Why do you even want to read now, they will teach you everything. Most of my friends in Banking and finance did not have any idea about the same when they joined, but are doing fine now. Also, you are going to work equally hard and for similar long duration even if you know the stuff beforehand which you are supposed to do. Might as well enjoy the last few months of college while you can

@FR: Appreciate the enthusiasm. Great to see this new crop of enthusiastic lawyers - someone enquired about M&A resources a couple of days back. Good on you guys!

Before suggesting any topics/ resources, I do have some general advice/ warning. B&F practice tends to be (notoriously) volume driven - as an Associate, this means that you will find yourself pulling late/all-nighters more often than not. In most Tier-1 firms it is common to find even senior members pull insane hours, especially heading into quarter and FY ends (essentially, at least 1/3 or even 1/2 of the year is going to be intense). This will often come at the cost of your social and personal life - you will find it hard to stick to any given schedule outside of the workplace and your holidays would be peppered with calls from the team. Efficiency at the workplace will be rewarded with more work - there's no escaping long hours.

While I understand the urge to be productive, 'Associate'/'2.0's advice is valuable. There's nothing that you will not learn on the job - however, contrary to what 2.0 claims, you'll have to teach yourself a significant part of it. Make the best of your time now - maybe learn a language, pick up a hobby or just chill with your folks/ friends. If you are bent on being productive in the traditional sense, maybe learn more about personal finance or explore a field outside the law you probably considered while in school - you never know, may want to revisit it one day. If you seek to pursue higher education a couple of years down the line, maybe spend this time reading about colleges/ processes/ scholarships - will help you plan the next 3-4 years of your life/ mould your CV in that direction.

While I am sharing this list of introductory B&F topics/ reading list, I hope you prioritise spending your time on more important things.
1. NDA's debt funding in India series - gives a very good overview of the general fund raising landscape.
2. Understand D/E ratio (look up on investopedia) and learn to read Financial Statements - understand what each line-item represents.
3. Brush up on ToPA (mortgage, charge) - Prof. Sarathi, Contract Act (pledge, guarantee) - Avtar Singh, Companies Act (Private Placement, 180-186) - Ramaiah.
4. RBI's Master Circular on Loans and Advances (last one came around 2015) and the Master Directions - Interest Rates on Advances. While without any transactional context, it may seem like a long read, these circulars actually present a very good overview of what domestic banking entails. While no point trying to remember the contents, you will encounter various terms leading to a B&F rabbit hole and you could choose to understand the concepts as you please. If super-enthusiastic, could also glance through the RBI NBFC Master Directions - would advise against it.
5. Cross-border: NDA's article on offshore funding routes. Understand FEMA classification of debt & non-debt instruments.
6. Restructuring: RBI's framework for resolution of stressed assets and blog posts covering the subject of how the 2018 circular was challenged, SC's findings and current position.
7. Understand basics of SARFAESI (s. 3, 7, 13, 17), IBC and Trusts Act.

Goodluck!

@Kian: These threads are a very good idea.

Having been a B&F lawyer for more than 7 years let me tell you that B&F clients don't pay enough. Most matters are fixed fee so you will have to do several matters to meet your annual target. That means having to be available at all times and saying bye-bye to sleep.

There are roughly 8-9 main finance agreements which are bulky. Proof-reading these documents is an ardous task. The loan agreement or the debenture trust deed itself runs into 150-200 pages. There's also some 20 odd compliance documents which are to be prepared for every matter. The turn-around time is very little. The client may come to you asking to complete the entire deal in 5 days (this happens a lot during quarter ends). Stress levels are always always high in a B&F team.

The applicable laws keep changing as RBI issues guidelines every fortnight. Building clientele is also very difficult in this space as there are only a handful of banks and financial institution and each of them already have tie-ups with law firm partners who deliver within insane timelines at a very low cost.

If you're still interested, please remember that you have to forget your Christmas and New Year's holiday season. There is no Diwali or Dussehra. March is a complete nightmare. I have seen my colleagues having metldowns in office.

So I'd say do something different. Learn about technology, data protection laws, cyber laws or media laws. That's the future. B&F law will be completely overtaken by AI softwares in the near future. Don;t opt for something which will be redundant in a decade.