Book reviewers, provided you distribute your work to the world, wield a unique power to persuade people to buy a book, regardless of whether they’re professionals or not. How many times, for instance, have you bought a book based on an Amazon recommendation from otherwise regular individuals on the website’s review page? I, myself , have bought titles based off of very amateurish reviews that could have used the help of a writing software, believe it or not.

Choosing A Book

When choosing a book to review, try to pick out a subject that is relevant to you. There’s no point reading advanced text on genetic evolution, after all, if you can’t even manage the basics of the subject. What kind of review can you expect to write on a subject you’re completely ignorant of?

Questions To Ask Yourself

It will be helpful to jot down notes while you’re reading, so that it becomes easier to write your review later down the line. While going through the material, ask yourself the following questions and take occasional notes when a relevant thought presents itself:

•How well is the book received by the public at large?

•What message is unique to this book?

•Do you believe in the ideas it puts forward

•What’s good about the book?

•What don’t you enjoy about it?

•Also make sure to keep notes on chapter summaries, so it becomes easier to write about it later on.

Review Format

When crafting the actual review, you can use any essay format you’re familiar with to write the review. Make sure to include relevant points you’ve written down, along with a very brief summary, into the body of your review. Talk about why you loved or hated the book, providing readers a reason to either get it or eschew it from their buying lists.

Book reviews should be made in order to provide a brief description about the book in order to let your readers know what it is all about. Sometimes, there are writers who don’t want to state all about plot of the book.

Sometimes, making your readers want to read your book is a good idea where they are bothered how the story should end and how the characters play their part. In this way, your readers will feel the urge of purchasing that book and read it till the end for them to know the real sequence of the story. Therefore, book reviews are not mere retelling but these can also be a critical analysis or an evaluation of the books. This includes its quality and significance.

If a movie has its own movie review same goes to book reviews so that other people will get an idea of what the story is all about and how it will greatly affects the minds and emotions of your readers.

At school, students are obliged to write a book review. It serves as their reaction paper where they point out the strengths and weakness of the book they’ve analyzed.

However, writing a book review is not all about the book itself but also, configuring the success of the book’s purpose in conveying a message towards its readers. It is highly personal and the reviewer uses his or her opinions in writing book reviews. Therefore, it is unique. Sometimes, it can be short as 50-100 words or 1500 words if it is longer.

The reviewer can describe the book and what’s its concept in every page he or she reads. The reviewer must critically analyze the concept and the purpose of the book. Lastly, the reviewer can state his or her side and reactions about the book. Sometimes, he iterate on the positive side or the opposing side. But then, he or she must have a balance reaction about the book.

When writing book reviews, do you know what kinds of information your readers are expecting? If you don’t fill a review with actual content, you’re not likely to engage your readers for any amount of time (regardless of how impeccable your English grammar software helped you turn out the work).

Most people read book reviews for one of two reasons:

1. To decide whether they should read the book.
2. To compare other people’s opinions against their own.

Every book review must look to fulfill both of those two requirements, giving prospective readers a clear idea of whether they should give the book a shot as well as offering readers who have formed their own opinions a canvas with which to compare notes with.
To give prospective readers an idea of what the book is about, make sure to always add a brief summary in your review. For nonfiction titles, provide an overview of the book’s main thesis as well as its supporting points. For works of fiction, write a brief summary of the story line, taking care not to give away the good parts.

The meat of the actual book review consists of your reactions to the book. In this part, you generally do one or more (preferably all) of these things:

• Give a description of the work
• Provide your own comments about the author’s views and opinions.
• Explore issues the book raises, regardless if you find them of merit or not.
• Support your own reactions by quoting and paraphrasing from other authorities in the field.
• Relate the book to the larger context of things.

The other big problem for authors and self-publishers is that even if a prospective book buyer finds your book on Amazon, they may be a bit timid about buying a book that no (or very few) people have been so inspired by, as to write a good review for it. This might be tough to swallow, but that’s actually not the worst scenario. The worst scenario is that someone did take the time to write a review for your self-published book, but they gave it a one-star rating. I can tell you with no reservations whatsoever that having a negative review is far worse than having no reviews at all.

