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Writing an effective book review requires reading carefully and
critically. This page will give you advice and tips about how
to do this kind of reading.
Related links:
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How to get started reading a book to review it
| What you
should do |
How
you should do it |
| Choose your book carefully |
Being interested in a book will help you write a
strong review, so take some time to choose a book whose topic and
scholarly approach genuinely interest you.
If you're assigned a book, you'll need to find a way to become
interested in it. |
| Read actively and critically |
Don't read just to discover the
author's main point or to mine some facts.
Engage with the text, marking important points and underlining
passages as you go along (in books you own, of course!).
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| Focus first on summary and analysis |
Before you
read
- Write down quickly and informally some of the facts and
ideas you already know about the book's topic
- Survey the book--including the preface and table of contents--and
make some predictions
Here are some questions to ask:
- What does the title promise the book will cover or argue?
- What does the preface promise about the book?
- What does the table of contents tell you about how the book
is organized?
- Who's the audience for this book?
As you read
With individual chapters:
- Think carefully about the chapter's title and skim paragraphs
to get an overall sense of the chapter.
- Then, as you read, test your predictions against the
points made in the chapter.
- After you've finished a chapter, take brief notes. Start by
summarizing, in your own words, the major points of the
chapter. Then you might want to take brief notes about particular
passages you might discuss in your review.
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| Begin to evaluate |
As you take notes about the book, try
dividing your page into two columns. In the left, summarize main
points from a chapter. In the right, record your reactions to and
your tentative evaluations of that chapter.
Here are several ways you can evaluate a book:
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If you know other books on this same subject, you can compare
the arguments and quality of the book you're reviewing with
the others, emphasizing what's new and what's especially valuable
in the book you're reviewing.
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If you don't know others books on this subject, you can still
do some evaluation. Ask, for example:
- How well does the book fulfill the promises the author makes
in the preface and introduction?
- How effective is the book's methodology?
- How effectively does the book make its arguments?
- How persuasive is the evidence?
- For its audience, what are the book's strengths?
- How clearly is the book written?
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