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!!