping) to the 2014 edition of Brown ($250), it's 99% identical. It is important to do many of the problems, since chemistry is a quantitative science also. If you have taken AP chemistry or have a good background in calculus and physics, Oxtoby, Gillis, and Nachtrieb would be a good place to start. I recommend reading Brown, LeMay, Bursten and then doing Oxtoby, Gillis, and Nachtrieb if you really want a good treatment of introductory chemistry. Use Khan Academy, YouTube, and UCI open chemistry for help.
- Brown, LeMay, Bursten - Chemistry: The Central Science (One of the best intro books on Chemistry for a beginner)
- Atkins and Jones - Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight
- Oxtoby, Gillis, and Nachtrieb - Principles of Modern Chemistry (For serious students interested in math and physics)
- Housecroft and Constable - Chemistry (This advanced undergrad book covers all aspects of chemistry fairly well, with worked examples, and is good for review)
Undergraduate
General Chemistry
General Chemistry is the same as AP Chemistry. This is where you start if you never took a chemistry class, or only took high school chemistry.
- Chemistry by Raymond Chang and Jason
- Brown, LeMay, Bursten - Chemistry: The Central Science (One of the best intro books on Chemistry for a beginner)
- Atkins and Jones - Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight
- Oxtoby, Gillis, and Nachtrieb - Principles of Modern Chemistry (For serious students interested in math and physics)
- Housecroft and Constable - Chemistry (This advanced undergrad book covers all aspects of chemistry fairly well, with worked examples, and is good for review)
Analytical Chemistry
Harris is the golden standard of analytical chemistry. A basic knowledge of statistics and excel will help. Again, it is important to do the problems at the end of the chapters.
- Harris - Quantitative Chemical Analysis
- Harvey - Modern Analytical Chemistry
Instrumental Analysis
- Willard et al. - Instrumental Methods of Analysis
- Skoog, Holler, and Crouch - Principles of Instrumental Analysis
Organic Chemistry
The "dreaded" organic chemistry. It's not difficult if you know the concepts and do practice problems. The best book for introductory Organic Chemistry is Klein. Klein along with his "As a Second Language" series will give you enough problems to keep you occupied for days on end. Clayden, Greeves, & Warren is probably the best for those serious about chemistry. Reading it along with Klein would be a good idea. Wade is also a good supplement for an introductory book. Again, as with all chemistry, doing the problems is extremely important.
- Klein - Organic Chemistry (with his "As a Second Language" as supplement)
- Zubrick - The Organic Chem Lab Survival Manual: A Student's Guide to Techniques (and MIT's Chem Lab Technique Videos on YouTube)
- Clayden, Greeves, & Warren - Organic Chemistry (Best in terms comprehensive content, also covers Biochemistry's Metabolism pathways well)
- Sykes - A guidebook to mechanism in organic chemistry (A relatively short book that gives a nice introduction to almost all the mechanisms one would encounter during an undergrad course)
Biochemistry
Biochemistry is not technically required to know, but I included it since ACS requires it for a BS in Chemistry, so study only if you need it. Biochemistry can be taught in two ways, biology-based or chemistry based. Berg will focus on the chemistry side of things. Lehninger is also a great book, along with Mathews. Lehninger's treatment on Enzyme Kinetics is better than Garrett and Grisham. When reading biochemistry, a reading of a molecular biology text would also be very helpful in gaining more understanding. Voet is a demanding text, but if you get through it you will have an absolutely amazing grasp of biochemistry. Voet has a focus also on structural biology, which is a great field. Read Berg or Lehninger and then go on to Voet and you will have more knowledge than 90% of biochemistry majors..
- Berg, Tymoczko, and Stryer - Biochemistry [5th Edition]
- Nelson and Cox - Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry
- Garrett and Grisham - Biochemistry
- Voet and Voet - Biochemistry (Very dense with information)
Physical Chemistry
Along with organic chemistry, physical chemistry is one of the most hated among chemistry majors. McQuarrie and Simon is the best, however, they can be a challenge to read if you are not caught up mathematically. McQuarrie and Simon sneak over 200 pages of mathematics in the book to help you review. I still recommend McQaurrie and Simon to get though. If you do, you will have an amazing grasp of physical chemistry. It is well worth the effort. Atkins is another common textbook. It's quite dense but makes for an excellent reference text.
