book review genre

How to Write a Book Review: The Ultimate Guide

WHAT IS A BOOK REVIEW?

Traditionally, book reviews are written evaluations of a recently published book in any genre. Usually, around the 500 to 700-word mark, they offer a brief description of a text’s main elements while appraising the work’s strengths and weaknesses. Published book reviews can appear in newspapers, magazines, and academic journals. They provide the reader with an overview of the book itself and indicate whether or not the reviewer would recommend the book to the reader.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF A BOOK REVIEW?

There was a time when book reviews were a regular appearance in every quality newspaper and many periodicals. They were essential elements in whether or not a book would sell well. A review from a heavyweight critic could often be the deciding factor in whether a book became a bestseller or a damp squib. In the last few decades, however, the book review’s influence has waned considerably, with many potential book buyers preferring to consult customer reviews on Amazon, or sites like Goodreads, before buying. As a result, book review’s appearance in newspapers, journals, and digital media has become less frequent.

WHY BOTHER TEACHING STUDENTS TO WRITE BOOK REVIEWS AT ALL?

Even in the heyday of the book review’s influence, few students who learned the craft of writing a book review became literary critics! The real value of crafting a well-written book review for a student does not lie in their ability to impact book sales. Understanding how to produce a well-written book review helps students to:

●     Engage critically with a text

●     Critically evaluate a text

●     Respond personally to a range of different writing genres

●     Improve their own reading, writing, and thinking skills.

Not to Be Confused with a Book Report!

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BOOK REVIEW AND A BOOK REPORT?

While the terms are often used interchangeably, there are clear differences in both the purpose and the format of the two genres. Generally speaking, book reports aim to give a more detailed outline of what occurs in a book. A book report on a work of fiction will tend to give a comprehensive account of the characters, major plot lines, and themes in the book. Book reports are usually written around the K-12 age range, while book reviews tend not to be undertaken by those at the younger end of this age range due to the need for the higher-level critical skills required in writing them. At their highest expression, book reviews are written at the college level and by professional critics.

Learn how to write a book review step by step with our complete guide for students and teachers by familiarizing yourself with the structure and features.

BOOK REVIEW STRUCTURE

ANALYZE Evaluate the book with a critical mind.

THOROUGHNESS The whole is greater than the sum of all its parts. Review the book as a WHOLE.

COMPARE Where appropriate compare to similar texts and genres.

THUMBS UP OR DOWN? You are going to have to inevitably recommend or reject this book to potential readers.

BE CONSISTENT Take a stance and stick with it throughout your review.

FEATURES OF A BOOK REVIEW

PAST TENSE You are writing about a book you have already read.

EMOTIVE LANGUAGE Whatever your stance or opinion be passionate about it. Your audience will thank you for it.

VOICE Both active and passive voice are used in recounts.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON REVIEW AND ANALYSIS OF TEXTS

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ELEMENTS OF A BOOK REVIEW

As with any of the writing genres we teach our students, a book review can be helpfully explained in terms of criteria. While there is much to the ‘art’ of writing, there is also, thankfully, a lot of the nuts and bolts that can be listed too. Have students consider the following elements before writing:

●     Title: Often, the title of the book review will correspond to the title of the text itself, but there may also be some examination of the title’s relevance. How does it fit into the purpose of the work as a whole? Does it convey a message or reveal larger themes explored within the work?

●     Author: Within the book review, there may be some discussion of who the author is and what they have written before, especially if it relates to the current work being reviewed. There may be some mention of the author’s style and what they are best known for. If the author has received any awards or prizes, this may also be mentioned within the body of the review.

●     Genre: A book review will identify the genre that the book belongs to, whether fiction or nonfiction, poetry, romance, science-fiction, history etc. The genre will likely tie in, too with who the intended audience for the book is and what the overall purpose of the work is.

●     Book Jacket / Cover: Often, a book’s cover will contain artwork that is worthy of comment. It may contain interesting details related to the text that contribute to, or detract from, the work as a whole.

●     Structure: The book’s structure will often be heavily informed by its genre. Have students examine how the book is organized before writing their review. Does it contain a preface from a guest editor, for example? Is it written in sections or chapters? Does it have a table of contents, index, glossary etc.? While all these details may not make it into the review itself, looking at how the book is structured may reveal some interesting aspects.

●     Publisher and Price: A book review will usually contain details of who publishes the book and its cost. A review will often provide details of where the book is available too.

BOOK REVIEW KEY ELEMENTS

As students read and engage with the work they will review, they will develop a sense of the shape their review will take. This will begin with the summary. Encourage students to take notes during the reading of the work that will help them in writing the summary that will form an essential part of their review. Aspects of the book they may wish to take notes on in a work of fiction may include:

●     Characters: Who are the main characters? What are their motivations? Are they convincingly drawn? Or are they empathetic characters?

●     Themes: What are the main themes of the work? Are there recurring motifs in the work? Is the exploration of the themes deep or surface only?

●     Style: What are the key aspects of the writer’s style? How does it fit into the wider literary world?

●     Plot: What is the story’s main catalyst? What happens in the rising action? What are the story’s subplots? 

A book review will generally begin with a short summary of the work itself. However, it is important not to give too much away, remind students – no spoilers, please! For nonfiction works, this may be a summary of the main arguments of the work, again, without giving too much detail away. In a work of fiction, a book review will often summarise up to the rising action of the piece without going beyond to reveal too much!

The summary should also provide some orientation for the reader. Given the nature of the purpose of a review, it is important that students’ consider their intended audience in the writing of their review. Readers will most likely not have read the book in question and will require some orientation. This is often achieved through introductions to the main characters, themes, primary arguments etc. This will help the reader to gauge whether or not the book is of interest to them.

Once your student has summarized the work, it is time to ‘review’ in earnest. At this point, the student should begin to detail their own opinion of the book. To do this well they should:

i. Make It Personal

Often when teaching essay writing we will talk to our students about the importance of climbing up and down the ladder of abstraction. Just as it is helpful to explore large, more abstract concepts in an essay by bringing it down to Earth, in a book review, it is important that students can relate the characters, themes, ideas etc to their own lives.

Book reviews are meant to be subjective. They are opinion pieces, and opinions grow out of our experiences of life. Encourage students to link the work they are writing about to their own personal life within the body of the review. By making this personal connection to the work, students contextualize their opinions for the readers and help them to understand whether the book will be of interest to them or not in the process.

ii. Make It Universal

Just as it is important to climb down the ladder of abstraction to show how the work relates to individual life, it is important to climb upwards on the ladder too. Students should endeavor to show how the ideas explored in the book relate to the wider world. The may be in the form of the universality of the underlying themes in a work of fiction or, for example, the international implications for arguments expressed in a work of nonfiction.

iii. Support Opinions with Evidence

A book review is a subjective piece of writing by its very nature. However, just because it is subjective does not mean that opinions do not need to be justified. Make sure students understand how to back up their opinions with various forms of evidence, for example, quotations, statistics, and the use of primary and secondary sources.

EDIT AND REVISE YOUR BOOK REVIEW

As with any writing genre, encourage students to polish things up with review and revision at the end. Encourage them to proofread and check for accurate spelling throughout, with particular attention to the author’s name, character names, publisher etc. 

It is good practice too for students to double-check their use of evidence. Are statements supported? Are the statistics used correctly? Are the quotations from the text accurate? Mistakes such as these uncorrected can do great damage to the value of a book review as they can undermine the reader’s confidence in the writer’s judgement.

The discipline of writing book reviews offers students opportunities to develop their writing skills and exercise their critical faculties. Book reviews can be valuable standalone activities or serve as a part of a series of activities engaging with a central text. They can also serve as an effective springboard into later discussion work based on the ideas and issues explored in a particular book. Though the book review does not hold the sway it once did in the mind’s of the reading public, it still serves as an effective teaching tool in our classrooms today.

Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

BOOK REVIEW GRAPHIC ORGANIZER (TEMPLATE)

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Book and Movie review writing examples (Student Writing Samples)

Below are a collection of student writing samples of book reviews.  Click on the image to enlarge and explore them in greater detail.  Please take a moment to both read the movie or book review in detail but also the teacher and student guides which highlight some of the key elements of writing a text review

Please understand these student writing samples are not intended to be perfect examples for each age or grade level but a piece of writing for students and teachers to explore together to critically analyze to improve student writing skills and deepen their understanding of book review writing.

We would recommend reading the example either a year above and below, as well as the grade you are currently working with to gain a broader appreciation of this text type .

BOOK REVIEW VIDEO TUTORIALS

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Useful Links

How to Write a Book Review: A Comprehensive Tutorial With Examples

You don’t need to be a literary expert to craft captivating book reviews. With one in every three readers selecting books based on insightful reviews, your opinions can guide fellow bibliophiles toward their next literary adventure.

Learning how to write a book review will not only help you excel at your assigned tasks, but you’ll also contribute valuable insights to the book-loving community and turn your passion into a professional pursuit.

In this comprehensive guide,  PaperPerk  will walk you through a few simple steps to master the art of writing book reviews so you can confidently embark on this rewarding journey.

What is a Book Review?

A book review is a critical evaluation of a book, offering insights into its content, quality, and impact. It helps readers make informed decisions about whether to read the book.

Writing a book review as an assignment benefits students in multiple ways. Firstly, it teaches them how to write a book review by developing their analytical skills as they evaluate the content, themes, and writing style .

Secondly, it enhances their ability to express opinions and provide constructive criticism. Additionally, book review assignments expose students to various publications and genres, broadening their knowledge.

Furthermore, these tasks foster essential skills for academic success, like critical thinking and the ability to synthesize information. By now, we’re sure you want to learn how to write a book review, so let’s look at the book review template first.

Table of Contents

Book Review Template

How to write a book review- a step by step guide.

Check out these 5 straightforward steps for composing the best book review.

Step 1: Planning Your Book Review – The Art of Getting Started

You’ve decided to take the plunge and share your thoughts on a book that has captivated (or perhaps disappointed) you. Before you start book reviewing, let’s take a step back and plan your approach. Since knowing how to write a book review that’s both informative and engaging is an art in itself.

Choosing Your Literature

First things first, pick the book you want to review. This might seem like a no-brainer, but selecting a book that genuinely interests you will make the review process more enjoyable and your insights more authentic.

Crafting the Master Plan

Next, create an  outline  that covers all the essential points you want to discuss in your review. This will serve as the roadmap for your writing journey.

The Devil is in the Details

As you read, note any information that stands out, whether it overwhelms, underwhelms, or simply intrigues you. Pay attention to:

• The characters and their development
• The plot and its intricacies
• Any themes, symbols, or motifs you find noteworthy

Remember to reserve a body paragraph for each point you want to discuss.

