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Book Reviews for Readers and Authors!Book reviews can help publicize various author's books by providing valuable feedback on the content within their books. You can help authors attract more people to their books through reviews by telling a little bit about what you got out of the book when you read it. Writing reviews for books is a great way to let people know the types of books you like to read. It also helps people decide on what books to read if they aren't too sure on what to read. When considering writing about someone's book, you must analyze, evaluate, and describe what you thought about the book. Before you start reading, break out a notepad and pen and write things down as you read the book so you can recall them later when you are writing a review. Below are some elements to consider when you want to write a good review on someone's book. 1. Critical Analysis. You should start your analysis even before you pick up a book to read it. Look at the title of the book and determines what it suggests about the book. Read the introduction or preface and identify any of the books limits. Determine if the author has left out any important aspects of the subject he/she is writing about. Read the table of contents (if it has one). Determine the layout and organization of the book. 2. Detailed Analysis. As you are reading the book, you should consider many of the wonderful aspects of that book, such as the genre, the writer's point of view throughout the book, the style of the book, the type of audience it is suitable for, and general information about the author and the types of books he/she writes or has previously written. 3. Evaluation. When you are ready, start jotting down things to add into your review such as what the book accomplish, did it leave you wanting more, or did it leave an impacting image in your mind. Be honest with your evaluation. This is not only feedback to other readers, it is constructive feedback for the writer as well. You should catch the reader of your review with your opening statement. Try to set a tone of your book reviews. It should be known right away if your review is going to be positive or negative, and if it is negative, that it is an honest, professional review. You should be familiar with the book review publisher's guidelines before starting your actual review. Some want plot summaries included with your review while others do not. Some may want you to say if you recommend a book or not right away in the review. During your review, you want to compare the book to other books by this author or books in the same genre by other authors. This helps established the writing style of the author or if they have a style all of their own. You should consider who the person is reading your book reviews. Is the reader a collector, librarian, a parent wanting to read the book aloud to their children. The person reading your review may just be looking for information about a topic or just searching for the next book they may want to read. 4. Your Conclusion. Your review conclusion must summarize, including a final assessment, of the book you read. Don't add more comments here. This is the closing for your review, not a new topic within your review.
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