Purpose of a book review
Book reviews are written by publishers, editors and newspaper/journal reviewers as part of the publicity process for a book shortly after publication or republication.
They are also written by experts, academics, journalists, organisations with vested interests and students to develop an understanding of the place of a particular book within a broader context of its subject area and its genre.
As a student you will be expected to demonstrate that you have examined the book from several angles. The points you raise, both positive and negative, need to be supported with evidence.
Getting started with your book review
A book review is a critical assessment of a book. It describes and evaluates the quality and significance of a book and does not merely summarise the content.
Identify the author's content and purpose, as well as the structure and audience
Evaluate the book
Evaluate the book's accuracy, relevance of the information (such as, is it up to date) and the sources used to justify the author's stance.
Respond to the issues the book raises
What issues does it raise? What issues are omitted? What is the effect of the book and what is your recommendation after reading it?
Before you start writing your book review
Read critically, taking note of the author's reasons for writing the book, their perspective and those of any other contributors, major points, the sources used and the logic of the argument presented.
Use your notes to evaluate the book. You need to use your other sources too. Decide what recommendation you would make to readers about the different aspects. Include its readability.
Before you start reading
Before you start reading
Write down some questions to guide your evaluation, such as:
- Why has the book been written?
- When was it written?
- What is the scope of the book?
- Who is the intended audience?
- How accurate is the author's content?
- How well is evidence used?
- Are there any omissions?
Find out about the author, including their:
- qualifications
- background
- affiliations
- other works, if they've written any.
Locate some other sources on the same content or issue, or books in the same genre to provide you with background and other views.
Take notes while you are reading
Take notes while you are reading
- Pay attention to the introduction and preface of the book – this is usually where authors give the reasons for their book, along with their perspective and any other contributors.
- The table of contents will give you a quick overview of the book's structure.
- Look at any pictures, diagrams, tables or graphs in the chapters, as these indicate the strategies the author has used to get the meaning across. These may give a clearer indication of the intended audience as well. For example, the information in tables may be very technical, indicating interpretation will be easier for those with some prior knowledge.
- Do not skip abstracts and summaries. These are a quick way to get an overview of the book from the author's point of view.
- Take notes and highlight major points, the sources used, and the logic of the argument presented.
- Note whether the information is new. Is the author refuting earlier works, building on another author's ideas or rehashing an earlier piece of work?
- How easy is it to understand the author's point of view? If it is difficult, what is the reason?
Book review structure
Most book reviews are 100 to 500 words, though an academic review may be up to 1,500 words. Check with the lecturer if you are not sure how long your book review should be.
At the start, include the complete bibliographic information:
Title in full, author, publisher, date of publication edition, number of pages.
A published review will usually include price and ISBN number. Your lecturer may require you to include this, too.
Introduction
Introduction
Your introduction will usually include:
- your overall impression of the book
- a statement about the author
- a statement on the purpose of the book
- a statement of the significance of the work
- a comment about the relationship between this work and others by the same author, the same subject and the same genre.
Body paragraphs
Body paragraphs
The body of your review develops the points you want to make:
- greater detail on the author's thesis and a summary of the main points
- evaluation of strengths, weaknesses, contribution or bias
- the evidence that is the basis of your critique.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The conclusion includes:
- your final assessment
- restatement of overall impression
- your recommendation. If you have already made recommendations in the body paragraphs, restate them in the conclusion.
No new information should be included in the conclusion.
Example book review
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