The Key Questions to Ponder

When planning your book review, consider the following questions:

• What’s the plot (if any)? Understanding the driving force behind the book will help you craft a more effective review.
• Is the plot interesting? Did the book hold your attention and keep you turning the pages?
• Are the writing techniques effective? Does the author’s style captivate you, making you want to read (or reread) the text?
• Are the characters or the information believable? Do the characters/plot/information feel real, and can you relate to them?
• Would you recommend the book to anyone? Consider if the book is worthy of being recommended, whether to impress someone or to support a point in a literature class.
• What could improve? Always keep an eye out for areas that could be improved. Providing constructive criticism can enhance the quality of literature.

Step 2 – Crafting the Perfect Introduction to Write a Book Review

In this second step of “how to write a book review,” we’re focusing on the art of creating a powerful opening that will hook your audience and set the stage for your analysis.

Identify Your Book and Author

Begin by mentioning the book you’ve chosen, including its  title  and the author’s name. This informs your readers and establishes the subject of your review.

Ponder the Title

Next, discuss the mental images or emotions the book’s title evokes in your mind . This helps your readers understand your initial feelings and expectations before diving into the book.

Judge the Book by Its Cover (Just a Little)

Take a moment to talk about the book’s cover. Did it intrigue you? Did it hint at what to expect from the story or the author’s writing style? Sharing your thoughts on the cover can offer a unique perspective on how the book presents itself to potential readers.

Present Your Thesis

Now it’s time to introduce your thesis. This statement should be a concise and insightful summary of your opinion of the book. For example:

“Normal People” by Sally Rooney is a captivating portrayal of the complexities of human relationships, exploring themes of love, class, and self-discovery with exceptional depth and authenticity.

Ensure that your thesis is relevant to the points or quotes you plan to discuss throughout your review.

Incorporating these elements into your introduction will create a strong foundation for your book review. Your readers will be eager to learn more about your thoughts and insights on the book, setting the stage for a compelling and thought-provoking analysis.

How to Write a Book Review: Step 3 – Building Brilliant Body Paragraphs

You’ve planned your review and written an attention-grabbing introduction. Now it’s time for the main event: crafting the body paragraphs of your book review. In this step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the art of constructing engaging and insightful body paragraphs that will keep your readers hooked.

Summarize Without Spoilers

Begin by summarizing a specific section of the book, not revealing any major plot twists or spoilers. Your goal is to give your readers a taste of the story without ruining surprises.

Support Your Viewpoint with Quotes

Next, choose three quotes from the book that support your viewpoint or opinion. These quotes should be relevant to the section you’re summarizing and help illustrate your thoughts on the book.

Analyze the Quotes

Write a summary of each quote in your own words, explaining how it made you feel or what it led you to think about the book or the author’s writing. This analysis should provide insight into your perspective and demonstrate your understanding of the text.

Structure Your Body Paragraphs

Dedicate one body paragraph to each quote, ensuring your writing is well-connected, coherent, and easy to understand.

For example:

• In  Jane Eyre , Charlotte Brontë writes, “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me.” This powerful statement highlights Jane’s fierce independence and refusal to be trapped by societal expectations.
• In  Normal People , Sally Rooney explores the complexities of love and friendship when she writes, “It was culture as class performance, literature fetishized for its ability to take educated people on false emotional journeys.” This quote reveals the author’s astute observations on the role of culture and class in shaping personal relationships.
• In  Wuthering Heights , Emily Brontë captures the tumultuous nature of love with the quote, “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” This poignant line emphasizes the deep, unbreakable bond between the story’s central characters.

By following these guidelines, you’ll create body paragraphs that are both captivating and insightful, enhancing your book review and providing your readers with a deeper understanding of the literary work. 

How to Write a Book Review: Step 4 – Crafting a Captivating Conclusion

You’ve navigated through planning, introductions, and body paragraphs with finesse. Now it’s time to wrap up your book review with a  conclusion that leaves a lasting impression . In this final step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the art of writing a memorable and persuasive conclusion.

Summarize Your Analysis

Begin by summarizing the key points you’ve presented in the body paragraphs. This helps to remind your readers of the insights and arguments you’ve shared throughout your review.

Offer Your Final Conclusion

Next, provide a conclusion that reflects your overall feelings about the book. This is your chance to leave a lasting impression and persuade your readers to consider your perspective.

Address the Book’s Appeal

Now, answer the question: Is this book worth reading? Be clear about who would enjoy the book and who might not. Discuss the taste preferences and circumstances that make the book more appealing to some readers than others.

For example:  The Alchemist is a book that can enchant a young teen, but those who are already well-versed in classic literature might find it less engaging.

Be Subtle and Balanced

Avoid simply stating whether you “liked” or “disliked” the book. Instead, use nuanced language to convey your message. Highlight the pros and cons of reading the type of literature you’ve reviewed, offering a balanced perspective.

Bringing It All Together

By following these guidelines, you’ll craft a conclusion that leaves your readers with a clear understanding of your thoughts and opinions on the book. Your review will be a valuable resource for those considering whether to pick up the book, and your witty and insightful analysis will make your review a pleasure to read. So conquer the world of book reviews, one captivating conclusion at a time!

How to Write a Book Review: Step 5 – Rating the Book (Optional)

You’ve masterfully crafted your book review, from the introduction to the conclusion. But wait, there’s one more step you might consider before calling it a day: rating the book. In this optional step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the benefits and methods of assigning a rating to the book you’ve reviewed.

Why Rate the Book?

Sometimes, when writing a professional book review, it may not be appropriate to state whether you liked or disliked the book. In such cases, assigning a rating can be an effective way to get your message across without explicitly sharing your personal opinion.

How to Rate the Book

There are various rating systems you can use to evaluate the book, such as:

• A star rating (e.g., 1 to 5 stars)
• A numerical score (e.g., 1 to 10)
• A letter grade (e.g., A+ to F)

Choose a rating system that best suits your style and the format of your review. Be consistent in your rating criteria, considering writing quality, character development, plot, and overall enjoyment.

Tips for Rating the Book

Here are some tips for rating the book effectively:

• Be honest: Your rating should reflect your true feelings about the book. Don’t inflate or deflate your rating based on external factors, such as the book’s popularity or the author’s reputation.
• Be fair:Consider the book’s merits and shortcomings when rating. Even if you didn’t enjoy the book, recognize its strengths and acknowledge them in your rating.
• Be clear: Explain the rationale behind your rating so your readers understand the factors that influenced your evaluation.

Wrapping Up

By including a rating in your book review, you provide your readers with an additional insight into your thoughts on the book. While this step is optional, it can be a valuable tool for conveying your message subtly yet effectively. So, rate those books confidently, adding a touch of wit and wisdom to your book reviews.

Additional Tips on How to Write a Book Review: A Guide

In this segment, we’ll explore additional tips on how to write a book review. Get ready to captivate your readers and make your review a memorable one!

Hook ’em with an Intriguing Introduction

Keep your introduction precise and to the point. Readers have the attention span of a goldfish these days, so don’t let them swim away in boredom. Start with a bang and keep them hooked!

Embrace the World of Fiction

When learning how to write a book review, remember that reviewing fiction is often more engaging and effective. If your professor hasn’t assigned you a specific book, dive into the realm of fiction and select a novel that piques your interest.

Opinionated with Gusto

Don’t shy away from adding your own opinion to your review. A good book review always features the writer’s viewpoint and constructive criticism. After all, your readers want to know what  you  think!

Express Your Love (or Lack Thereof)

If you adored the book, let your readers know! Use phrases like “I’ll definitely return to this book again” to convey your enthusiasm. Conversely, be honest but respectful even if the book wasn’t your cup of tea.

Templates and Examples and Expert Help: Your Trusty Sidekicks

Feeling lost? You can always get help from formats, book review examples or online  college paper writing service  platforms. These trusty sidekicks will help you navigate the world of book reviews with ease. 

Be a Champion for New Writers and Literature

Remember to uplift new writers and pieces of literature. If you want to suggest improvements, do so kindly and constructively. There’s no need to be mean about anyone’s books – we’re all in this literary adventure together!

Criticize with Clarity, Not Cruelty

When adding criticism to your review, be clear but not mean. Remember, there’s a fine line between constructive criticism and cruelty. Tread lightly and keep your reader’s feelings in mind.

Avoid the Comparison Trap

Resist the urge to compare one writer’s book with another. Every book holds its worth, and comparing them will only confuse your reader. Stick to discussing the book at hand, and let it shine in its own light.

Top 7 Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Writing a book review can be a delightful and rewarding experience, especially when you balance analysis, wit, and personal insights. However, some common mistakes can kill the brilliance of your review. 

In this section of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the top 7 blunders writers commit and how to steer clear of them, with a dash of  modernist literature  examples and tips for students writing book reviews as assignments.

Succumbing to the Lure of Plot Summaries

Mistake: Diving headfirst into a plot summary instead of dissecting the book’s themes, characters, and writing style.

Example: “The Bell Jar chronicles the life of a young woman who experiences a mental breakdown.”

How to Avoid: Delve into the book’s deeper aspects, such as its portrayal of mental health, societal expectations, and the author’s distinctive narrative voice. Offer thoughtful insights and reflections, making your review a treasure trove of analysis.

Unleashing the Spoiler Kraken

Mistake: Spilling major plot twists or the ending without providing a spoiler warning, effectively ruining the reading experience for potential readers.

Example: “In Metamorphosis, the protagonist’s transformation into a monstrous insect leads to…”

How to Avoid: Tread carefully when discussing significant plot developments, and consider using spoiler warnings. Focus on the impact of these plot points on the overall narrative, character growth, or thematic resonance.

Riding the Personal Bias Express

Mistake: Allowing personal bias to hijack the review without providing sufficient evidence or reasoning to support opinions.

Example: “I detest books about existential crises, so The Sun Also Rises was a snoozefest.”

How to Avoid: While personal opinions are valid, it’s crucial to back them up with specific examples from the book. Discuss aspects like writing style, character development, or pacing to support your evaluation and provide a more balanced perspective.

Wielding the Vague Language Saber

Mistake: Resorting to generic, vague language that fails to capture the nuances of the book and can come across as clichéd.

Example: “This book was mind-blowing. It’s a must-read for everyone.”

How to Avoid: Use precise and descriptive language to express your thoughts. Employ specific examples and quotations to highlight memorable scenes, the author’s unique writing style, or the impact of the book’s themes on readers.

Ignoring the Contextualization Compass

Mistake: Neglecting to provide context about the author, genre, or cultural relevance of the book, leaving readers without a proper frame of reference.

Example: “This book is dull and unoriginal.”

How to Avoid: Offer readers a broader understanding by discussing the author’s background, the genre conventions the book adheres to or subverts, and any societal or historical contexts that inform the narrative. This helps readers appreciate the book’s uniqueness and relevance.

