__NOTOC__
A book review is a form of
literary criticism
Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...
in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit.
A book review may be a
primary source
In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under ...
, an opinion piece, a summary review, or a scholarly view.
Books can be reviewed for printed periodicals, magazines, and newspapers, as school work, or for book websites on the Internet. A book review's length may vary from a single paragraph to a substantial
essay
An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...
. Such a
review
A review is an evaluation of a publication, product, service, or company or a critical take on current affairs in literature, politics or culture. In addition to a critical evaluation, the review's author may assign the work a content rating, ...
may evaluate the book based on personal taste. Reviewers may use the occasion of a book review for an extended essay that can be closely or loosely related to the subject of the book, or to promulgate their ideas on the topic of a fiction or
non-fiction
Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...
work.
Some journals are devoted to book reviews, and reviews are indexed in databases such as the ''
Book Review Index
''Book Review Index'' is an index of book reviews and literary criticism, found in leading academic, popular, and professional periodicals. It has been published since 1965. For most of its history it has been owned by Gale and is based in Detro ...
'' and ''
Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
''; but many more book reviews can be found in newspaper and scholarly databases such as
Arts and Humanities Citation Index
The ''Arts & Humanities Citation Index'' (A&HCI), also known as ''Arts & Humanities Search'', is a citation index, with abstracting and indexing for more than 1,700 arts and humanities journals, and coverage of disciplines that includes social an ...
,
Social Sciences Citation Index
The Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) is a commercial citation index product of Clarivate Analytics. It was originally developed by the Institute for Scientific Information from the Science Citation Index. The Social Sciences Citation Index is ...
, and dscipline-specific databases.
History
Photios I of Constantinople
Photios I ( el, Φώτιος, ''Phōtios''; c. 810/820 – 6 February 893), also spelled PhotiusFr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., & Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materia ...
has been called "the inventor of the book review" for his work, ''
Bibliotheca''.
Types of reviews
Academic reviews
Academic reviews are both a form of academic service and a contribution to the academic literature.
They are frequently published as a section or part of academic journals.
They help the profession understand what has been happening in their profession, and work on the emerging intellectual challenges of their field.
However, not all academics are incentivized to take on the work required in a book review, because they are often not rewarded for that work.
Book reviews can be used to predict which monographs are likely to have subsequent citations.
Newspaper and magazine reviews
Newspaper reviews became prominent in the 18h century, as a form of reader responses
In academic criticism, popular book reviews in newspapers and magazine reviews are often used to evaluate the relative audience and impact of books during a period.
See also
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Amazon.com controversies
Amazon (company), Amazon.com has drawn criticism from multiple sources, where the ethics of certain business practices and policies have been drawn into question. Amazon has faced numerous allegations of Anti-competitive practices, anti-compet ...
*
Australian Book Review
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BookBrowse
''BookBrowse'' is an online magazine and website that provides book reviews, author interviews, book previews, and reading guides. The magazine is independent of publishers and does not sell books that it reviews. The site offers both free and pre ...
*
Booklist
''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...
*
The Book Club Bible
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Claremont Review of Books
The ''Claremont Review of Books'' (''CRB'') is a quarterly review of politics and statesmanship published by the conservative Claremont Institute. A typical issue consists of several book reviews and a selection of essays on topics of conservatis ...
*
Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
*
Library Journal
''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...
*
Literary criticism
Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...
*
London Review of Books
The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews.
History
The ''London Review of ...
*
National Book Critics Circle
The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization ( 501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics C ...
*
The New York Review of Books
''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
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Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
*
Self-Publishing Review
''Skdoit'' is an online book review magazine for indie authors founded in 2008 by American author Henry Baum.
Overview
''Self-Publishing Review'' is a daily online report of indie book reviews, articles, and news related to the self-publishing ...
*
Shelf Awareness
Shelf Awareness is an American publishing company that produces two electronic publications/newsletters focused on bookselling, books and book reviews.
Overview
With offices in Seattle, Washington, and Montclair, New Jersey, ''Shelf Awareness' ...
References
Further reading
*Chen, C. C. (1976), ''Biomedical, Scientific and Technical Book Reviewing'', Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, NJ.
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*Lindholm-Romantschuk, Y. (1998). ''Scholarly book reviewing in the social sciences and humanities.'' The flow of ideas within and among disciplines. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
*Miranda, E. O. (1996), "On book reviewing", ''Journal of Educational Thought, Vol. 30'' No. 2, pp. 191–202.
*Motta-Roth, D. (1998), "Discourse analysis and academic book reviews: a study of text and disciplinary cultures", in Fortanet, I. (Ed), ''Genre Studies in English for Academic Purposes'', Universitat Jaume, Castelló de la Plana, pp. 29–58.
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*Rampola, Mary Lynn (2010). "Critiques and book reviews", ''A Pocket Guide to Writing in History'', Sixth Edition, pp. 26–28.
*Riley, L. E. & Spreitzer, E. A. (1970), "Book reviewing in the social sciences", ''The American Sociologist, Vol. 5'' (November), pp. 358–363.
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*Snizek, W. E. & Fuhrman, E. R. (1979), "Some factors affecting the evaluative content of book reviews in sociology", ''The American Sociologist, Vol. 14'' (May), pp. 108–114.
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External links
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Book reviews at The Writing Center - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
{{Authority control
Literary criticism