How to Write a Book Review
The main aim of book blogging is to share your opinions and thoughts about a certain book you have read. Those opinions and thoughts are what a book review mainly consists of. Being able to review books is the most important thing one needs to set a book blog, after creating a platform of course. If you still do not know a lot about book blogging and you want to get into it, you can check my brief guide to Bookstagram.
Back to book reviewing now. Besides the academic way of writing a book review, there is no conventional pattern of writing a book review to later post on your blog. In this article, I will provide you with 3 main points in order to put your thoughts about a certain book in a decent review.
1- Things to Consider Before Reading the Book.
The first things we notice about any book are the cover and the title. Do these give you a certain overview or suggest any idea about the book? What about the preface and/or introduction? Do they reveal anything? If you have answers for these questions, you can certainly put that as an introduction in your book review.
2- Things to Pay Attention to While Reading the Book.
As you read the book, make sure that you are paying attention to the narrator’s point of view. Does the content of this book fit in its genre? Is the author’s style formal or informal? Is the used vocabulary accessible to a wide audience, or does target a certain audience only? Is the language clear and convincing? Are the ideas well-developed? You can try to find the answers for these questions while reading the book. Taking notes whether by using sticky notes or writing directly on a notebook can be essential for your review as well. The notes can be your favorites passages and quotations, or thoughts that recur while reading a certain passage. You can use them later in your review.
3- The Book Review’s Structure.
Usually, you can start your book review by inserting a quote from it. One you loved, or a quote that would contribute in convincing your audience to read the book.
Second, you either write a summary of the book along with general information such as the author’s name, date of publication, publisher’s name and (if there is any) prizes it won, or include the synopsis that is on the back of the book.
Third, you proceed with your own thoughts. These can include what you have liked and what you disliked in the book. The answers to the questions mentioned in points 1 and 2, and avoid spoilers!
Finally, do you recommend this book or not? Say why and whether you recommend it to a certain audience or not! You can also include a star rating.
Now I believe that you can start writing a review of the book you are reading or have just read. Again, writing a book review to post on your blog is completely different from an academic book review. You can use informal language in your blog in order to maintain engagement with your audience, and you do not have to follow any conventional structure. The structure I have mentioned above is just a suggestion. You can structure your review however you want as long as it stays relevant to the book. If the only thing that was stopping you from starting a book blog or a bookstagram was the book review, I hope you can start now!
Author: Imad Moussaoui
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