No one knows the credentials of the person that gives your book a negative review on Amazon because he can be completely anonymous. He doesn’t have to reveal his credentials. He doesn’t even have to prove that he actually even read your book. This is exactly the point; if this one guy doesn’t like your book, that’s fine. You obviously can’t please everyone, but his one negative review of your book on Amazon can stop all your sales if it’s the only review you have!

At some point we have to decide that business is business, and stop playing by their rules. After all, we didn’t make these rules. In fact, we never even agreed to play by their rules. I’d bet every cent I’ve ever earned that Jeff Bezos wasn’t caring about “the rules” when, via Amazon, he put every mom & pop bookstore on the planet out of business. I’d also bet every cent I’ve ever earned that a huge percentage of the reviews written for the “big authors” are placed there on Amazon by the paid employees of their big book publishers. How many times have you seen tons of reviews posted on Amazon for a book that hasn’t even been published yet? I’m always on the look-out for such things, so maybe I’ve seen it more than you have, but I’m telling you, it happens constantly.

I used to think that Amazon book reviews were a good thing, but over the course of the last few years I’ve figured out that Amazon book reviews are just one more tool the “haves” use to keep the little guys from competing. They pretend that the book reviews on Amazon are honorable, when in fact, they are just another sales ploy. And the evil genius of them is that not only does the average book buyer on Amazon think the book reviews are all real, but independent book authors and self-publishers think those Amazon book reviews are real too!

The “big authors” and “big publishers” make their money. Amazon makes their money. But how much do we self-published authors make? We pay their fees and commissions. Not only do we pay their fees, but we provide content for their website free of charge. Companies that sell their services to self-publishers hoping to sell their books on Amazon are in the business of convincing writers and self-published authors that they can compete with the big publishers for book sales on Amazon. I’ll bet they make a lot of money from selling most of us proof-copies, maybe even more than they do from the actual sales of our books. It’s a classic sales ploy. Our self-published books (with very few customer reviews) make their “big books” look more appealing. Businesses have been using this trick forever. The human brain is “programmed” to make comparisons. Nothing has value until you compare it to something else. That Caesar salad you just ordered may seem great until the lady sitting at the table next to you gets her filet mignon delivered to her table. And your self-published book might look great until the prospective book buyer spots a different one with a bunch of good positive reviews posted for it.

We self-published authors need to understand that business is business. Selling books is very competitive. It’s dog-eat-dog. Jeff Bezos doesn’t care one lick about us. He just wants his investors to be happy. Why play by the competition’s rules? When you finally get to the point where you understand that Amazon book reviews are a sham (a sales tool just like all the other sales tools big businesses use), that’s when you’ll start selling more of your self-published books, because you’ll stop feeling guilty about getting book reviews any way you can. If they don’t even play by the rules they try to force onto us, then we shouldn’t feel guilty about not playing by them either. If they can use their financial influence to get book reviews, then why can’t we?

Typically self-published authors care much more about what they write than they do about “sales”, and if that’s your situation, then, how many books you sell, probably doesn’t matter all that much to you. After all, if your goal is simply to spread your message or tell your story, you could easily sell your books for a very reduced price or even give them away for free. But if your goal is to make some actual money from your writing skills, then you may want to consider starting to think like a business owner (as opposed to an artist). Business owners don’t care one tiny little bit what “rules” other businesses “suggest” they follow. You have no obligation (moral or otherwise) to play by “their rules”. (For the moment at least) This is still a FREE country. Don’t let those currently holding the power “guilt” you into playing by “their rules” –that they set up to keep you down.

