Kansas City Metropolitan Library & Information Network

Metro Area Reader’s Round Table

 

BOOK REVIEW

 

 

All of MARRT’S reviewers are volunteers and retain complete ownership of their reviews and may have them printed or aired in any other review formats or forums they choose. 

 

Guidelines:

 

Book Title: __________________________________________________________________

 

Author: _____________________________________________________________________

 

Publisher: ___________________________________________________________________

 

Publisher Address: ____________________________________________________________

 

ISBN: _______________________________________________________________________

 

Price: ________________  Date: _________________ Page Count: _____________________

 

Your Name: __________________________________________________________________

 

Your Library/Institution: _______________________________________________________

 

Your Mailing Address (optional): ________________________________________________

 

Your Email Address (optional): __________________________________________________

 

REVIEW SUGGESTIONS

 

Following are some suggestions that might help you get started in writing your book reviews.  As you do several of these, you will certainly fall into your own style. 

 

1.                  Why did you select this book for review?

2.                  Does this book relate to you personally? 

·        Work

·        Home Life

·        Hobbies

·        Education

·        Religion

·        Expertise

·        Sports

 

3.                  How well does the author write, use language, illustrate his/her points, develop characters, exhibit clarity of instruction, aptness of examples, innovative story line, etc.? 

·        Books - use a brief quotation from the book itself to illustrate your observations, opinions, and comments. 

·        When doing poetry reviews, include a poem.

·        Cookbook reviews should always feature a recipe.

4.                  Who is the book written for? 

·        Scholarly audience

·        Non-specialist

·        General reader

·        Special Genre

·        Specialized audience 

·        Specific age group

·        Specific economic orientation

·        Specific political orientation

5.                  Does the book succeed in what the author is trying to accomplish? 

6.                  Does it entertain, instruct, persuade, inform, train, teach, alarm, etc.? 

7.                  Do you have suggestions for the author’s next piece?

8.                  What is the author’s background? 

9.                  What other titles has the author written?

10.              What other related or relevant titles might interest a reader?

 

Instructions:

 

Type your review in the body of an email document to sburton@kcmlin.org.  Length should be as long or as short as you feel is necessary to say what should be said.  Above all else, have a good time putting your thoughts and opinions down in print.  The best reviews are those that you yourself would like to listen to while driving along in your car or chatting with a friend over lunch.

 

So take a book you’ve read, a video you’ve watched, a compact disc whose music you’ve enjoyed, an audio cassette book you’ve listened to, software you’ve evaluated, or a CD-ROM that you’ve come across, and give reviewing a try!!