Book Review Guide

This is a note about how to deliver a good book review. The source material of this article can be found here and here.

We want to review a book as a part of this note posts. There are two kind of book, fiction and non-fiction book which is basically all books. The purpose of a book is to communicate stories or ideas to reader. Stephen King in his book On Writing said that book is the closest thing human have to telepaths. So basically, after I read a book, I try to review them no matter how popular or how late it is. This article as a guide for me to write a review. Might be updated in the future. I also wrote book review in my native language Indonesia.

The Guide

The purpose of reviewing a book is to tell reader what I think about the book and what they should expect when they read the book. This purpose works for both fiction and non-fiction. As a communication tool, book also need to clear and concise in delivering ideas or stories. Many writers have their own unique and distinct style but compromising clarity is a bad omen.

There are three part that every review should be included. First, a plot summary of the book. Both fiction and non-fiction have a plot in the book. Even a introduction to physics have a plot. This will tell generally what readers will have once read the book. For instance, if you read Harry Potter first book, you will know that Harry is an orphan that recruited to a magic school and have adventure there with his new friends. But how Harry meet his friends and his feeling when entering new world does not need to be included in review. Better for reader experience it herself when they read the book. In introduction of physics, reader could know the basic of Newtonian mechanics and maybe how celestial bodies move. In the review, I don’t write how celestial bodies move, but I need to convince reader that once you read this, you might understand how it works.

Second, is to evaluate the works. Information is one thing and how to deliver the information is another thing. Stories is a subset of information. The review should discuss how information packaged in the books. Several novel, like Harry Potter, use Harry as a main point of view and have a straight timeline – except for the third book I think. Other like A Song of Ice and Fire take perspective of several character. Some people like straight timeline, it is more understandable, but some people consider it as bland. Some people prefer the jumping point of view from one character to another or even mixed timeline to explain things. Review should include this element to review and evaluate it from his own perspective. Maybe the straight timeline makes the story too boring or jumping character makes people forget who do what. Other element that worth evaluating is theme, moral topic, and vocabulary use.

Third, is recommendation for readers. After all book reviews exist to tell readers whether she should buy the books or not. In this case, I, as a reviewer, should take point of view as a reader. A book in theory of relativity might be unsuitable for high school students. A book in how to spell rarely interest adult – well, it might for adult who looks book for their kids. There are many things to consider on why people want to read a book. It is job to for reviewer to sort out which the book aspect that reader might find interesting or uninteresting. I cannot be everyone at the same time but I will do my best to represent each of common group that might need an extra justification of whether to read a book or not.

For Fiction

Each of fiction books should offer a theme, topic, settings, and conflicts. For example, Harry Potter set a magic world theme in the topic of growing teenage years. The setting is in modern day England and have trouble coping with the magic world and adulthood and must fight evil sorcerer thus the conflict. Reader might not like magic theme because associate it with devil or other worldly being but on the other hand it captivates young adult imagination. A review should be clear about it.

Review should not reveal interesting plot happened in the book. The information of Harry go to magic school is not what makes Harry Potter interesting but how Harry know he is a candidate for magic school or how a normal person experience magic in the first time is what interesting. How the author writes this moment need to be addressed. Does the author picture it as a exciting opportunities for an orphan? Does description of magic world is really other worldly that beguile reader or it is so complex that readers might have hard time imagining it? This kind of detail that readers want to know before buy the book. If the reader finds the book is too hard to discern, then reader wont but the book. Giving enough information to the reader to decide without harming the joy when consuming it.

For Non-fiction

Non-fiction books offer a problem and how to solve it according to the author. Most of the book follow STAR structure, situation, task, action, and result. Even academic textbook follows this structure albeit more subtle. For example, in Origin of Species, Charles Darwin encounter a different kind of finch bird that consume different kind of food. This serves as situation. Darwin try to find out why by collecting more finch species and starts documenting is location. The why is the task and the further exploration and documentation is the action. Darwin conclude that finch adapt its beak to its location. So, in areas where nut is common, finch adapt its beak to be able to consume nut. The STAR structure sometimes does not span across the book but divided into each chapter. This is apparent in textbook such as Advanced Engineering Mathematics by Erwin Kreyzig.

Another different thing about Non-Fiction is I need to know about author credentials especially in academic related books. I won’t recommend a history book of western civilization written by a Michellin star chef but might recommend a history of western culinary written by chef that has expertise in western food. So exploring Author credentials is a must.

The most important is how the author represent it for its target audience. If she aim to create an explanation about complex thing but aimed for layperson, then she need a clear anecdote that can be understood by a person without prior knowledge. In contrast, an academic textbook should be correct, and rigid compared to popular book. I should recognise the target audience and position me among them. A reference book maybe shows a proof without deriving it from known axioms or proper explanation but when doing the same thing in introduction book, it should be regarded as a flaw.

Most of the non-fiction works review about how good the author communicates what she wants to tell the readers. Usually the covers and paragraph beginning tells us what writer want reader to learn. How one organizes paragraph is one of the efforts to increase communication efficiency. Representing example that not only represent the knowledge but also relatable to the reader is worth exploring

Questions that Worth Answering

This is list of questions that the answer worth to be included in book reviews, I pick it from the site I mentioned in first paragraph

• Which genres does it fit into? Does it live up to your expectations of the genre?
• Which point of view does it uses? How does it contribute to the story?
• What is the theme? What elements underscore the theme or make it apparent to the reader?
• How would you describe the author writing style?
• Does the story start with action? With exposition? Which elements are introduced to the reader in the first chapter?
• Does the stories have a satisfying denouement? Which loose ends are tied up, and which questions are left unanswered?
• What emotion– or knowledge if it is a nonfiction – were you left with upon finishing the book? Does it feel well-developed or like it needs more work?
• How does this book compare to the other works similar by this author? Or to other relevant title in same genre or theme? While it seems only works for fiction, it is also works for nonfiction with few adjustment.

Reviewer Opinion

I should have an opinion on the book you review. It meant to be subjective. People want my perspective (maybe ¯\(ツ)/¯). If they want to know general properties about the book, they can go to goodreads or Amazon pages. I should embed the view throughout review. It ensures the view is shown clearly instead of telling the reader what you think in the in the end of the passage. If you want to prove it a point, show my point first then tell the readers what you want to tell and show them why you think like that. Proving and backing up details help readers to know what expect from the book. Stephen King advice: if you want to write, you should read a lot.