Overindulging in Personal Preferences

Mistake: Letting personal preferences overshadow an objective assessment of the book’s merits.

Example: “I don’t like stream-of-consciousness writing, so this book is automatically bad.”

How to Avoid: Acknowledge personal preferences but strive to evaluate the book objectively. Focus on the book’s strengths and weaknesses, considering how well it achieves its goals within its genre or intended audience.

Forgetting the Target Audience Telescope

Mistake: Failing to mention the book’s target audience or who might enjoy it, leading to confusion for potential readers.

Example: “This book is great for everyone.”

How to Avoid: Contemplate the book’s intended audience, genre, and themes. Mention who might particularly enjoy the book based on these factors, whether it’s fans of a specific genre, readers interested in character-driven stories, or those seeking thought-provoking narratives.

By dodging these common pitfalls, writers can craft insightful, balanced, and engaging book reviews that help readers make informed decisions about their reading choices.

These tips are particularly beneficial for students writing book reviews as assignments, as they ensure a well-rounded and thoughtful analysis.!

Many students requested us to cover how to write a book review. This thorough guide is sure to help you. At Paperperk, professionals are dedicated to helping students find their balance. We understand the importance of good grades, so we offer the finest writing service , ensuring students stay ahead of the curve. So seek expert help because only Paperperk is your perfect solution!

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7.3 Glance at Genre: Criteria, Evidence, Evaluation

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Identify and define common characteristics, mediums, key terms, and features of the review genre.
• Identify criteria and evidence to support reviews of different primary sources.

Reviews vary in style and content according to the subject, the writer, and the medium. The following are characteristics most frequently found in reviews:

• Focused subject : The subject of the review is specific and focuses on one item or idea. For example, a review of all Marvel Cinematic Universe movies could not be contained in the scope of a single essay or published review not only because of length but also because of the differences among them. Choosing one specific item to review—a single film or single topic across films, for instance—will allow you to provide a thorough evaluation of the subject.
• Judgment or evaluation: Reviewers need to deliver a clear judgment or evaluation to share with readers their thoughts on the subject and why they would or would not recommend it. An evaluation can be direct and explicit, or it can be indirect and subtle.
• Specific evidence : All reviews need specific evidence to support the evaluation. Typically, this evidence comes in the form of quotations and vivid descriptions from the primary source, or subject of the review. Reviewers often use secondary sources —works about the primary source — to support their claims or provide context.
• Context : Reviewers provide context, such as relevant historical or cultural background, current events, or short biographical sketches, that help readers understand both the primary source and the review.
• Tone : Writers of effective reviews tend to maintain a professional, unbiased tone—attitude toward the subject. Although many reviewers try to avoid sarcasm and dismissiveness, you will find these elements present in professional reviews, especially those in which critics pan the primary source.

These are some key terms to know and use when writing a review:

• Analysis : detailed examination of the parts of a whole or of the whole itself.
• Connotation: implied feelings or thoughts associated with a word. Connotations can be positive or negative. Reviewers often use words with strong positive or negative connotations that support their praise or criticism. For example, a writer may refer to a small space positively as “cozy” instead of negatively as “cramped.”
• Criteria : standards by which something is judged. Reviewers generally make their evaluation criteria clear by listing and explaining what they are basing their review on. Each type of primary source has its set of standards, some or all of which reviewers address.
• Critics : professional reviewer who typically publishes reviews in well-known publications.
• Denotation : the literal or dictionary definition of a word.
• Evaluation : judgment based on analysis.
• Fandom : community of admirers who follow their favorite works and discuss them online as a group.
• Genre : broad category of artistic compositions that share similar characteristics such as form, subject matter, or style. For example, horror, suspense, and drama are common film and literary genres. Hip hop and reggae are common music genres.
• Medium : way in which a work is created or delivered (DVD, streaming, book, vinyl, etc.). Works can appear in more than one medium.
• Mode : sensory method through which a person interacts with a work. Modes include linguistic, visual, audio, spatial, and gestural.
• Primary Sources : in the context of reviewing, the original work or item being reviewed, whether a film, book, performance, business, or product. In the context of research, primary sources are items of firsthand, or original, evidence, such as interviews, court records, diaries, letters, surveys, or photographs.
• Recap : summary of an individual episode of a television series.
• Review : genre that evaluates performances, exhibitions, works of art (books, movies, visual arts), services, and products
• Secondary source: source that contains the analysis or synthesis of someone else, such as opinion pieces, newspaper and magazine articles, and academic journal articles.
• Subgenre : category within a genre. For example, subgenres of drama include various types of drama: courtroom drama, historical/costume drama, and family drama.

Establishing Criteria

All reviewers and readers alike rely on evidence to support an evaluation. When you review a primary source, the evidence you use depends on the subject of your evaluation, your audience, and how your audience will use your evaluation. You will need to determine the criteria on which to base your evaluation. In some cases, you will also need to consider the genre and subgenre of your subject to determine evaluation criteria. In your review, you will need to clarify your evaluation criteria and the way in which specific evidence related to those criteria have led you to your judgment. Table 7.1 illustrates evaluation criteria in four different primary source types.

Even within the same subject, however, evaluation criteria may differ according to the genre and subgenre of the film. Audiences have different expectations for a horror movie than they do for a romantic comedy, for example. For your subject, select the evaluation criteria on the basis of your knowledge of audience expectations. Table 7.2 shows how the evaluation criteria might be different in film reviews of different genres.

Providing Objective Evidence

You will use your established evaluation criteria to gather specific evidence to support your judgment. Remember, too, that criteria are fluid; no reviewer will always use the same criteria for all works, even those in the same genre or subgenre.

Whether or not the criteria are unique to the particular task, a reviewer must look closely at the subject and note specific details from the primary source or sources. If you are evaluating a product, look at the product specifications and evaluate product performance according to them, noting details as evidence. When evaluating a film, select either quotations from the dialogue or detailed, vivid descriptions of scenes. If you are evaluating an employee’s performance, observe the employee performing their job and take notes. These are examples of primary source evidence: raw information you have gathered and will analyze to make a judgment.

Gathering evidence is a process that requires you to look closely at your subject. If you are reviewing a film, you certainly will have to view the film several times, focusing on only one or two elements of the evaluation criteria at a time. If you are evaluating an employee, you might have to observe that employee on several occasions and in a variety of situations to gather enough evidence to complete your evaluation. If you are evaluating a written argument, you might have to reread the text several times and annotate or highlight key evidence. It is better to gather more evidence than you think you need and choose the best examples rather than try to base your evaluation on insufficient or irrelevant evidence.

Modes of Reviews

Not all reviews have to be written; sometimes a video or an audio review can be more engaging than a written review. YouTube has become a popular destination for project reviews, creating minor celebrities out of popular reviewers. However, a written review of a movie might work well because the reviewer can provide just enough information to avoid spoiling the movie, whereas some reviews require more visual interaction to understand.

Take reviewer Doug DeMuro ’s popular YouTube channel. DeMuro reviews cars—everything from sports cars to sedans to vintage cars. Car buyers need to interact with a car to want to buy it, and YouTube provides the next best thing by giving viewers an up-close look.

Technology is another popular type of review on YouTube. YouTube creators like Marques Brownlee discuss rumors about the next Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy and provide unboxing videos to record their reactions to the latest phones and laptops. Like DeMuro’s viewers, Brownlee’s audience can get up close to the product. Seeing a phone in Brownlee’s hands helps audience members imagine it in their hands.

On the other hand, reviews don’t always need to be about products you can touch, as Paul Lucas demonstrates on his YouTube channel “Wingin’ It!” Lucas reviews travel experiences (mainly airlines and sometimes trains), evaluating the service of airlines around the world and in various ticket classes.

What do these reviews have in common? First, they are all in the video medium. YouTube ’s medium is video; a podcast’s medium is audio. They also share a mode. YouTube ’s mode is viewing or watching; a podcast’s mode is listening.

These examples all use the genre conventions of reviews discussed in this chapter. The reviewers present a clear evaluation: should you buy this car, phone, or airline ticket? They base their evaluation on evidence that fits a set of evaluation criteria. Doug DeMuro might evaluate a family sedan on the basis of seating, trunk storage, and ride comfort. Marques Brownlee might judge a phone on the basis of battery life, design, and camera quality. Paul Lucas might grade an airline on service, schedules, and seat comfort. While the product or service being reviewed might be different, all three reviewers use similar frameworks.

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Book Reviews

A book review addresses the subject matter of a literary work, and assesses effectiveness and value. Book reviews keep publishers and the public aware of what is being thought and written in a wide range of subjects. When a new book is issued, copies are sent to reviewers; subsequent reviews appear in literary magazines, academic journals, newspapers, and other periodicals. People everywhere depend on book reviews to direct them in their reading; many readers buy what commentators give particular attention. Competent reviewers are the best counselors for readers attempting to keep up with intellectual and aesthetic developments in the literary arts.

Scope: What a Book Review Is and Is Not

Book reviews vary widely. A review does not simply summarize book material, and should not be substituted for the original book. The purpose of a book review is to make known what a literary work purports to do and be, as a publication for both general and specialized readers. Essential components to be taken into account include concerns of subject matter and style. A review is a critical essay, a report and an analysis. Whether favorable or unfavorable in its assessment, it should seem authoritative. The reviewer's competence must be convincing and satisfying. As with any form of writing, the writer of a book review is convincing through thorough study and understanding of the material, and opinions supported by sound reasoning; the reviewer achieves reader satisfaction upon by giving justice to the subject, the book being reviewed, and connecting it with vital human concerns. A review may be limited in its scope due to length requirements, whether those are set by an instructor or an editor. How thoroughly and with respect to what aspects a book is reviewed also depends on instructor or editor preferences, or simply the attitudes and qualifications of the reviewer.

Essential Objectives

A book review should address three issues:

• Contents, or what is said in the book.
• Style, or how it is said.
• Assessment, or analysis of how true and significant the book is.

The most essential preparation for review writing is of course a complete, thoughtful reading of the book. After reading, the reviewer should have a sound, integrated idea of the book contents, and begin to develop attitudes toward style, purpose, and value. As the reviewer forms ideas for the review, certain influences and motives should be considered:

• The interests, general or special, of the readers: Are they looking to the review for an elementary, informational report? A more advanced, technical, scholarly address?
• The reviewer's own particular interests and purposes: Does the reviewer want to remain primarily a fact-finding reporter? Or are there more specialized ideas and principles of art and ideology the reviewer wants to advance?
• Contemporary social, economic, political, and aesthetic issues: Do one or more of these affect the aim or emphasis of the book review? How does the incorporation and interpretation of these issues in the book review further discussion of the book's contents and style?
• Required treatment and length requirements: What requirements for the review, emphasis and length, have been set by the instructor or editor?