And thus, to conclude; the way that you get Fast & Easy Amazon Book Reviews (as this article title suggests) is to stop sitting around hoping that someone will like your book and then go to Amazon and post a good review for it. You need to actively pursue getting reviews just like you would actively pursue any other business endeavor, like getting advertising or getting sales. You need to be relentless and business-like. Get reviews any way you possibly can. Call on friends, family, online-friends, or even companies that provide such services (they do exist) to post reviews for your business’s product (your book).

Getting book reviews posted on Amazon is actually a lot faster, cheaper, and easier than you might think. The only thing that’s really holding you back is that fear that maybe you’re doing something wrong. That fear is what separates authors that self-publish for fun, and authors that self-publish to make some real money selling their books on Amazon. Get creative. That’s what great artists do isn’t it?

This book is all about the law of attraction and shows how you can use it to attract the things that you want into your life. We all have the capability of using the law of attraction within us but most of us just don’t know it. We all have the incredible power to control our own lives but only a few know how to use it to its full potential and live that life that most people just dream of.

I’m not just talking about attracting wealth and material things into your life but you can attract good health and happiness which in reality is what we all want for our lives.

This book discusses how people have been using the law of attracting to live a good life for many years and the secret is something that we all have and can all use. There are those select few who have been teaching the law of attraction for many years but it took a book like ‘The Secret’ to make the whole world aware of this amazing tool that we all possess.

Rhonda Byrne found how to use the law of attraction when she was at a low in her life and used it to bring back happiness into her life. She is now a true example of how using this inbuilt tool really can change your life for the better. This is a book that you can read over and over again and each time you will find new and powerful messages within it.

Within this book there are personal stories and examples of how the law of attraction has worked for different people in completely different ways. It is a very uplifting and motivating book that when you read it you really want to make those changes into your life.

The Secret has 10 chapters and starts of explaining what the secret is and how to use it and then it even goes deeper into showing how you can use it for specific areas of your life such as ‘the secret to money’ and ‘the secret to health’ and others.

If there is anything that you need to improve in your life then learning the ways of ‘The Secret’ will certainly help you to do so. For many just reading a book alone is not enough to persist and make the changes needed in your life. For those people taking a course in ‘the secret’ and manifesting good things into your life may be very beneficial.

To let you understand what a critical book review is, let’s define firstly what is a book review itself? Book review is an academic paper that gives an analysis of a book based on content, style, and merits. To make a book review critical, you should add more personal judgments and evaluations. It is very important to understand the book completely in order to write a good book review. Now, let’s divide your critical book reviewing into steps.

Even before an actual reading, study the table of contest and chapter titles, read the preface. It will help you to understand a book’s structure and writer’s way of thinking. You should study the writer’s biography to understand the reason of his writing. It might be good to read others critical reviews. Take some notes while reading, then you will use them for your outline. Find a way you are going to criticize, then revise your notes and eliminate all that doesn’t relate to your future thesis.

First thing you have to do, is to write a draft. Think about what will go into your introduction, body and conclusion. For example in the intro you can analyze the potential target audiences. Tell about the author’s purpose in writing the book and what have influenced him/her to write the book. Show your overall opinion of the book. In a few words explain the basis of your opinion and state the main thesis.

In the body of the review you start to evaluate the book. This evaluation should contain your arguments that support your thesis. Here you can identify the author’s main thesis and agree or disagree with them. Try to discuss not only the author’s point of view, but the accuracy of the facts, the use of the language and writing style. Comment all these by using quotations from the text, so that your book review reader would understand right away your idea. You can criticize by answering such questions as: Is the book lacking of argumentation or information, that in your opinion has to be? Are the ideas logical and easy to follow? How skillfully does the author use vocabulary, explains and supports his own arguments? Is there anything that is missing in the book? Does it need illustration? Don’t make any offensive statements here. In general you can find lots of information from the book to criticize. Be creative and remember that you have always to prove and explain your statements.

In the conclusion you should summarize your main thesis. On the ground of your short summary tell about your expectation. Were they met? What have you learnt from this book? There is a good way of an impressive end. Imagine that you could meet the author of the book and tell about your possible conversation. This will leave your review reader ran information to think about.

