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A good book review can provide important information about a book's
style, plot, quality and about the author's credentials. Reviews reflect
current critical opinions of a book and often give comparisons to other
similar titles. Remember that a book review is usually published within a
year or two of the book's publication, so it will not include the more
in-depth analysis that is found in good literary criticism. (See the study guide Finding
Literary Criticism for that.)
Keys to success:
- Know the publication date of the book and the
author's name.
- This information can be found in the book itself or by using
the library catalog. Many of the sources listed below appear on a
yearly basis, so knowing when the book was published -- and thus
reviewed -- is vital. Check if your book is a later edition.
Generally only the first edition of a book gets reviewed. Most
review sources are arranged by the authors' names.
- Make sure the library subscribes to the
periodical that has the review.
- The library catalog lists which periodicals are available at
the various ACC libraries and what years are owned.
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Book Review Digest
This source lists reviews that
appear in over 100 magazines and journals. It is published in book form,
one volume per year. The ACC Libraries at NRG, RGC, and RVS have
this up until 2001 at the latest. (If your book is newer than that or if
you're somewhere this isn't available, go the section on periodical
indexes, below.)
You may want to start with Book Review Digest because:
- it has excerpts from complete reviews;
- it gives the length of the full review.
Use the volume for the year the book was published,
and if needed, the following year -- some reviews are not published
immediately. The entries are arranged alphabetically by the authors' last
names. (There is a title and subject index in the back that will lead to
the author section.) Each entry gives a brief summary of the book,
excerpts from reviews, the source and approximate length of the full
review. The names of the periodicals that have the reviews are often
abbreviated. These are explained near the front of the volume. You
must then check the library
catalog to see if the periodical is subscribed to.
Book Review Index
Book Review Index is also
published one volume per year. The ACC Libraries at NRG, RGC, and RVS have
this up until 2002. It does not have excerpts from the reviews, but it
covers more review sources -- over 600 periodicals -- and more obscure
books will be found. It is arranged by the authors' names. (There is a
title index at the back that can lead you to the author section.)
This index uses very abbreviated forms of the periodical names, so you
have to use the explanation of abbreviations near the front of the
volume. You must check the library catalog to see if
the periodical you want is subscribed to.
Periodical Indexes
General indexes to
periodicals almost always list book reviews, along with the normal sorts
of articles. Useful online indexes are: Academic
Search Premier and Masterfile
, but there are many others. (ACC students can access these from
off-campus by using their last name and ACC ID number.) Most of these
online indexes only go back to the early 1990s, so older books will not be
reviewed in these. Use Book Review Digest or Book Review
Index, described above, for older books. For most of indexes, it is
easiest to search for the book's title to find reviews.
Not Finding a Review?
Ask the librarian for help if you
don't find a review. There may be additional places to look. You may
call or email the librarians or, of course,
come to the library.
Browsing Through Reviews
If you want to look at some sample
book reviews, look at any issue of the following: Newsweek or
Time for popular books; New York Times Book Review or
American Historical Review for more scholarly reviews.
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