Material for the Review

As the reviewer decides the scope and content of the review, there are various critical considerations to keep in mind. In addition to content and style, information about the publication and category of the book, and the author and author purpose, may be helpful with analysis. Not all material needs to be included in the final review, but the reviewer should be aware of any relevant issues.

Bibliographical Data

Bibliographical data includes the publisher, place and date of publication, and book price. This information is important for readers who want to buy the book. It may also raise questions: Is the book newly issued? Or is it being reissued? If reissued, is it only a new printing or has it been revised? If revised, what is the nature of the revision? Answers to these questions often can be found in a preface to the book by the author. Consult the front matter of the book, the title and copyright pages, for basic publication information. Often, price, publisher, and page count are listed separately at the beginning or end of a book review; this is the case with the example reviews accompanying this guide.

Classification

There are various categories, or genres, to which a book is assigned: fiction, poetry, travel and adventure, mystery, children's literature, biography, history, and contemporary thought, among others. A reviewer analyzes a book's conformity to a genre with attention to the author's approaches, methods, materials and coverage, and the outcomes of the book as to information, judgments, or interest value. For example, in her review of John D'Agata's Halls of Fame , Wendy Rawlings discusses how D'Agata experiments with the form of the essay: "If you're accustomed to reading essays organized around a clearly articulated theme and guided by a single narrative voice that signposts its intentions along the way, D'Agata's methods may frustrate. His essays are disjunctive agglomerations of excerpts from texts of all sorts (literary and otherwise), lists, transcripts from tape-recorded conversations, and, often, long passages of direct quotes from people he meets . . . Reading D'Agata's essays, I felt the strain of someone experimenting with the democratization of a form that, in America, has perhaps been colonized, or at least overpopulated by the ironic and the smug." Rawlings further compares and contrasts D'Agata's methods to those of David Foster Wallace, another contemporary writer of essays. When analyzing a writer's approach to form, some questions to consider are: How does the book differ from previous works in the same field? Has the author written previous books, in this genre or others? How has the author changed or developed? To what extent does the book being reviewed offer anything new its genre? How might it influence later works in the same genre?

Author and Author Purpose

Depending on the genre of the book, the background and purpose of the author may be relevant to the analysis of the book. Refer to the book jacket and biographical notes on the author. Further research may be helpful; read interviews, essays, and, if available, previously written biographies. In John Calderazzo's review of Ken Lamberton's Wilderness and Razor Wire , biographical data about Lamberton proves relevant: "Lamberton had an uncommon resume for someone doing serious jail time: no grinding poverty, no drugs or violence. He grew up in Arizona as an avid collector of wild things, a self-taught naturalist . . . He earned a bachelor's degree in biology, married Karen, a fellow lover of the wild, had kids, and decided to share his passions for science and nature in the public schools . . . He became infatuated with a student and, incredibly, ran off with her to Colorado. Soon someone from Mesa recognized them in Aspen and called the police." This background information provides the reason for Lamberton's incarceration as well as the basis for Calderazzo's discussion of the writer's "microscopically detailed prose" and "the single-mindedness of his gaze." The following is a list of possible biographical data about an author to reference in a review:

• Race, nationality, and origins-social, cultural, religious, economic, political, environmental.
• Training and affiliations-literary, scholastic, religious, political, etc.
• Schooling, travel, or other formative influences.
• Personal experiences-general or specific.
• Career and/or professional position.
• Other literary or scholastic works.
• Stimulus or occasion for writing.
• Special writing aids-illustrations, photographs, diagrams, etc.
• General attitude-objective/subjective, formal/informal, authoritative/speculative, etc.
• Purpose-as described in a preface or other formal statement, or in some key phrase.
• Audience-who the writer hopes will read the book.

Subject Matter

The subject of a book is what the book is about, an idea or ideas explored in the book's contents. In a nonfiction book, the subject should be fairly explicit, in the author's own words. With fiction, however, a reviewer must interpret the subject through analysis of character, setting, plot, and symbolism. A discussion of the subject of a book might begin with its title: From where did the author derive the title? What is the title's meaning or suggestiveness? Is the title an adequate heading for the contents of the book? Or is it ambiguous or false in some way? Other questions regarding the exploration of a book's subject by its author include: What areas of the subject are covered? (In fiction, areas of subject may be considered character concerns, setting, and plot.) What areas of the subject are left uncovered? Is this intentional, or the result of oversight or failure, on the author's part? To what degree is the author thorough or negligent in addressing the subject? In his review of Wilderness and Razor Wire , John Calderazzo comments that writer Ken Lamberton avoids discussion of personal motivation: "Perhaps to spare his wife further humiliation and pain, Lamberton has decided not to belabor his motive for his one act of insanity. He talks vaguely of immaturity, but that's about it . . . [T]he single-mindedness of his gaze [has] implications he either doesn't recognize or won't fully discuss . . . Fixating on the near at hand may be a necessary metaphor and an undeniable fact of prison life, a way to cope with an existence that certainly scares the hell out of me. Maybe, though, Lamberton's fierce gaze derives from something he'll always carry within him: this edgy and impulsive but obviously grateful husband who knows he's not free to teach again for a living . . ."

The contents of a book revolve around the subject, and develop one or more central ideas. For nonfiction, a reviewer analyzes how well the contents of a book address the central idea, the strength or weakness of supporting ideas, and the relevancy of collateral ideas or implications. In fiction, themes develop through character, setting, and plot; a reviewer evaluates the relative success or lack thereof of these fictional elements. Think about these questions: What is the setting, or place and time, of the story? Does the setting reflect or contrast with characters and plot? Are characters fully or minimally developed? Does character development increase or deteriorate as the action proceeds? Is the plot sequenced chronologically, or otherwise? Does tension build or deflate as the story progresses? Note how David Milofsky discusses the effectiveness of the contents of Reynolds Price's Noble Norfleet : "Although there are spots of lyricism-and for the first third of the book, Price's narrative has the drive and tension of some of his better work-overall, Noble Norfleet sags beneath its unlikely premise and even more unlikely hero . . . It seems likely that Price was trying to say something here about the relationship between sexuality and madness, about the necessity not only of nursing others but of caring for oneself, of showing Noble as some kind of paradigm, hence his name. But, sadly, the novel succeeds in none of these aims." Remember that details about the plot and characters in a book are revealed by the reviewer only to support the purpose of the review. Certainly, a review should not give away a book's ending, nor should it be a simple summary of events and characters. The reviewer's job is not only to report highlights but also to respond to the ideas and techniques evident in the book.

Style refers to how an author relates content through writing. This is an important aspect of a book to review. While initially reading the book, and in any subsequent reads, a reviewer should mark passages of particular resonance and reflection of the author's style. These passages help the reviewer form ideas as to whether or not the style is effective in conveying content, and pleasing to the reader. One or more of these passages may be cited within the review itself in order to both exemplify the author's style and provide basis for the reviewer's response. The following is excerpted from Wendy Rawlings' discussion of John D'Agata's poetic, associative essay-writing style in Halls of Fame: "Juxtaposing so many voices and kinds of language . . . can allow the reader to create exciting associative links between texts and ideas, but it can also, when overused, begin to feel somewhat arbitrary. In the book's title essay, for instance, single sentences and sentence fragments form choppy narratives composed of statements that seem, at times, cruelly separated from each other by the portentous silence of white space. This narrative strategy prevails throughout most of the twenty-four sections of the essay, and as a result, the sentences take on a stilted self-importance, like a poem written by someone as yet unschooled in enjambment." A passage from the essay follows this description. When responding to a literary work, consider these aspects of style:

• Logical and reasoned (objective), or imagined and emotional (subjective).
• Dramatic and gripping, or pedestrian and level.
• Epic and far-reaching, or lyrical and infused with personal poetic emotion.
• Solemn and serious, or comic and entertaining.
• Spiritual or vulgar or both.
• Formal, or familiar, informal.
• Simple, or complex.
• Broad, or specific.
• Abstract, or concrete.
• Direct, or implicational.
• Figurative, or literal.
• Use of detail, sense appeal-the look, sound, smell, taste, feel.
• Balance, parallelism, and contrast of exposition, scene, and dialogue.
• Allusions, quotations, aphorisms, etc.
• To the subject.
• To the purpose of the author.
• To the reader.

Form and Technique

An author carefully chooses the form and various writing techniques to use to develop ideas. A book reviewer decides whether or not these choices are appropriate and effective. Do certain techniques aid or impede the author's purpose? What passages from the book best exemplify these techniques?

Form and Technique in Nonfiction

• Use of source material and authority.
• Use of definition; illustrations and examples; comparison and contrast; cause and effect.
• Use of generalization and subsequent conclusions.
• Tone; authority; approach to subject and audience.
• Degree of convincingness.
• Worth of proposal; practicality; need.
• Comparison with other possible policies.
• Costs or difficulties involved.
• Ultimate promise, solution, or plan
• Methods of deduction or induction.
• Synthesis; formation of separate elements into a coherent whole.
• Syllogism; major premise, minor premise, and conclusion.
• Dialectics; arrival at truth through conversation involving question and answer.
• Casuistry; determination of right and wrong by applying generalized ethics principles.
• Fallacy; begging the question, ignoring the question, etc.

Form and Technique in Fiction

• Dominant impression; vividness of final impression.
• Selection of details to support a single effect.
• Appeal to sight, sound, smell, taste, and feel; imagery.
• Directness; implication and suggestion.
• Point of view; first, second, third; limited or omniscient.
• Establishment of setting.
• Smoothness of transitions in time sequence.
• Use of flashback.
• How presented or introduced.
• Motivations; sources for feeling and/or drives to action.
• How described; direct or implied; revealed through description or dialogue.
• Purposes; heroic or villainous; tragic inner flaws; revealing traits.
• How credible and consistent.
• Opening situation and/or conflict.
• Obstacles and complications.
• Tension and suspense.
• Turning point, or climax.
• Resolution.
• Degree of inventiveness and/or plausibility.
• Final philosophy or view of life derived from characters and action.

Depending on the author's purpose, a book's realism, or truth to life, may need assessment. If a book of fiction is meant to be realistic fiction-is it? Is it logical, natural, plausible? To what extent does the author rely on coincidence or accident to propel the plot? Is there adequate evidence of character motivation? Or a lack of sufficient urges and drives? Is the story infused with a quality of normalcy, or abnormality? Remember, if a book of fiction is to be successful according to a reviewer, it is not necessarily realistic fiction; a book's realism, or lack thereof, need be addressed by a reviewer only as it compares to the author's intention for the story. See here how David Milofsky addresses the realism of William Trevor's novel The Story of Lucy Gault : "It seems unlikely, to say the least, that longtime residents of a place (going back several generations, we're told) would cut off contact so completely as the Gaults do, but, of course, if this isn't the case there would be no novel. Similarly, it's hard to believe that the lawyer wouldn't be able to contrive a way to contact the absent parents . . . It's a tribute to Trevor's genius that these objections are largely overridden and storytelling takes over."

