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Book or Article Review Guide

A review is not a book report.

A book review is critical. It provides a thoughtful analysis and the reviewers reaction, and may include a contrast/comparison to other books on the same topic.
A book report is simply a summary of the contents of the book, without analysis or opinion.
Your instructor will specify the minimum length of the review you are composing and may have specific criteria you are to include. Be sure to consult any guidelines your instructor may provide [handouts, Blackboard postings, etc].
If your instructor does not have specific criteria, the following are components typically seen in many reviews. Select as many as are appropriate to the volume you are reading.

Document available in PDF for printing (pdf 52.73 kB)

  • Bibliographic Information (Title, Author, Publisher, Date)
  • Author Information: Qualifications, Background, Credentials, Publications
  • Title Significance : Is Title from a Poem or Song? [Ex: for Whom the Bell Tolls ]
  • Brief Summary or Description of the Content, Thesis, or Work Overview
  • Style: Simple, First-person, Complex - Does Style Match the Subject Material?
  • Strengths & Weaknesses: Best Features? What Annoyed You?
  • Purpose: How Well Did the Author Achieve His/her Purpose?
  • Fiction: If Reviewing a Work of Fiction, Note Elements Such as Character, Plot and Setting. How Do They Relate to the Theme of the Book?
  • How Are Characters Delineated? How Do They Develop? Plot Structure?
  • Analysis: (Your Reaction) Was the Author Biased? What Impact Might the Book Have? Did You Agree with the Conclusion? Why?

A wonderful quote from the eminent Samuel Johnson, 18th Century poet, journalist, essayist, literary critic, as his suggestion to beginning reviewers when analyzing a book:
"What did the writer try to do? How well did he do it? Was it worth doing in the first place?"
If you quote any part of the book, be sure to use quotation marks "~ " to indicate the direct quotes.
NOTE: You cannot review a publication you have not read. Skimming a work may give you the wrong impression of the author's focus. You may miss relevant portions and make incorrect assumptions based on incomplete information. Read the entire book before writing the review.
* * * A review of a JOURNAL ARTICLE  will follow the format of a book review and provide a critical analysis of the article, rather than a descriptive summary. Several of the Online Guides  listed below provide descriptions for writing article reviews.

ONLINE GUIDES

The following sources provide detailed guidelines on preparing either a book or article review for a college level assignment.
Writing Book Reviews ~ Writing Tutorial Services, Indiana University
Writing a Critical Review of a Book or Journal & Reading a Book to Review It ~ The Writing Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Writing a Book Review ~ University of Toronto, Canada
Writing an Article Review ~ Student Learning Services, Concordia Univ.
Writing an Historical Book Review ~ Dr. Thomas Saylor, Concordia Univ.
Article Review ~ C. Munzenmaier, Hamilton College, Urbandale, IA
On Writing Book/Article Reviews: A Guide for the Perplexed. ~ Professor Amanda Graham, History & Women's Studies, Yukon College, Canada
How to Write a Book Review, Los Angles Valley College
How to Write a Book Review. Stauffer Library. http://library.queensu.ca/inforef/bookreview/wri.htm
Writing Book Reviews. University of Waterloo Library. http://library.uwaterloo.ca/libguides/1-12.html
How to Write a Book Review. Dalhousie University Libraries. http://www.library.dal.ca/How/Guides/BookReview/
Writing Book Reports & Book Reviews. Internet Public Library. http://www.ipl.org/div/farq/bookreportFARQ.html

Look at some online reviews:

A review of the book, Same-Sex Marriage and the Constitution, by E. Gerstmann, Cambridge University Press, was found in Political Science Quarterly, v. 119, #4, Winter 2004/2005, in the Social Science (Wilson) database.
or
pick the Secret Origins of Modern Microeconomics by Ekelund & Hebert, Univ of Chicago Press, 1999, reviewed in the American Journal of Economics and Sociology, v58 #3, July 1999, also from the Social Science (Wilson) database.

PUBLISHED REVIEW EXAMPLES

It may be helpful to see some published reviews as examples. The following TCC library print journals all contain book reviews (illustrative not exhaustive list). Suggestion: Select a journal title within the discipline of the class for which the book review assignment is given.

  • American Journal of Sociology
  • Atlantic Monthly
  • Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews
  • Current Anthropology
  • Foreign Policy
  • The Historian
  • JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association
  • Journal of Sex Research
  • The New York Review of Books
  • Southern Economic Journal
  • TDR The Drama Review

Books at the TCC Library that contain further information on writing book reviews:

What Is a Book?  by David Kirby - TCC Circulation . . . . . . PS 121 K57
Book Reviewing : A Guide to Writing Book Reviews for Newspapers, Magazines, Radio, and Television  / by leading book editors, critics, and reviewers ; edited by Sylvia E. Kamerman. - TCC Circulation . . . . . . . . PN 98 B7 B6
Book Reviewing for an Audience: A Practical Guide in Technique for Lecture and Broadcast. - TCC Circulation . . . . . . PN 98 B7 O6
Oral Book Reviewing to Stimulate Reading  - by Evelyn Oppenheimer - TCC Circulation . . . . . . . PN 98 B7 O64

TCC Library January 2005
Revised May 2012