Book Reviews: How to review a book

When writing a book review, consider the following structure and use the "Book Review Checklist" to explore some potential points of analysis to include in your review.

Introduction: basic information about the book

- Start by providing the name of author and book title; you may want to include the full reference for the book before you start your review.

- Situate the context: main themes, relevant ideas, the book main thesis (if it has one).

- Your thesis or main ideas about the book.

Summary

- A brief summary about the book; consider your audience: has it read the same book or not? How many details should you include?

Analysis and Evaluation

- Discuss some of the main points or themes of the book: how do they connect to your main ideas and thesis? How can the book be situated in the field? How does it connect to other works? What are weaknesses and strengths of the book?

Conclusion

- Restate your thesis. What is your overall impression about the book? Would you recommend it to someone else? What type of reader could potentially enjoy this work?

In general, most good book reviews focus mainly on a book's purpose, contents, and authority. What follows is a checklist of possible topics to include in a book review. Not all topics will be relevant to the book you are reviewing, so select the most appropriate.

1. Purpose:

• Why was the book written? What did the author hope to accomplish?

2. Contents:

• What type of book is it? (fiction, factual).
• Is it primarily a narrative in chronological sequence?
• Does it have a thesis or argument?
• What are the author's main ideas and how are they developed?

3. Book's Authority and the Author's Authority:

• What is the author's background and qualifications?
• Does the author have biases?
• Do they use reliable sources? How?
• Are the ideas in the book internally consistent?
• How well developed are the arguments?
• Are opposing ideas and arguments considered?

4. The General Field:

• What is it?
• How does the subject of this book fit into it?

5. Significance of Work in Field:

• What is its significance compared to other works by this author?
• How does the book compared to the work of other writers in this area?
• What further work needs to be done?

6. Author's Style:

• Is the writing style descriptive, scholarly, narrative, simple, technical, economical, wordy, logical, imaginative?
• Is the style suited to the purpose and subject of the book and the target audience?

7. Format:

• Is the print type appropriate and legible?
• Are there illustrations or other aids to understanding the text (images, charts, maps, etc.)?
• Is the index adequate and accurate?
• Is the bibliography superficial or thorough? Is it annotated?

8. Intended audience:

• Who is the intended audience?
• Does the author reach this audience and the audience's expectations?