Form and Technique in Poetry

• Received (given) forms; sonnet, quatrain, villanelle, sestina, haiku, etc.
• Free verse forms.
• Lyric; narrative; dramatic; prose; ballad (folk, literary, popular).
• Point of view; persona or apparently personal.
• Dramatic monologue.
• Tone; irony, satire, etc.
• Intensity, atmosphere, mood.
• Concrete or abstract.
• Denotation, connotation, implication.
• Vulgar, colloquial/informal, formal.
• Syntax, or sentence structure.
• Amount and type of sensory detail.
• Metaphor; simile; personification; allusion.
• Synesthesia; describing a sense impression using words that normally describe another.
• Hyperbole or understatement.
• Metonymy; substituting one word/phrase for another, closely associated word/phrase.
• Synecdoche; using a part to refer to the whole, or the whole to refer to a part.
• Alliteration; repetition of an initial sound in two or more words of a phrase.
• Assonance (repetition of vowels) and/or consonance (repetition of consonants).
• Onomatopoeia; using a word that is defined through both its sound and meaning.
• Euphony (smooth, pleasant sound) vs. cacophony (rough, harsh sound).
• Rhythm (pattern of beats in a stream of sound)-appeals t
• The line; end-stopped (self-enclosed) or enjambed.
• Feet; iambs, trochees, anapests, dactylics, etc.
• Meter; mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-, penta-, hexa-, etc.
• Repetition.
• Rhyme (corresponding terminal sounds)-appeals t
• True; words sound nearly identical and rhyme on one stressed syllable.
• Slant (near/off); words do not exactly rhyme, but almost rhyme.
• End rhyme (at end of line) and/or internal rhyme (similar sounds within one line).
• Masculine (lines end w/ stressed syllable); feminine (lines end w/ unstressed syllable).

View of Life

It is common for an author to express a view of life through ideas and themes developed in a book. A reviewer identifies and comments on the author's stance. Does the book hold to and/or further develop views apparent in past works? Or make a new statement? Below is a list of popular attitudes, or schools of thought:

• Idealism-emphasis on enduring spirituality as opposed to transient values of materialism.
• Romanticism-focus on emotion and imagination as freedom from the strictly logical.
• Classicism-intellectuality; dominance of the whole over its parts, and form over impulse.
• Realism-adherence to actualities, the logistics of everyday life; objectivity.
• Impressionism-intuition; sense responses to aesthetic objects.
• Naturalism-humans as part of nature; adaption to external environment.

In response to Wilderness and Razor Wire , John Calderazzo discusses the importance of nature in Ken Lamberton's life and writing: "[I]n the prison of his days (to paraphrase W. H. Auden), Lamberton is helped . . . by nature, by the winds and dust and sweet-smelling raindrops that blow down from the nearby mountains, which he sees framed in barbed wire. This is nature unbound, not just out there beyond the walls but slipping in through the bars, swirling around his cell, penetrating even his skin . . . [Swallows] migrate, then return to raise new young in their mud-packed homes, lending solace-and spice-to the impossibly slow turning of the seasons . . . The swallows and many other break-ins from the natural world are also resources of rehabilitation, which Lamberton says is absent from all other aspects of prison life." If comparisons are to be made between a book being reviewed and its predecessors, a reviewer should be familiar with the basic forms and techniques prevalent in works expressing similar viewpoints. Further research and reading are necessary for the reviewer to form intelligent analysis of views of life expressed through writing.

Value and Significance

Often a book review comments on the significance of a new work. This value may be measured in relation to other books in the same genre, works addressing the same subject matter, past and contemporary authors with a similar style, and/or previous works by the same author. In his review of William Trevor's The Story of Lucy Gault , David Milofsky compares the novel to Trevor's past works, and comments on its place in literature in general: "[Trevor]'s been called the Irish Chekhov, but that's not really adequate, since Chekhov never really wrote novels. The truth is that Trevor is sui generis, in a class by himself. While his stories (collected a few years ago in an omnibus volume) are brilliant, novels like The Old Boys and Felicia's Journey are lasting contributions to our literature. He's a literary treasure and never less than interesting reading . . . The Story of Lucy Gault may not be the most accomplished novel of Trevor's distinguished career, but that still places it far beyond most of the fiction that will be written in English this year. It's highly recommended reading." Value is also determined by the universality of application-how and to whom the work applies. Are the book's contents of universal interest? Or does the subject matter limit the book's appeal to a narrow field of individuals? Determining the value and significance of a book depends largely on the knowledge and subjectivity of the reviewer; familiarity with comparable books and authors is required to draw conclusions of this nature.

A book's format, or physical make-up, reflects the ideas of both its author and its publisher. A book reviewer might mention characteristics of format, in relation to suitability and aesthetics. Is the book's size convenient? Is the binding durable? Is the print type legible? Do illustrations, diagrams, and maps, if any, aid the reader's understanding of the material? Is the index correct and complete? Are bibliographies and reference lists present? In response to artwork present in Ken Lamberton's Wilderness and Razor Wire , John Calderazzo comments on both the exactness of the drawings and the possible meaning of this detail-orientedness to Lamberton's life: "[J]ournal entries and small essays [are] complemented by drawings of tarantulas, conenose beetles, horned lizards, and other desert creatures in almost photo-realistic close-up. This is why I suggested that Lamberton may not find himself any closer to 'nature' when he's finally free. How can he get more intimate? . . . All of his drawings, in fact, are rendered in extreme close-up, like visual infatuations writ large. Nothing seems to exist in the distance, which makes me wonder if anything ever does for Lamberton, or ever will."

Planning and Writing

A book review should meet the requirements of any good composition. Clarity, correctness, readability, and interest are very important. A review should give its readers not only an understanding of the reviewer's intellectual response to a book but also an awareness of the basis for this response, through example and analysis. Specific passages from the book are used to exemplify the reviewer's points regarding elements of style, form, and technique. There is no strict pattern for writing book reviews. Guiding the book reviewer's writing process, however, are the three essential objectives of relating what is said in the book, how it is said, and how true and significant it is. As with the planning of a composition, make a list of possible material to use in the review-ideas, responses, information, examples. Study this material to decide what to include in the book review and what proves extraneous. Put the items to include in a suitable order-for instance, from greater to lesser importance. Once the material is organized, a controlling idea for the review emerges; this controlling idea may form the topic sentence of the review, and provides guidance for achieving coherence and focus throughout. Use the topic sentence, in varied forms, in the beginning and end of the review. Once the book reviewer has chosen the proper and adequate material, organized this material effectively, and decided on the main idea and focus to be developed, it is time to write the review.

Like writing the introduction of a composition, there several possible strategies to use for beginning a book review. One type of strategic beginning is prompt definition-assigning meaning to terms in the title of the book, for example, or giving the scope of the review as it relates to the subject and the reviewer's response to the book. Another effective approach is to highlight the origins and past history of the subject treated in the book; this technique may also be used to introduce ideas about genre, style, or view of life, depending on what the reviewer has chosen as the focus of the review. A statement of exclusion shows what will not be addressed in a review and focuses attention on what really will be discussed. At the beginning of his review of Reynold Price's Noble Norfleet , David Milofsky uses a comparison between Price's newest novel and his previous works: "It would be nice to report that Reynolds Price, the distinguished author of more than thirty books, including A Long and Happy Life and Surface of Earth , has added significantly to his oeuvre with his new novel, but such is not the case. Not by a long shot." A reviewer might also quickly catch reader attention by appealing to human interest-perhaps a personal reference or brief anecdote. The anecdote should connect to or exemplify the main focus of the book review. Note the anecdotal technique Wendy Rawlings uses in the introduction of her review of John D'Agata's Halls of Fame : "While on a recent trip to England, I witnessed a cultural exchange that struck me as emblematic of John D'Agata's book of essays, Halls of Fame . An American friend who has spent the past year tolerating a chilly flat in a London suburb for the sake of his British fiancée wanted me to guess the height of the World's Largest Pencil. 'I don't know-eight, nine feet tall?' I said. 'See? See? I knew it!' my friend shouted. He explained that when asked the same question, an English friend had guessed the height of the world's largest pencil to be 'perhaps a foot high, or two.' His modest expectations compared to my great ones (I could not but visualize the World's Largest Pencil as at least a foot taller than an NBA All-Star) represented to my friend something essential about the differences between British and American sensibilities."

Development

The primary focus of a book review is supplied in the beginning paragraph. After this main idea is established, it needs to be developed and justified. Using an organized list of material, the reviewer details the reasons behind the response to the book. References to past history, causes and effects, comparisons and contrasts, and specific passages from the book help illustrate and exemplify this main idea. Personal philosophy and moralization should be kept to a minimum, if included at all; the reader of a book review is interested in unbiased, thoughtful, reasonable, and well-developed ideas pertaining to the book in question. The bulk of a review consists of the development of the reviewer's main idea, the response to the book and the reasons for it. In each of the example reviews that accompany this guide, the reviewers develop their ideas through references to comparable past and contemporary works, analysis of aspects of form and technique, and inclusion of notable passages from the books being reviewed.

Conclusions

The conclusion reflects the focus of the rest of the review, and leaves the reader with a clearly articulated, well-justified final assessment. A restatement of the topic sentence is better than a cursory inspection of less important matters like book format and mechanical make-up. Main emphasis should remain primarily on the qualities and materials of the book being reviewed. At the end of Wendy Rawlings' review of John D'Agata's Halls of Fame , Rawlings summarizes previously stated ideas: "When D'Agata doesn't find the balance, the lyricism borrowed from poetry seems not quite, yet, to fit. I don't wish for D'Agata to join the legions of the smug and ironic, but at certain moments, I begin to wish for authorial presence that will assert itself less forcefully in terms of the arrangement of words on the page, which are often blasted into squadrons separated by asterisks, white space, or unhelpful section headings, and more forcefully on the level of the sentence, as D'Agata does in 'Notes toward the making of a whole human being . . . ,' a five-page essay composed of a single, breathtakingly constructed sentence." The conclusion statement cements the reviewer's recommendation, or lack thereof, of the book. Clearly, this is David Milofsky's aim in the conclusion of his review of Reynold Price's Noble Norfleet : "Even with a failure, it is interesting to read as accomplished a writer as Price, but his new novel cannot be recommended on any other grounds." The final sentence of a review should be both memorable and thought-provoking to the reader. As at the end of John Calderazzo's review of Ken Lamberton's Wilderness and Razor Wire , this final thought might be put in the form of a question: "[R]eading about Lamberton's flawed but exhilarating life makes me wonder about temptation and impetuousness. In light of losing everything, how many of us are still tempted to pursue, just once, some nearby object of desire? And will this constant risk be the prison of all of our days, our lives a landscape of wilderness and razor wire?"

