How to Write a Book Review

High school, college and university tries to teach a developed smart personality who can think critically and write wise things. In order to train critical thinking skills and to analyze information properly teachers ask students to write a book review. The assignment is not based on simple reading, but a student has to analyze the data profoundly and understand what the author could say beyond the context. Generally, students do not like writing book reviews and need good help to be able to cope with this assignment. Below there is a list of professional book review writing tips which will be helpful for everybody who has certain troubles with this assignment.

Book Review Writing Guidelines:

1 Before reading the book try to answer a few questions. Look at the title of the book and think over what it means and what events can happen there judging from the title. Then, get to know about the author, as it is very important to understand his style and manner of writing, his preferences and typical problems observed in his works. You should realize that the content and the problems presented in a book often reflect the world the author lives in. He sees these problems and wants to put them on the paper and carry to the readers.

2 While reading the book make detailed notes not to miss any essential fact or description. Do not fail to note impressive quotes of the narrator or the characters and use them in the review. Writing a book review pay attention to the description of the appearance of the characters and their inner world, because these facts are extremely important for understanding of the whole text. Then, descriptions of nature also have a great impact on the plot, because with the help of natural phenomena the authors interprets the mood and the atmosphere of the text.

3 Students who have no idea how to do a book review correctly forget to pay attention to the structure of the book, its construction (number of chapters), presence of illustrations, appendix. Look at the style of the author, whether it is formal or informal; look whether the text possesses many descriptions and how they are related to the plot.

4 Make a detailed book review outline, as it will help you organize the writing process. A good plan contains gradual presentation of the book. Divide the review into many sections, like information about the author, introduction, plot development, conclusion, effective moments in the book, main characters, the role of the book for the world literature, etc.

5 Then, make sure your book review format is right, as very often the whole work is perfect but the mark is low because of the wrong format. In order to avoid such problems consult your teacher or professor to clear up such formal questions.

6 In the end define the theme of the book and its role for the literature. You may compare it to the other books on the similar problem and to the other books of this author. You may analyze whether he managed to improve his writing skills or changed his style and manner of writing. Now you have the idea how to make a book review correctly.