Book review

A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit.^[1]

A book review may be a primary source, an opinion piece, a summary review, or a scholarly view.^[2] 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. Such a review 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 work.

Some journals are devoted to book reviews, and reviews are indexed in databases such as the Book Review Index and Kirkus Reviews; but many more book reviews can be found in newspaper and scholarly databases such as Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, and discipline-specific databases.

History

Photios I of Constantinople has been called "the inventor of the book review" for his work, Bibliotheca.^[3]

Types of reviews

Academic reviews

Academic book reviews are both a form of academic service and a contribution to the academic literature.^[4] They are frequently published as a section or part of academic journals.^[5] They help the profession understand what has been happening in their profession, and work on the emerging intellectual challenges of their field.^[4] 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.^[4] Book reviews can be used to predict which monographs are likely to have subsequent citations.^[5]

Newspaper and magazine reviews

Newspaper reviews became prominent in the 18h century, as a form of reader responses.^[6]

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.^[6]

References

^ Princeton (2011). "Book reviews". Scholarly definition document. Princeton. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
^ Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2011). "Book reviews". Scholarly definition document. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Archived from the original on September 10, 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2011.
^ Reynolds, L. D. and N.G. Wilson (1991). Scribes and Scholars: A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature (3rd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 321. ISBN 0-19-872145-5.
^ ^a ^b ^c Runnels, Curtis (January 1994). "Book Reviews". Journal of Field Archaeology. 21 (3): 357–390. doi:10.1179/009346994791547544. ISSN 0093-4690.
^ ^a ^b Gorraiz, Juan; Gumpenberger, Christian; Purnell, Philip J. (2014-02-01). "The power of book reviews: a simple and transparent enhancement approach for book citation indexes". Scientometrics. 98 (2): 841–852. doi:10.1007/s11192-013-1176-4. ISSN 1588-2861.
^ ^a ^b Lavin, Matthew J. (2020-01-30). "Gender Dynamics and Critical Reception: A Study of Early 20th-century Book Reviews from The New York Times". Journal of Cultural Analytics. 5 (1). doi:10.22148/001c.11831.