A book review is an informal form of literary criticism, where a book is simply critiqued or studied depending on merit, style, and content. As such, the content of a book review will depend on the publishing company’s editorial policy. Generally, book reviews are carried out by book review magazines, newspapers, book review organizations, book forums, or related entities. However, some of these entities are also open to criticisms, questions, and even suggestions. For this reason, one can always make use of book reviews online as a platform for getting an opinion on the work of a certain author.
To get started, one should decide on the type of the review that they are going to carry out. The best way to ascertain this is to carefully study the work of the author. The book review should be in support of the thesis statement of the author using the provided resources.
For example, let us take the biographies of two books, A Brief History Of Western Music And Education And The composer, Robert E. Sherwood. The first author uses the works of jazz musicians as a key observation for the creation of his own music. He refers to these musicians as his “mentors.” Similarly, the second author uses the works of essayists, critics, and other writers as a key observation for developing his own writing style. In this case, the second author uses bibliographic information from the works of these key persons to support his thesis statement.
The bibliographic information provided for book reviews comes from the pages of the books themselves. The information includes the author’s name, his publications or other works that are related to this particular genre of literature, the publisher or the country in which the book was published, the year it was published, the intended readership, the theme or the subject matter, the references to various works that strengthen the overall theme, the characters and the setting of the story, and finally, the bibliography of the book. However, many book reviews fail to provide enough bibliographic information to support their main points. They either fail to provide a detailed background on the book, the author, or the publishing or the country in which the book was published. In some cases, book reviews just highlight the key points without providing sufficient background to either the author or the reader.
If you are writing book reviews, you should not only provide a review of the main points, but also support your main points with additional information. First, provide a quote from the book itself that reinforces your main point. You can cite specific instances when the author uses specific styles or elements. Second, describe how the author uses various literary devices. Thirdly, explain how the author uses specific words, phrases, etc. Lastly, explain what the reader can learn from the book.
One possible problem with book reviews is that the reviewer may use too broad criteria in their review. For instance, a book review may be primarily a criticism of plot, character and quality of language. However, the review may also touch briefly upon things such as the character’s growth and emotional development, the climax and resolution of the story, and other such matters. While these aspects of a book are important, you should not include all of them in your review. Instead, focus on one or two points and explain why these things are significant to the reader.
Many book reviews have been criticized for being superficial and to have little or no substance. Although book reports can sometimes be more comprehensive than a review, they should not be seen as a substitute for a full-length book review. In short, book reports often do not have the same level of content that a full-length book review does. In some cases, book reports can be more informative than a review, since they give the reader a more detailed look at the plot and characters. However, they should not be seen as a replacement for a review.
In short, when young reviewers are writing about books they should remember that the purpose of their writing is to educate readers. They should use their writing style to let the reader know why they should read the book and what they will gain from reading it. If they clearly explain these reasons, readers may wish to consider buying the book and reviewing it themselves.