After you will be done with the draft, proofread it. Check for grammar and punctuation errors, for errors in your quotations, and for your logical development. Ideally, you should leave your first draft for a day or two before revising. Then you will be more open minded and will be more objective in checking. This might lead even to some radical changes of your paper’s plot.

Here are 9 simple steps to keep in mind when creating a book review. Any kind of book review, either written or via web video, explores the main aspects of the book, along with more specific examples.

However, a good book review is not simply a book report or a summary – it goes a step further and connects the book to the world around us.

Some things to keep in mind when reviewing a book:

1. State the name of the book, author and publication information exactly. This seems simple, but is sadly often botched.

2. Do your research and read the book carefully. Don’t review the book if you haven’t completely read it.

3. Never give away the whole story. The goal is to entice readers with your review. Let them know what the book is about; while leaving them wanting more.

4. What is the theme of the book? If a work of fiction, how does the author use characters and setting to drive the plot?

5. What genre is the book? Does it live up to that genre? If it is a mystery, did it keep you guessing? Or, if for instance a how-to book, could one follow the instructions and perform the tasks described?

6. Let people know how you related to the book. Did it make you laugh or cry? Try to share some highlights of the book without giving away too much. Share your personal connection with the book. It makes the review interesting, and gives the person watching or reading your review a sense of who you are.

7. You don’t have to, in a general sort of way, love the book you’re reviewing. Be specific and give specific examples out of the book that support your opinion.

8. Have you read other titles by the author? Comparing the title you are reviewing to other books by the same author will help people gauge their interest in the book.

9. Do some research about the author. There may be something very interesting about the author that readers want to know.

Kind words about your work can be placed on the back or front cover, or inside the book. Usually reviews are punctuated within quotes.

Pre-publication reviewers can be found by searching Google or links found on my website. Since there are time constraints, a fee is often charged. Different reviewers ask for different formats. Some accept a copy of the manuscript, but often a PDF file of the book can be forwarded. A PDF file of your book is sent to you from the subsidy publisher before publication. This pre-publication document is also called a galley. Since it is a read only document, final edits must be made on a separate sheet of paper. Only send this document out for review if it is fairly clean of typos and formatting problems.

Getting reviews before publication can put everything on hold. Not just in the time it takes, but once returned, they have to be edited, formatted, and placed wherever you’d like them to appear. Make sure the publisher is aware of any delays.

Another way of handling reviews is to find other authors, specialists in the field, or enthusiastic readers to say a few words. People enjoy seeing their name in print and if they like your book, it’s a win-win situation.

Reviews can also be added after publication. Ask your subsidy publisher how much money it will cost to add reviews to your book cover. Editing either the cover (front and back is one document) or the interior is another advantage of POD publishing. Still, beware of prohibitive charges. Presently, my publisher charges $50 for either a cover or interior change, along with an hourly rate of $50 to make such edits. In my case, since I do my own cover, adding reviews would cost me $50, the basic charge with no hourly expense.

Reviews sell books, but the review process can take awhile, often months after publication. Not to worry. Those kind words can be added at anytime to online venues, such as Amazon or your website. Reviews can also be placed on press releases, bookmarks, sell sheets, promotional material and, of course, on any future covers.

For my second book, Paloma, I sent out twenty-eight review copies. About a third were reviewed. A couple of places went out of business and some I never heard from. One review came back over a year later. Review sites, papers, magazines often have a bank of reviewers who read books, but it’s often at their discretion. A book will be accepted for review, then put on a queue to see if anyone is interested. There’s no deadline in having a book reviewed. I’ve seen books reviewed three years after publication. The cost of getting a review is the cost of a book with shipping, but on occasion a review site will only ask for a PDF file that’s sent as an attachment. This means your book is reviewed for free!

Of course there’s a downside to all this review business. Reading is subjective and some reviews may be less than stellar. No writer, self published or otherwise, is immune to a bad review. Be brave.