Reviewing Specific Types of Books

The type of book being reviewed raises special considerations as to how to approach the review. Information specific to the categories of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry can be found under the "Form and Technique" heading of this guide. Below are further questions to consider, based on a book's category:

• Does the book give a full-length picture of the subject? Focus on only a portion of life?
• What phases of the subject's life receive greatest space? Is there justification for this?
• What is the point of view of the author?
• Are idiosyncrasies and weaknesses omitted? Treated adequately? Overplayed?
• Does the author endeavor to get at hidden motives?
• What important new facts about the subject's life are revealed in the book?
• Is the subject of the biography still living?
• What source materials were used in the preparation of the book?
• What training has the author had for this kind of work?
• What particular historical period does the book address?
• Is the accound given in broad outline, or in detail?
• Is the style that of reportorial writing, or is there an effort at interpretation?
• Is emphasis on traditional matter, like wars, kings, etc.? Or is it a social history?
• Are dates used extensively and/or intelligently?
• Is the book likely to be out of date soon? Or is it intended to stand the test of time?
• Are maps, illustrations, charts, etc., helpful to the reader?
• o Who is the author, and what right does he/she have to be writing on the subject? o What contributions to knowledge and understanding are made by the book?
• Is the author credible? What is the author's purpose for writing the book?
• Does the book contribute to knowledge of geography, government, folklore, etc.?
• Does the book have news value?
• How effective are plot, pace, style, and characterization? Strengths? Weaknesses?
• Is the ending worthwhile? Predictable?
• o Children's Literature
• o What is the age/interest group for which the book is intended?
• o What is the overall experience/feeling of reading the book?
• o Is the book illustrated? How? By whom?

Publication

There is a good market for the newcomer in book reviewing. Many editors, including those of big-name magazines, do not like to use the same reviewer too often, and this means unknown, unpublished reviewers have good opportunities to break into the field. Send query letters to editors to find out what their publication needs are. Try smaller, special-interest publications first (ethnic, feminist, religious, etc.); if the reviewer has knowledge or affiliation relevant to the publication, it may increase the chances of a positive response from the editor. Stay current with new books, and read other book reviews. Once an assignment for a review is given, produce timely, quality work, specific to requirements set by the editor. Build publication credits with a variety of periodicals; pursue possibilities of starting a regular column for a single newspaper or magazine. Book reviewing is not generally a highly profitable venture, but money can be made, depending on a reviewer's qualifications, reputation, and dedication to the field.

Cress, Janell. (2003). Book Reviews. Writing@CSU . Colorado State University. https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/guide.cfm?guideid=49

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Assignments

• Annotated Bibliography
• Analyzing a Scholarly Journal Article
• Group Presentations
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• Types of Structured Group Activities
• Group Project Survival Skills
• Leading a Class Discussion
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Works
• Writing a Case Analysis Paper
• Writing a Case Study
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Reflective Paper
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Generative AI and Writing
• Acknowledgments

A book review is a thorough description, critical analysis, and/or evaluation of the quality, meaning, and significance of a book, often written in relation to prior research on the topic. Reviews generally range from 500-2000 words, but may be longer or shorter depends on several factors: the length and complexity of the book being reviewed, the overall purpose of the review, and whether the review examines two or more books that focus on the same topic. Professors assign book reviews as practice in carefully analyzing complex scholarly texts and to assess your ability to effectively synthesize research so that you reach an informed perspective about the topic being covered.

There are two general approaches to reviewing a book:

• Descriptive review: Presents the content and structure of a book as objectively as possible, describing essential information about a book's purpose and authority. This is done by stating the perceived aims and purposes of the study, often incorporating passages quoted from the text that highlight key elements of the work. Additionally, there may be some indication of the reading level and anticipated audience.
• Critical review: Describes and evaluates the book in relation to accepted literary and historical standards and supports this evaluation with evidence from the text and, in most cases, in contrast to and in comparison with the research of others. It should include a statement about what the author has tried to do, evaluates how well you believe the author has succeeded in meeting the objectives of the study, and presents evidence to support this assessment. For most course assignments, your professor will want you to write this type of review.

Book Reviews. Writing Center. University of New Hampshire; Book Reviews: How to Write a Book Review. Writing and Style Guides. Libraries. Dalhousie University; Kindle, Peter A. "Teaching Students to Write Book Reviews." Contemporary Rural Social Work 7 (2015): 135-141; Erwin, R. W. “Reviewing Books for Scholarly Journals.” In Writing and Publishing for Academic Authors . Joseph M. Moxley and Todd Taylor. 2 nd edition. (Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield, 1997), pp. 83-90.

How to Approach Writing Your Review

NOTE:   Since most course assignments require that you write a critical rather than descriptive book review, the following information about preparing to write and developing the structure and style of reviews focuses on this approach.

I.  Common Features

While book reviews vary in tone, subject, and style, they share some common features. These include:

• A review gives the reader a concise summary of the content . This includes a description of the research topic and scope of analysis as well as an overview of the book's overall perspective, argument, and purpose.
• A review offers a critical assessment of the content in relation to other studies on the same topic . This involves documenting your reactions to the work under review--what strikes you as noteworthy or important, whether or not the arguments made by the author(s) were effective or persuasive, and how the work enhanced your understanding of the research problem under investigation.
• In addition to analyzing a book's strengths and weaknesses, a scholarly review often recommends whether or not readers would value the work for its authenticity and overall quality . This measure of quality includes both the author's ideas and arguments and covers practical issues, such as, readability and language, organization and layout, indexing, and, if needed, the use of non-textual elements .

To maintain your focus, always keep in mind that most assignments ask you to discuss a book's treatment of its topic, not the topic itself . Your key sentences should say, "This book shows...,” "The study demonstrates...," or “The author argues...," rather than "This happened...” or “This is the case....”

II.  Developing a Critical Assessment Strategy

There is no definitive methodological approach to writing a book review in the social sciences, although it is necessary that you think critically about the research problem under investigation before you begin to write. Therefore, writing a book review is a three-step process: 1) carefully taking notes as you read the text; 2) developing an argument about the value of the work under consideration; and, 3) clearly articulating that argument as you write an organized and well-supported assessment of the work.

A useful strategy in preparing to write a review is to list a set of questions that should be answered as you read the book [remember to note the page numbers so you can refer back to the text!]. The specific questions to ask yourself will depend upon the type of book you are reviewing. For example, a book that is presenting original research about a topic may require a different set of questions to ask yourself than a work where the author is offering a personal critique of an existing policy or issue.

Here are some sample questions that can help you think critically about the book:

• Thesis or Argument . What is the central thesis—or main argument—of the book? If the author wanted you to get one main idea from the book, what would it be? How does it compare or contrast to the world that you know or have experienced? What has the book accomplished? Is the argument clearly stated and does the research support this?
• Topic . What exactly is the subject or topic of the book? Is it clearly articulated? Does the author cover the subject adequately? Does the author cover all aspects of the subject in a balanced fashion? Can you detect any biases? What type of approach has the author adopted to explore the research problem [e.g., topical, analytical, chronological, descriptive]?
• Evidence . How does the author support their argument? What evidence does the author use to prove their point? Is the evidence based on an appropriate application of the method chosen to gather information? Do you find that evidence convincing? Why or why not? Does any of the author's information [or conclusions] conflict with other books you've read, courses you've taken, or just previous assumptions you had about the research problem?
• Structure . How does the author structure their argument? Does it follow a logical order of analysis? What are the parts that make up the whole? Does the argument make sense to you? Does it persuade you? Why or why not?
• Take-aways . How has this book helped you understand the research problem? Would you recommend the book to others? Why or why not?

Beyond the content of the book, you may also consider some information about the author and the general presentation of information. Question to ask may include:

• The Author: Who is the author? The nationality, political persuasion, education, intellectual interests, personal history, and historical context may provide crucial details about how a work takes shape. Does it matter, for example, that the author is affiliated with a particular organization? What difference would it make if the author participated in the events they wrote about? What other topics has the author written about? Does this work build on prior research or does it represent a new or unique area of research?
• The Presentation: What is the book's genre? Out of what discipline does it emerge? Does it conform to or depart from the conventions of its genre? These questions can provide a historical or other contextual standard upon which to base your evaluations. If you are reviewing the first book ever written on the subject, it will be important for your readers to know this. Keep in mind, though, that declarative statements about being the “first,” the "best," or the "only" book of its kind can be a risky unless you're absolutely certain because your professor [presumably] has a much better understanding of the overall research literature.

NOTE: Most critical book reviews examine a topic in relation to prior research. A good strategy for identifying this prior research is to examine sources the author(s) cited in the chapters introducing the research problem and, of course, any review of the literature. However, you should not assume that the author's references to prior research is authoritative or complete. If any works related to the topic have been excluded, your assessment of the book should note this . Be sure to consult with a librarian to ensure that any additional studies are located beyond what has been cited by the author(s).

Book Reviews. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Book Reviews. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Hartley, James. "Reading and Writing Book Reviews Across the Disciplines." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 57 (July 2006): 1194–1207;   Motta-Roth, D. “Discourse Analysis and Academic Book Reviews: A Study of Text and Disciplinary Cultures.”  In Genre Studies in English for Academic Purposes . Fortanet Gómez, Inmaculada  et  al., editors. (Castellò de la Plana: Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I, 1998), pp. 29-45. Writing a Book Review. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Book Reviews. Writing Tutorial Services, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. Indiana University; Suárez, Lorena and Ana I. Moreno. “The Rhetorical Structure of Academic Journal Book Reviews: A Cross-linguistic and Cross-disciplinary Approach .” In Asociación Europea de Lenguas para Fines Específicos, María del Carmen Pérez Llantada Auría, Ramón Plo Alastrué, and Claus Peter Neumann. Actas del V Congreso Internacional AELFE/Proceedings of the 5th International AELFE Conference . Zaragoza: Universidad de Zaragoza, 2006.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Bibliographic Information

Bibliographic information refers to the essential elements of a work if you were to cite it in a paper [i.e., author, title, date of publication, etc.]. Provide the essential information about the book using the writing style [e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago] preferred by your professor or used by the discipline of your major . Depending on how your professor wants you to organize your review, the bibliographic information represents the heading of your review. In general, it would look like this:

[Complete title of book. Author or authors. Place of publication. Publisher. Date of publication. Number of pages before first chapter, often in Roman numerals. Total number of pages]. The Whites of Their Eyes: The Tea Party's Revolution and the Battle over American History . By Jill Lepore. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2010. xii, 207 pp.)

Reviewed by [your full name].