- McQuarrie and Simon - Physical Chemistry: A Molecular Approach (Also available in 2 volumes "Quantum Chemistry" + "Molecular Thermodynamics" with 'nearly' identical combined content)
- Levine - Physical Chemistry ("Honors" level)
- Atkins' Physical Chemistry (Excellent book for the mathematically inclined - often goes a bit further than a typical undergrad course)
For more detail see Thermodynamics, Chemical Thermodynamics, and:
Thermal Physics
If you enjoyed thermodynamics in physical chemistry, you can go more in-depth here, but not required.
- Schroeder - An Introduction to Thermal Physics
- Reif - Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics
Quantum Theory
If you enjoyed Quantum Mechanics in physical chemistry, you can go more in-depth here, but not required.
- Eisberg and Resnick - Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles
- Griffiths - Quantum Mechanics
- Pauling - Introduction to Quantum Mechanics with Applications to Chemistry (A Dover reprint of the 1935 original. Read for culture and historical perspective. Yes, the Pauling.)
- Dirac - Quantum Mechanics (Very rigourous. Another great historical artifact. Yes, the Dirac)
Inorganic Chemistry
- Lee - Concise Inorganic Chemistry
- Housecroft and Sharpe - Inorganic Chemistry
- Huheey, Keiter, and Keiter - Inorganic Chemistry: Principles of Structure and Reactivity
- Miessler - Inorganic Chemistry (Use this book, my personal favorite, and used at MIT / Caltech)
- Figgis - Introduction to ligand fields (Good text for inorganic spectroscopy & magnetism)
Group Theory
Group Theory is extremely important at the graduate level, it will be easier if you have a knowledge of linear algebra, but not required.
- Kettle - Symmetry and Structure: Readable Group Theory for Chemists
- Carter - Molecular Symmetry and Group Theory
- Bishop - Group Theory and Chemistry (Dover Books on Chemistry)
- Tinkham - Group Theory and Quantum Mechanics (Dover Books on Chemistry)
- Harris and Bertolucci - Symmetry and Spectroscopy: An Introduction to Vibrational and Electronic Spectroscopy (Dover Books on Chemistry)
Solid State Chemistry
Not Required unless you have an interest in materials.
- West - Solid State Chemistry and its Applications
- Smart and Moore - Solid State Chemistry: An Introduction
Computational Chemistry
Not Required unless you are interested in it. A theory-oriented companion text (Szabo, say) is useful..
- Cramer - Essentials of Computational Chemistry: Theories and Models
- Leach - Molecular Modelling: Principles and Applications
- Frenkel and Smit - Understanding Molecular Simulation: From Algorithms to Applications
- Allen and Tildesley - Computer Simulation of Liquids
Graduate
- Cotton's Advanced Inorganic Chemistry
- Greenwood and Earnshaw's Chemistry of Elements
- Tannoudji's Quantum Mechanics Vol 1 and 2
- Szabo's Modern Quantum Chemistry
- Cook's Handbook of Computational Quantum Chemistry
- March's Advanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structure
- Carey's Advanced Organic Chemistry Parts A and B
Supplements to Organic Chemistry
- Fleming's Molecular Orbitals and Organic Chemical Reactions
- Kurti's Strategic Applications of Named Reactions
- Grossman's The Art of Writing Reasonable Organic Mechanism
- Gawley's Principles of Asymmetric Synthesis
- Deslongchamps' Stereoelectronic Effects in Organic Chemistry
- Warren's Organic Synthesis: The Disconnection Approach
- Nicolaou's Classics in Total Synthesis: Targets, Strategies, Methods
- Anslyn's Modern Physical Organic Chemistry
Electrochemistry
- Advanced Batteries: Materials Science Aspects by Huggins
- Electrochemical Methods: Fundamentals and Applications by Bard and Faulkner
- Electrochemical Systems by Newman and Thomas-Alyea