How to write a book review!

Reviews can be as simple or can go as deep as you want.

I’m writing this post about how to write a book review because I want to inspire and encourage people to read more books and write more book reviews. Remember how I started that spreadsheet to link up authors who wanted their books reviewed with people who wanted to write book reviews? It’s still going if you want to take a stab at it! There are plenty of authors who want their books reviewed.

Let’s start off with a question. What is a book review? It’s basically a critique of a book you’ve read that you write down into a document and publish somewhere so that other people can read your review and decide whether or not they want to check out the book for themselves. You know how Siskel and Ebert had a newspaper column where they wrote reviews of movies they watched? Well, it’s the same thing, but for books. Book reviews aren’t feedback for the author (though I guess they can be), it’s more of a promotional tool for the author to use (if it’s a positive review— or not, if they’re a weirdo like me and a scathing review from someone who didn’t understand what I was trying to do turned out to be a funny way to promote my book).

Reviews can be as simple or can go as deep as you want. It’s totally up to you. You can submit your book reviews to journals or literary blogs. Or post the review yourself on your own website or social media or Goodreads or whatever. I do think it’s kind of cool to get published in a journal or literary blog, especially if you’re trying to get more bylines for yourself. It will also make the author whose book you’re reviewing feel special if you get your review placed in a venue that will get more eyeballs on it, which may possibly lead to more readers for that book.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: book reviews aren’t that different from the book reports we wrote in the fifth grade, and there really aren’t too many rules to follow. Though there are some guidelines you might want to use to help you along the way. It’s also not necessary, but it can be beneficial to read up about the different types of critique. I remember hearing the terms “new criticism” and “feminist critique” dropped casually into conversation when I was in college and taking a course in British Romanticism (lol). I had no idea what my teacher was talking about, so I asked. There are many different approaches to writing critiques of creative works. Some reviewers choose to only look at the text itself, some reviewers want to know more about the writer’s biography and how their upbringing and life circumstances may have affected their work, and some reviewers form their critique based on how they personally responded to the text and how it affected their own ideas and values. There’s no right or wrong way to go about it! You could even use a combination of these approaches. I know that I do.

Anyway, I do think it’s a fun challenge to write reviews and try to get them published. It’s a cool service to provide as a literary citizen, as well as an underutilized one. Literary magazines are always looking for book reviews! Just check out the listings on Chill Subs and start submitting. But first, why don’t you write one?

I’ve compiled a list of things that I do and consider when I’m writing a review of another author’s work.

1. Read the book. 

2. While you’re reading, use a notebook to make note of lines that you like, pages that you want to dig deeper into, and the themes that you’re noticing.

3. Read the book again. Go over certain passages that feel meaningful to you. Ask yourself why they feel meaningful, and what they do to the text as a whole.

4.  What do you think the author is trying to say? Is there an overarching theme in the text?

5. What is the cultural significance of the text? How does it fit within its time period, and how does it relate to our current state of affairs? What social values does it express?

6. What did the text make you feel, if anything? Did it change the way you think about anything? Did it offer a new perspective you never considered? Did it bring to mind something similar you may have experienced?

7. What would you compare this book to? Are there any other creative works out there (contemporary, historical, or from a previous era) that may have inspired this book? Is this book in conversation with another creative work? Is it building off of another creative work? Explore that.

8. Are there any particular images that excited (or disgusted) you?

9. Who is this book for? Who should read this book? Who would resonate with it most? Is there a particular demographic who the book may not appeal to, but who could benefit by reading it?

10. Would you recommend this book to anyone?

11. Would you give it to a friend?

That’s all I got for now! What do you ask yourself when you’re writing a book review? Leave a comment and let me know. Also, please feel free to post any links to your own book reviews!