II.  Scope/Purpose/Content

Begin your review by telling the reader not only the overarching concern of the book in its entirety [the subject area] but also what the author's particular point of view is on that subject [the thesis statement]. If you cannot find an adequate statement in the author's own words or if you find that the thesis statement is not well-developed, then you will have to compose your own introductory thesis statement that does cover all the material. This statement should be no more than one paragraph and must be succinctly stated, accurate, and unbiased.

If you find it difficult to discern the overall aims and objectives of the book [and, be sure to point this out in your review if you determine that this is a deficiency], you may arrive at an understanding of the book's overall purpose by assessing the following:

• Scan the table of contents because it can help you understand how the book was organized and will aid in determining the author's main ideas and how they were developed [e.g., chronologically, topically, historically, etc.].
• Why did the author write on this subject rather than on some other subject?
• From what point of view is the work written?
• Was the author trying to give information, to explain something technical, or to convince the reader of a belief’s validity by dramatizing it in action?
• What is the general field or genre, and how does the book fit into it? If necessary, review related literature from other books and journal articles to familiarize yourself with the field.
• Who is the intended audience?
• What is the author's style? Is it formal or informal? You can evaluate the quality of the writing style by noting some of the following standards: coherence, clarity, originality, forcefulness, accurate use of technical words, conciseness, fullness of development, and fluidity [i.e., quality of the narrative flow].
• How did the book affect you? Were there any prior assumptions you had about the subject that were changed, abandoned, or reinforced after reading the book? How is the book related to your own personal beliefs or assumptions? What personal experiences have you had related to the subject that affirm or challenge underlying assumptions?
• How well has the book achieved the goal(s) set forth in the preface, introduction, and/or foreword?
• Would you recommend this book to others? Why or why not?

III.  Note the Method

Support your remarks with specific references to text and quotations that help to illustrate the literary method used to state the research problem, describe the research design, and analyze the findings. In general, authors tend to use the following literary methods, exclusively or in combination.

• Description : The author depicts scenes and events by giving specific details that appeal to the five senses, or to the reader’s imagination. The description presents background and setting. Its primary purpose is to help the reader realize, through as many details as possible, the way persons, places, and things are situated within the phenomenon being described.
• Narration : The author tells the story of a series of events, usually thematically or in chronological order. In general, the emphasis in scholarly books is on narration of the events. Narration tells what has happened and, in some cases, using this method to forecast what could happen in the future. Its primary purpose is to draw the reader into a story and create a contextual framework for understanding the research problem.
• Exposition : The author uses explanation and analysis to present a subject or to clarify an idea. Exposition presents the facts about a subject or an issue clearly and as impartially as possible. Its primary purpose is to describe and explain, to document for the historical record an event or phenomenon.
• Argument : The author uses techniques of persuasion to establish understanding of a particular truth, often in the form of addressing a research question, or to convince the reader of its falsity. The overall aim is to persuade the reader to believe something and perhaps to act on that belief. Argument takes sides on an issue and aims to convince the reader that the author's position is valid, logical, and/or reasonable.

IV.  Critically Evaluate the Contents

Critical comments should form the bulk of your book review . State whether or not you feel the author's treatment of the subject matter is appropriate for the intended audience. Ask yourself:

• Has the purpose of the book been achieved?
• What contributions does the book make to the field?
• Is the treatment of the subject matter objective or at least balanced in describing all sides of a debate?
• Are there facts and evidence that have been omitted?
• What kinds of data, if any, are used to support the author's thesis statement?
• Can the same data be interpreted to explain alternate outcomes?
• Is the writing style clear and effective?
• Does the book raise important or provocative issues or topics for discussion?
• Does the book bring attention to the need for further research?
• What has been left out?

Support your evaluation with evidence from the text and, when possible, state the book's quality in relation to other scholarly sources. If relevant, note of the book's format, such as, layout, binding, typography, etc. Are there tables, charts, maps, illustrations, text boxes, photographs, or other non-textual elements? Do they aid in understanding the text? Describing this is particularly important in books that contain a lot of non-textual elements.

NOTE:   It is important to carefully distinguish your views from those of the author so as not to confuse your reader. Be clear when you are describing an author's point of view versus expressing your own.

V.  Examine the Front Matter and Back Matter

Front matter refers to any content before the first chapter of the book. Back matter refers to any information included after the final chapter of the book . Front matter is most often numbered separately from the rest of the text in lower case Roman numerals [i.e. i - xi ]. Critical commentary about front or back matter is generally only necessary if you believe there is something that diminishes the overall quality of the work [e.g., the indexing is poor] or there is something that is particularly helpful in understanding the book's contents [e.g., foreword places the book in an important context].

Front matter that may be considered for evaluation when reviewing its overall quality:

• Table of contents -- is it clear? Is it detailed or general? Does it reflect the true contents of the book? Does it help in understanding a logical sequence of content?
• Author biography -- also found as back matter, the biography of author(s) can be useful in determining the authority of the writer and whether the book builds on prior research or represents new research. In scholarly reviews, noting the author's affiliation and prior publications can be a factor in helping the reader determine the overall validity of the work [i.e., are they associated with a research center devoted to studying the problem under investigation].
• Foreword -- the purpose of a foreword is to introduce the reader to the author and the content of the book, and to help establish credibility for both. A foreword may not contribute any additional information about the book's subject matter, but rather, serves as a means of validating the book's existence. In these cases, the foreword is often written by a leading scholar or expert who endorses the book's contributions to advancing research about the topic. Later editions of a book sometimes have a new foreword prepended [appearing before an older foreword, if there was one], which may be included to explain how the latest edition differs from previous editions. These are most often written by the author.
• Acknowledgements -- scholarly studies in the social sciences often take many years to write, so authors frequently acknowledge the help and support of others in getting their research published. This can be as innocuous as acknowledging the author's family or the publisher. However, an author may acknowledge prominent scholars or subject experts, staff at key research centers, people who curate important archival collections, or organizations that funded the research. In these particular cases, it may be worth noting these sources of support in your review, particularly if the funding organization is biased or its mission is to promote a particular agenda.
• Preface -- generally describes the genesis, purpose, limitations, and scope of the book and may include acknowledgments of indebtedness to people who have helped the author complete the study. Is the preface helpful in understanding the study? Does it provide an effective framework for understanding what's to follow?
• Chronology -- also may be found as back matter, a chronology is generally included to highlight key events related to the subject of the book. Do the entries contribute to the overall work? Is it detailed or very general?
• List of non-textual elements -- a book that contains numerous charts, photographs, maps, tables, etc. will often list these items after the table of contents in the order that they appear in the text. Is this useful?

Back matter that may be considered for evaluation when reviewing its overall quality:

• Afterword -- this is a short, reflective piece written by the author that takes the form of a concluding section, final commentary, or closing statement. It is worth mentioning in a review if it contributes information about the purpose of the book, gives a call to action, summarizes key recommendations or next steps, or asks the reader to consider key points made in the book.
• Appendix -- is the supplementary material in the appendix or appendices well organized? Do they relate to the contents or appear superfluous? Does it contain any essential information that would have been more appropriately integrated into the text?
• Index -- are there separate indexes for names and subjects or one integrated index. Is the indexing thorough and accurate? Are elements used, such as, bold or italic fonts to help identify specific places in the book? Does the index include "see also" references to direct you to related topics?
• Glossary of Terms -- are the definitions clearly written? Is the glossary comprehensive or are there key terms missing? Are any terms or concepts mentioned in the text not included that should have been?
• Endnotes -- examine any endnotes as you read from chapter to chapter. Do they provide important additional information? Do they clarify or extend points made in the body of the text? Should any notes have been better integrated into the text rather than separated? Do the same if the author uses footnotes.
• Bibliography/References/Further Readings -- review any bibliography, list of references to sources, and/or further readings the author may have included. What kinds of sources appear [e.g., primary or secondary, recent or old, scholarly or popular, etc.]? How does the author make use of them? Be sure to note important omissions of sources that you believe should have been utilized, including important digital resources or archival collections.

VI.  Summarize and Comment

State your general conclusions briefly and succinctly. Pay particular attention to the author's concluding chapter and/or afterword. Is the summary convincing? List the principal topics, and briefly summarize the author’s ideas about these topics, main points, and conclusions. If appropriate and to help clarify your overall evaluation, use specific references to text and quotations to support your statements. If your thesis has been well argued, the conclusion should follow naturally. It can include a final assessment or simply restate your thesis. Do not introduce new information in the conclusion. If you've compared the book to any other works or used other sources in writing the review, be sure to cite them at the end of your book review in the same writing style as your bibliographic heading of the book.

Book Reviews. Writing@CSU. Colorado State University; Book Reviews. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Gastel, Barbara. "Special Books Section: A Strategy for Reviewing Books for Journals." BioScience 41 (October 1991): 635-637; Hartley, James. "Reading and Writing Book Reviews Across the Disciplines." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 57 (July 2006): 1194–1207; Lee, Alexander D., Bart N. Green, Claire D. Johnson, and Julie Nyquist. "How to Write a Scholarly Book Review for Publication in a Peer-reviewed Journal: A Review of the Literature." Journal of Chiropractic Education 24 (2010): 57-69; Nicolaisen, Jeppe. "The Scholarliness of Published Peer Reviews: A Bibliometric Study of Book Reviews in Selected Social Science Fields." Research Evaluation 11 (2002): 129-140;.Procter, Margaret. The Book Review or Article Critique. The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Reading a Book to Review It. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Scarnecchia, David L. "Writing Book Reviews for the Journal Of Range Management and Rangelands." Rangeland Ecology and Management 57 (2004): 418-421; Simon, Linda. "The Pleasures of Book Reviewing." Journal of Scholarly Publishing 27 (1996): 240-241; Writing a Book Review. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Book Reviews. Writing Tutorial Services, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. Indiana University.

Writing Tip

Always Read the Foreword and/or the Preface

If they are included in the front matter, a good place for understanding a book's overall purpose, organization, contributions to further understanding of the research problem, and relationship to other studies is to read the preface and the foreword. The foreword may be written by someone other than the author or editor and can be a person who is famous or who has name recognition within the discipline. A foreword is often included to add credibility to the work.

The preface is usually an introductory essay written by the author or editor. It is intended to describe the book's overall purpose, arrangement, scope, and overall contributions to the literature. When reviewing the book, it can be useful to critically evaluate whether the goals set forth in the foreword and/or preface were actually achieved. At the very least, they can establish a foundation for understanding a study's scope and purpose as well as its significance in contributing new knowledge.

Distinguishing between a Foreword, a Preface, and an Introduction . Book Creation Learning Center. Greenleaf Book Group, 2019.