Linda’s Website

Linda is the author of Composition: A Fiction Writer’s Guide for the 21st Century  Download for $3.75

Book Review: The Book of Common Prayer, “My carry-with-me copy is this size, and I recommend it for traveling places…”
by Peter Menkin

Here I am daring to comment on this wonderful book, used by Episcopalians and one of the prayer and rubric publications that unite Anglicans worldwide. (There are about 77 million Anglicans in the world, and most have their own “version” of this wonderful and inspired book, though perhaps this specific size of which I write and this specific American version, may not be familiar to them all.)

My copy that is this size, and at a similar good price as this one (take advantage of a good offer, by the way), has been used by me for about ten or so years. It’s been a durable book, though worn now and the leather cover warped, despite my treating it from time to time. But then I carry it in my car, and sometimes leave it on the seat where the sun hits it. Nonetheless, it has proved durable.

There are so many personal uses for the prayer book, and touching on some of them, it is important for me to note in this recitation, that the primary purpose of this issue of The Book of Common Prayer for me is taking it to nursing, hospital, and similar places (including home visits), to administer home Communion. It is an excellent size for traveling, and as I may not have mentioned, also offers the complete book with all the prayers and this includes, “Communion under Special Circumstances,” used in the Episcopal Church for bringing home communion.

As a licensed lay Minister in my Church, and as an Oblate, I am always moved and informed by the same words from that shared, intimate service. To give you reader, an idea of the character of the book, here is a quote from the beginning prayer of the section “Communion under Special Circumstances.”

“Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrement of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.”

There is flexibility in the prayers, and the rubrics allow the lay minister or clergy administering the Eucharist to do the following: “After the reading [found before the opening prayer quoted above], the Celebrant may comment on it briefly.” Also, “Suitable prayers may be offered, concluding with the following or some other Collect.”

My opinion is the book, both a religious, spiritually literary, and inspired work, encourages spiritual discussion of a religious nature after or before the words of the service. In this way, the Eucharist is a community or communion activity, where the idea of sharing the Church experience is enlarged in the presence of God and man.

When I visit the elderly, especially the frail elderly in my visits, I sometimes share Psalms. The book contains all 150 Psalms, its own translation, of course. This one is a favorite of mine, not only because of its familiarity, but as well because it is a kind of statement about the journey and ministry with which I am engaged in this pastoral relationship:

Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd
I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures
and leads me beside still waters.

He revives my soul
and guides me along right pathways for his Name’s sake.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me;
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.

Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

This is a good place to end the review.

(This review appeared originally on Amazon.com.)

Notes on review: A friend tells me via email the review is “Too long and too much about your personal ministry. You might try reading other reviews (if any) or looking at what Church Publishing says about it.”

I am happy for the critique and suggestions. Here is my response, in part, “As you can tell from the review, my intent was not to take on the book itself for review, but a part of it relevant to me and specific to that particular ‘version’ (inexpensive, small, portable, and useful for a specific purpose and kind of ministry).

“I also wanted to speak to Episcopalians themselves, as well as Christians, mostly, in a way that would engage them in the review based on experience, rather than expertise. To do that, I thought I needed to use my own personal (though personable might be a better term), than expert opinion.

“For me, dealing with so awesome and holy a work has more validity and genuineness by the stance used. Certainly, there is a kind of authority in this kind of review by testimony (granted that is an important focus of the review, by intention).

“There you have an explanation of why I wrote it as I did, and part of the rationale for the conception of the approach.”

I add as of the posting of the review here: I do hope readers will find the review both interesting and able to inform them of some merits of the holy prayer book for Episcopalians in America, The Book of Common Prayer.

It is many things, and contains instructions for worship services including Eucharist, Daily Prayer, Burial, and other rites and sacraments of the Church. As a literary work, it is a marvel and famous as well as admired in that regard. I cannot say how much I have found in this book, and others have found, too.

