A book review is a piece of writing that is aimed at the evaluation of recently published books. As a rule, it contains a brief account of events and analysis of weak and strong points in the publications. It should not be confused with a book report that is a text of up to 500 words that retells the plot and presents characters or main ideas if a book is not fictitious. These reports are popular among K-12 teachers, as they are an easy tool for developing students’ writing skills and ability to distinguish important data from the secondary one.
On the other hand, writing a book review is based on the application of analytical and critical thinking skills and therefore, usually done by more experienced people. In fact, book reviews are used in three different contexts. First, they are often given to college or university students in the form of a book review essay to cultivate these skills. In this case, a book under consideration is not necessarily a new one. Second, reviews are written by professionals for professionals in order to assess all the fresh literature in their field. In such a form, a review is a way to get published in a reputable academic journal fast. Finally, reviews of popular literature and fiction are very common and targeted at the public. They can be found at book review blogs and help to decide whether to buy a book or not.
These guidelines on how to write a book review are focused on academic settings. You will find it useful if you are a student or expert interested in book review structure as well as stages and techniques to compose it with no difficulties.
There are several things to keep in mind in the process of choosing a book for a review. First, remember that creating a unique book review takes much time, and not to waste it, you can pick up a book that is useful in completing your research project or taking an exam. It is a great way to get the necessary information and make a publication, so why not kill two birds with one stone? Second, you might be advised to choose an anthology or a textbook for a review. Without a doubt, such an option is viable and acceptable, but it might be considered a lazy approach. Such literature requires less background knowledge, and thus, a review implies less effort.
Third, do not settle down on publications that are written by a person related to you or about which you have strong negative feelings. In the former case, i.e., when a book was created by your professor and supervisor, for instance, you might lack objectivity and be accused of bias. In the latter one, you might harm your future as you are only at the start of your academic career. Beginning with strong criticism of other people’s works might be poorly supported in academic circles. Unless you have very firm convictions and strengths to face the consequences, do not choose a book that you completely disagree with.
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Fourth, select a book that was published recently. Such reviews are particularly appreciated. Just have a look at book review examples available online; they all about some fresh literature. Nevertheless, writing about a relatively old book is fine too, especially if you want to attract attention to it. Alternatively, you may choose two, new and old, books that are connected or touch upon a similar topic. Such a study is called a review essay, and its samples might be found on a book review blog. Finally, keep in mind that your selected book should be:
The key to how to write a college book review indeed well is to be an active reader. It means that you should take a piece of paper as well as a pen and be ready to take notes. Write down the most important ideas, the main arguments, key events, and characters, if applicable, etc., in your own words. Note down your reactions to the writing style and ideas, strengths, and weaknesses pointed out, page numbers were the most striking quotes that can be found. By doing so, you are ensuring that the process of writing will be easy and almost effortless. If you read a digital version of the book, you are still advised to take notes rather than just highlight important passages. It will contribute to the quality of the analysis. Lastly, you should read a few book review samples before you start in order to know what kind of information you should pay attention to while reading.
Even before you start reading a book, you may learn many things about the publication. Thus, have a look at:
You may find this article Tips on Writing an Effective Essay interesting
As you read, you should attempt to answer the following questions:
The moment when it is necessary to learn how to write a book review, format it, structure the ideas and arrange them has come. First, mind the length. A typical book review should be between 500 and 2,000 words; however, striking these extremes is a bad idea. So, the best approach here is to write around 1,000 words. This limit will allow discussing only main points but in a developed manner. Besides, writing more makes no sense. It is better to focus on more important tasks, for example, your dissertation.
To make sure your review is focused, it should be based on a previously designed outline. Of course, you may opt-out of this phase of writing and look for some example of a book review essay instead, but it would lead to an incoherent style and flawed logical development of ideas.
Therefore, you are strongly encouraged to plan exactly what you are going to include in the following parts of a book review:
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Lastly, the title of the review should be considered. The format of the title is one of the book reviews’ unique features. It should contain complete bibliographic information, price, and ISBN.
Start the writing process whenever you are ready but preferably as soon as possible after reading the book or, in other words, when your impressions and conclusions are still fresh. Furthermore, do not make it a long procedure. One of the benefits of book reviews writing for the purpose of publishing is that it can be done quickly and easily. In the end, no innovative research or voluminous review of a number of sources is required. So, try to profit from this simple and complete the text fast.
Be sure to follow your outline while writing, but if there is a need, do not hesitate to deviate from it. For those who decided to skip the planning stage, the following explanation of sections might be helpful:
You may find these excellent free book review samples useful and inspiring.
Even if you are persuaded that your book review turned out to be perfect at the very first attempt, be sure not to send it for publication right away. Otherwise, you might be very disappointed later on. Thus, if there is a possibility, give the review a chance to rest for a day or so and then come back to it in order to revise, edit, and proofread. Correct all the inconsistencies and bridge the gaps in ideas if there are any. Check whether the summary is sufficient to understand your review and whether it contains irrelevant details that should be eliminated. Have a look at the analysis and determine whether your arguments are supported enough. Finally, read the paper several times to locate all grammar, spelling, punctuation, and stylistic mistakes. Double-check the spelling of terms, characters, if applicable, any other proper names, and the name of the author.
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