Postgraduate students may be given the task of reviewing new books in their subjects, and all students need to read reviews to keep up-to-date with new writing in their field. So how should book reviews be organised?
Reviews should begin with the basic details:
- Names of authors or editors
- Year of publication
- Title
- Place of publication
- Publisher
- Number of pages
- Price
- ISBN (International standard book number)
A review normally begins by summarising the main aims of the work, perhaps mentioning the author's specialisation and previous work. It is important to explain whether the book is written by one or more authors, or is an edited collection made up of essays by various contributors.
The main section of a review generally provides more details of the book's contents, summarising the contents of the chapters, and commenting on the author's method and approach. The reviewer should discuss how successful the writer has been in achieving his or her aims. If quotations are used, they should be short.
In addition, it is common to mention the kind of audience the book is suitable for, e.g. post-graduate, undergraduate, etc. Although reviews tend to be broadly positive, if reviewers feels that a book is not worth reading they should say so!
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