It does bring one closer to God in Christ and reveals a central part of worship for Episcopalians. An indispensable book for so many Christians of that denomination, and good reading for others who may be interested.

I hope my added notes help the review satisfy some of my friend’s objections.

Often I am asked how does one go about getting reviews for a novel. Most authors I have met over the years have been under the impression that the only valid reviews are found in the newspaper or in a trade periodical. While such reviews can be a feather in an author’s cap, particularly if they are positive, they should not be considered the only source of PR for a book.

An author can find a wealth of resources for obtaining book reviews, if one knows where to look. Yet, before you send those books out for review, it is important to consider this question: when should a book go out for review?

Too soon, or too late?

How soon is too soon for a book to be distributed for review? Depending upon the review source and the marketing schedule of a publisher, advanced review copies of books (also known as ARCs) may go out to reviews as early as four months before the books release. There may be many reasons for the advanced promotion. A reviewer’s schedule may be such that it may take four months to get to a particular book, and this way the publisher is ensuring a timely review. Other reasons may be seasonal: if a novel is written for the Christmas season, for example, the publisher may want to garner advanced reviews to tantalize readership during the peak of holiday shopping.

Whatever the reason for sending out ARCs, the message is clear: a book does not necessarily have to be released and for sale for the author to start collecting reviews. If words of praise are collected early enough, the publisher may want to include them on the front or back cover to entice readers to buy. Just make certain the ARC sent out for review is clean, free of errors and bound in a font size that is easily read.

Once you have the best draft available, it is time to distribute to reviewers. Here are just a few suggestions that are not necessarily limited to the media.

Professionals in the field: If your book is non-fiction, be it about politics, self-help topics, or a biography, it would be to your advantage to have an endorsement from an expert in your book’s topic. If you have written about an event in the Civil War, considering approaching an historian specializing in that era. If your book is religious in nature, seek endorsement from a noted clergyman.

Authors of similar works: Take a look at the fiction shelves of your favorite bookstore. You may notice that some novels include endorsements from other authors of the same genre. This is especially true for romance and mystery, communities so tightly knit considering the annual conferences these authors attend for networking purposes. If you have written a romance or mystery novel, you may wish to seek other authors for a word of praise. A cordial letter to the authors of your choice may yield good results for you. You might find some authors are willing to read your work, if it means extra PR for them in the form of their names on your cover. Don’t feel discouraged, however, if an author you have contacted declines or does not respond. Authors who write for a living often have busy schedules, and may not be able to afford the time needed for an unbiased endorsement of your work.

Organizations relative to your work: So you have written a mystery with a dog theme. Does this mean you are limited to mystery reviewers? Not necessarily. If a dog show is the setting for the story, you may want to consider approaching professionals on the dog show circuit to read your book. This can be especially helpful in generating word of mouth publicity for your book as well. People interested in dogs who don’t normally read mystery may be curious enough to buy your novel.

Think about the settings and occupations featured in your novel. Is there a corresponding organization that would make a good target audience for your book? Foster that connection by bringing in some potential reviewers.

Book Review websites: A quick Internet search for book review websites will yield a number of resources available to you. Many such sites have been cited on author’s book covers and in advertisements on the web and in print. It is important to note, however, when you research these websites that they are suitable to review your work.

Study each website. What genres do they accept? Do they offer a turnaround time on reviews? Do they charge a fee? A reputable reviewer will not charge, so check!

Regardless of the review source you approach, it is imperative to treat each one with the proper courtesy. Query each potential reviewer first. Do not send the book immediately, lest a reviewer feel you are imposing on him. Learn what the reviewer wants: an attachment in mail, a finished product, or an ARC.

Once it is sent, a good rule of thumb is to contact to acknowledge receipt of the book, but do not send constant e-mails about progress unless an inordinate amount of time has passed without word from the reviewer. If, after a month or so, you have heard nothing, follow-up with a polite note.

