This is a re-post of Helen's great guide with some added recommendations (and also because Helen's post didn't import properly)

Hi All

It's great to see so many book reviews appearing on the site, and I for one have got some great recommendations from them. It just occurred to me though that writing a book review can be daunting, and it might be nice to have some help. Therefore I am posting below an article I found on the net about "How to write a good book review" in case it helps anyone put pen to paper!

Helen.

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Steps for Writing a Good Book Review

Introduce the subject, scope, and type of book
Identify the book by author, title, and sometimes publishing information.
Specify the type of book (for example, fiction, nonfiction, biography, autobiography). Help your readers to review with perspective.

Mention the book's theme
Sometimes you will need to include background to enable reader(s) to place the book into a specific context. For example, you might want to describe the general problem the book addresses or earlier work the author or others have done.

Briefly summarize the content
For a nonfiction book, provide an overview, including paraphrases and quotations, of the book's thesis and primary supporting points.
For a work of fiction, briefly review the story line for readers, being careful not to give away anything that would lessen the suspense for readers.

Provide your reactions to the book
Describe the book: Is it interesting, memorable, entertaining, instructive? Why?
Respond to the author's opinions: What do you agree with? And why? What do you disagree with? And why?
Explore issues the book raises: What possibilities does the book suggest? Explain. What matters does the book leave out? Explain.
Relate the book to larger issues: How did the book affect you? How have your opinions about the topic changed?

Conclude by summarizing your ideas
Close with a direct comment on the book, and tie together issues raised in the review. If you like, you can offer advice for potential readers.

Admin addition: Add the book title and author (separated by commas) to the Tags. This will allow people to more easily find the review.