Tips for Book Reviews
You log onto the computer to begin your academic journey with Southern Seminary Online (SSO) or Boyce College Online (BCO), and you discover that a major part of your first class is a book review. “What is a book review?” you ask yourself. “Do I just read the book and jot down some thoughts on what I found helpful or edifying?”
The above scenario is common among students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Some students have not written many book reviews when they start studying at SSO or BCO. Some have not done that type of assignment in a long time, and others have never composed a book review or even read one before. This lack of experience makes a relatively benign task seem daunting. Therefore, we’ve provided nine tips and tools for writing book reviews to catch common mistakes before they happen and to make these papers less intimidating.
Start working on the assignment at the beginning of the term. At the very least, order the book when classes start in case any problems arise with buying or shipping.
Keep in mind that a review is not a reflection. A reflection focuses upon the reader, what was learned or how the book is edifying. In contrast, a review focuses upon the author’s argument, how well the thesis was argued or how well the author met his goal for the book.
Skip the subheadings. Instead of using subheadings, place a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph to summarize the paragraph’s content and provide a transition from one paragraph to the next.
Include a thesis sentence that summarizes your argument. It helps the grader to make the thesis sentence obvious, so it can even look something like "I will argue that the author failed/accomplished his purpose by (reason 1), (reason 2), (reason 3)."
An evaluation should never be completely positive or negative. Every book has at least one strength and one weakness. A strength is something the author said (information) or believed (presupposition) that helped him accomplish his goal or argue his thesis. A weakness is something the author said or believed that hindered him from accomplishing his purpose or something not mentioned in the work that counters (or at least questions) the author's thesis. A weakness can also be something missing from the work that would have helped the author accomplish his purpose if it had been added. This third type of weakness is often the easiest one to consider.
Good style and organization do not matter much if the content or reasoning is bad (and vice versa). The best evaluations talk about the book’s content, the author’s presuppositions, his argumentation, and his methodology (i.e., what was said, why it was said, and how well it was argued). Weaker evaluations look at aspects like readability and structure (i.e., how well the author wrote or the information was arranged).
Do not assume that every professor has the same requirements. Look over the rubric before writing your paper and before submitting it. A rubric illustrates what is required for an A+ paper. Also, double-check the instructions before writing the review and before submitting it.
Take advantage of the resources provided by the SBTS library. The library has created a template for formatting book reviews. Additionally, the SBTS Manual of Style provides questions that should lead to greater engagement with a book’s content and argument. You can find all SBTS Writing Resources online at https://sbtswriting.squarespace.com/generalresources.
Invest in an advanced spell-checker (like Grammarly). While not perfect, these programs will catch most mistakes and usually help with style. Many students find that a subscription to an advanced spell-checker was well worth the cost.
Like all skills, it takes practice over time to become an excellent reviewer. However, the above tools and tips should lead to greater engagement with the text, deeper comments in the evaluation section, and better writing overall.