Taking care to find alternative resources for reviews can not only boost prominence of your book on shelves, but may also broaden your target audience. Don’t wait for your release to get reviews. Start the buzz now!

Before commencement of book review writing, you should distinguish between two terms: book report and book review. Many people use these terms in the same breath, however there are vital differences in the very essence of these notions.

Book Review and Book Report – Is There a Difference?

A book report has a factual emphasize. It is a factual account of the subject matter of the book, which implies to be descriptive rather than persuasive and analytical. Its aim is to present the content and the structure of the book as objectively as possible. The book report includes a plot summary; it doesn’t look into deeper meanings of the book and doesn’t contain the identification of the symbolism.

Book report writing is a good way to structure and articulate the thoughts about the book you’ve just read. In a nutshell, it is simply a summary of the contents of the book.

A book review is a critical evaluation of the book that provides a thoughtful and in-depth analysis, and evaluation of the main idea, and purpose of the book. It is also a kind of reaction paper, which analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the book in terms of accepted historical and literary standards, supporting this evaluation with evidences from the text. In a word, it presents the assessment of the quality, meaning, and significance of the book.

What, in fact, sets book reviews apart from book reports is their personal character. Book reviews are highly personal and reflect the opinions of the reviewer on the given literary work. In the book review the reviewer clearly states his position and impressions regarding the book under consideration.

Structure of Book Review

The structure of book reviews resembles other types of academic writing. Book reviews usually comprise of a thesis statement, a supporting body paragraph, and a conclusion.

Typically, reviews are succinct, they rarely exceed 1000 words. Book reviews usually comprises of two elements: descriptive and evaluative. In the descriptive element you provide the essential information about the title, author, type of book, and general subject matters. While in the evaluative element you should present the assessment of the book, particularly of the perceived ideas and implied purposes, quoting exemplary passages from the text.

A good book review is well organized, and as well as the critical assessment and analysis it elucidates the essence of the literary work. Book reviews may vary in tone, style, and subject; however they share the common structure.

• Begin your Book Review with Introduction

Your introduction will bristle with factual and descriptive data, including the name of the author, some relevant details about his life and creative work, the title of the book, and the main theme of the given piece.

The second component of the introduction is the thesis of the book, which may be very perplexing to uncover since stories, novels, and plays don’t explicitly state the argument. Though, you should reveal this special angle and novelty of the piece that will actually become the ground for your further discussion and evaluation and allow you to make your book review original.

The introduction infers to be descriptive; however it should be catchy to seize the attention of the readers. So you should choose an interesting form of presenting your thoughts and ideas to make sure that the readers will keep on reading your book review up to the end. Many writers begin their book reviews with a quip or an anecdote that delivers their argument.

• Keep on Summarizing

Second, you should give your readers a concise summary of the literary work, where you state the author’s purpose of writing the book, provide its leading idea, compare and contrast main characters.

Here your aim is to plunge the readers into the atmosphere of the book, to make them interested in the ideas discussed in this literary piece, and to uncover them your understanding of the symbolism and implicit themes contained in the book. To reach this goal you should articulate your thoughts clearly, logically, and make your argument persuasive and sound.

In the course of making critical assessment of the literary work, you’ll have to back your arguments and assertions with concrete evidences from the text. Remember that critical assessment implies not only to analyze the literary piece under review, but also to tell your readers what struck you the most in this book, whether or not reading it was effective, persuasive, and exciting, and also your discussion on how it enhanced your understanding of the issue at hand.

Your analysis and evaluation should be organized into separate paragraphs that deal with particular aspects of your argument. You don’t necessarily should work chronologically through the book, though, you should make the structure of your summary logical and comprehensive for the readers.

• Draw a logic conclusion

Sum up and restate your thesis or make the final judgment regarding the book in the conclusion. Don’t introduce any new ideas and evidence for your argument, make up your conclusion copious with the ideas that extend the logic of your thesis statement.

Harnessing these simple and winning strategies of book review writing, you’ll surely turn your work into a writing marvel.