Locating Book Reviews

There are several databases the USC Libraries subscribes to that include the full-text or citations to book reviews. Short, descriptive reviews can also be found at book-related online sites such as Amazon , although it's not always obvious who has written them and may actually be created by the publisher. The following databases provide comprehensive access to scholarly, full-text book reviews:

• ProQuest [1983-present]
• Book Review Digest Retrospective [1905-1982]

Some Language for Evaluating Texts

It can be challenging to find the proper vocabulary from which to discuss and evaluate a book. Here is a list of some active verbs for referring to texts and ideas that you might find useful:

• account for
• demonstrate
• distinguish
• investigate

Examples of usage

• "The evidence indicates that..."
• "This work assesses the effect of..."
• "The author identifies three key reasons for..."
• "This book questions the view that..."
• "This work challenges assumptions about...."

Paquot, Magali. Academic Keyword List. Centre for English Corpus Linguistics. Université Catholique de Louvain.

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How to Write a Book Review: Awesome Guide

A book review allows students to illustrate the author's intentions of writing the piece, as well as create a criticism of the book — as a whole. In other words, form an opinion of the author's presented ideas. Check out this guide from EssayPro — book review writing service to learn how to write a book review successfully.

What Is a Book Review?

You may prosper, “what is a book review?”. Book reviews are commonly assigned students to allow them to show a clear understanding of the novel. And to check if the students have actually read the book. The essay format is highly important for your consideration, take a look at the book review format below.

Book reviews are assigned to allow students to present their own opinion regarding the author’s ideas included in the book or passage. They are a form of literary criticism that analyzes the author’s ideas, writing techniques, and quality. A book analysis is entirely opinion-based, in relevance to the book. They are good practice for those who wish to become editors, due to the fact, editing requires a lot of criticism.

Book Review Template

The book review format includes an introduction, body, and conclusion.

• Introduction
• Describe the book cover and title.
• Include any subtitles at this stage.
• Include the Author’s Name.
• Write a brief description of the novel.
• Briefly introduce the main points of the body in your book review.
• Avoid mentioning any opinions at this time.
• Use about 3 quotations from the author’s novel.
• Summarize the quotations in your own words.
• Mention your own point-of-view of the quotation.
• Remember to keep every point included in its own paragraph.
• In brief, summarize the quotations.
• In brief, summarize the explanations.
• Finish with a concluding sentence.
• This can include your final opinion of the book.
• Star-Rating (Optional).

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How to Write a Book Review: Step-By-Step

Writing a book review is something that can be done with every novel. Book reviews can apply to all novels, no matter the genre. Some genres may be harder than others. On the other hand, the book review format remains the same. Take a look at these step-by-step instructions from our professional writers to learn how to write a book review in-depth.

Step 1: Planning

Create an essay outline which includes all of the main points you wish to summarise in your book analysis. Include information about the characters, details of the plot, and some other important parts of your chosen novel. Reserve a body paragraph for each point you wish to talk about.

Consider these points before writing:

• What is the plot of the book? Understanding the plot enables you to write an effective review.
• Is the plot gripping? Does the plot make you want to continue reading the novel? Did you enjoy the plot? Does it manage to grab a reader’s attention?
• Are the writing techniques used by the author effective? Does the writer imply factors in-between the lines? What are they?
• Are the characters believable? Are the characters logical? Does the book make the characters are real while reading?
• Would you recommend the book to anyone? The most important thing: would you tell others to read this book? Is it good enough? Is it bad?
• What could be better? Keep in mind the quotes that could have been presented better. Criticize the writer.

Step 2: Introduction

Presumably, you have chosen your book. To begin, mention the book title and author’s name. Talk about the cover of the book. Write a thesis statement regarding the fictitious story or non-fictional novel. Which briefly describes the quoted material in the book review.

Step 3: Body

Choose a specific chapter or scenario to summarise. Include about 3 quotes in the body. Create summaries of each quote in your own words. It is also encouraged to include your own point-of-view and the way you interpret the quote. It is highly important to have one quote per paragraph.

Step 4: Conclusion

Write a summary of the summarised quotations and explanations, included in the body paragraphs. After doing so, finish book analysis with a concluding sentence to show the bigger picture of the book. Think to yourself, “Is it worth reading?”, and answer the question in black and white. However, write in-between the lines. Avoid stating “I like/dislike this book.”

Step 5: Rate the Book (Optional)

After writing a book review, you may want to include a rating. Including a star-rating provides further insight into the quality of the book, to your readers. Book reviews with star-ratings can be more effective, compared to those which don’t. Though, this is entirely optional.

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Writing Tips

Here is the list of tips for the book review:

• A long introduction can certainly lower one’s grade: keep the beginning short. Readers don’t like to read the long introduction for any essay style.
• It is advisable to write book reviews about fiction: it is not a must. Though, reviewing fiction can be far more effective than writing about a piece of nonfiction
• Avoid Comparing: avoid comparing your chosen novel with other books you have previously read. Doing so can be confusing for the reader.
• Opinion Matters: including your own point-of-view is something that is often encouraged when writing book reviews.
• Refer to Templates: a book review template can help a student get a clearer understanding of the required writing style.
• Don’t be Afraid to Criticize: usually, your own opinion isn’t required for academic papers below Ph.D. level. On the other hand, for book reviews, there’s an exception.
• Use Positivity: include a fair amount of positive comments and criticism.
• Review The Chosen Novel: avoid making things up. Review only what is presented in the chosen book.
• Enjoyed the book? If you loved reading the book, state it. Doing so makes your book analysis more personalized.

Writing a book review is something worth thinking about. Professors commonly assign this form of an assignment to students to enable them to express a grasp of a novel. Following the book review format is highly useful for beginners, as well as reading step-by-step instructions. Writing tips is also useful for people who are new to this essay type. If you need a book review or essay, ask our book report writing services ' write paper for me ' and we'll give you a hand asap!

We also recommend that everyone read the article about essay topics . It will help broaden your horizons in writing a book review as well as other papers.

Book Review Examples

Referring to a book review example is highly useful to those who wish to get a clearer understanding of how to review a book. Take a look at our examples written by our professional writers. Click on the button to open the book review examples and feel free to use them as a reference.

Book review

Kenneth Grahame’s ‘The Wind in the Willows’

Kenneth Grahame’s ‘The Wind in the Willows’ is a novel aimed at youngsters. The plot, itself, is not American humor, but that of Great Britain. In terms of sarcasm, and British-related jokes. The novel illustrates a fair mix of the relationships between the human-like animals, and wildlife. The narrative acts as an important milestone in post-Victorian children’s literature.

Book Review

Dr. John’s ‘Pollution’

Dr. John’s ‘Pollution’ consists of 3 major parts. The first part is all about the polluted ocean. The second being about the pollution of the sky. The third part is an in-depth study of how humans can resolve these issues. The book is a piece of non-fiction that focuses on modern-day pollution ordeals faced by both animals and humans on Planet Earth. It also focuses on climate change, being the result of the global pollution ordeal.

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13 Types of Book Review: The Complete List Explained

by  Antony W

October 5, 2023

In one of our posts in this category, we showed you how to write a book review from scratch. Before you get started, though, it’s important to know the different types of book review your instructor would want you to work on.

That’s what we look at in this guide.

Let’s get started.

What is a Book Review? 

A book review a critical analysis that provides details on recently published works, including a brief synopsis of the book’s main concepts such as its plot and characters. 

The review includes a succinct summary of the book’s strengths and weaknesses to offer a comprehensive assessment from the reviewer to the author.

Book reviews offer readers a range of perspectives on a book’s merits and flaws, helping them to decide whether to read it or not.

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Types of Book Review Explained

The following are the types of book reviews you should know about and write based on the review format that we’ve already talked about:

1. Endorsements Book Reviews

Endorsements can be powerful tools to use before publishing a book. Authors can share their manuscript, complete or not, with a well-known individual in their field and request a short review.

These endorsements primarily work for non-fiction and business books, providing authority from the outset.

2. Trade Reviews

Trade reviews are reviews that are mainly appealing to librarians and booksellers.

Trade reviews have two substantial downsides: they charge for book reviews, and they do not guarantee a positive review. However, they are the most trusted speakers in the publishing industry.

If an author wants to promote their book to retailers or feature it in the library, the best place to start is with trade reviews. These companies list reviewed books on their website, and many readers follow such reviews.

3. Reader Reviews

Reader reviews are feedback written by readers who bought and read a published book. These reviews can be negative or positive and could be from anyone.

An example of where to find reader reviews is Goodreads.

The platform has less stringent measures, allowing friends to follow each other’s book reviews and reading progress.

4. Editorial Reviews

Editorial reviews are third-party reviews, such as an article or blog, from a professional entity that does not publish books. Examples include freelancing bloggers, news reporters, or magazines.

Editorial reviews can be paid or done free.

5. Fiction Book Review

A review of a work of fiction typically involves a critical analysis of recently published or revised novels, short stories, legends, and fairy tales.

Such reviews provide details about the book’s central characters, key plot points, and settings, while also assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the narrative and its themes, as well as the author’s writing style.

6. Student Book Review

Student book reviews encourage students to develop their own opinions on an author’s ideas, usually by working through worksheets that pose a series of questions.

These reviews represent a form of literary criticism that evaluates an author’s ideas, writing techniques, and overall work quality. Opinion-based analyses that are relevant to the book’s content, they serve as a valuable exercise for students aspiring to become editors or literary critics.

7. Professional Book Review

Professional book reviews are crafted by experts and it critics who work for reputable institutions such as magazines, newspapers, blogs, online publications, and paid services agencies.

These reviewers possess a strong background in book writing, which enables them to produce high-quality reviews that often appear on the front pages of major news outlets. Many booksellers also rely on professional book reviews to make informed recommendations.

8. Short Book Review

You can find short book reviews on blogs and online review platforms, providing an overview of books and authors, a brief synopsis, and a concise analysis.

These reviews highlight the essential information that helps readers decide whether to read the book based on the reviewer’s commentary.

It’s important to ensure that the review is unbiased, including both the author’s strengths and weaknesses in effectively conveying their message.

9. Blank Book Review

A blank book review serves as a template for constructing a critical analysis of a book, covering its general information, subject, and theme.

It guides reviewers, particularly those who are new to the process, in creating an impartial review.

Moreover, it provides an opportunity for individuals to hone their analytical and critical thinking skills by applying the blank book review to different genres.

10. Poetry Book Review

When writing a poetry book review, the focus is on providing a critical analysis of a collection of poetry by a single poet or a group of poets. The review delves into the genre of the poems, as well as how the authors convey their emotions through each verse.

To organize their thoughts, reviewers may use a graphic organizer or chart, especially if there are multiple perspectives to consider.

11. Academic Book Review

Academic book reviews, also known as scholarly book reviews, are in scholarly journals written by academic scholars.

These reviews serve multiple purposes, including educating other academics about the book’s quality and objectives while explaining how the book fits into existing literature. Reviews are crucial resources that help other scholars determine whether to read or purchase the book.

12. Simple Book Review

A simple book review discusses a specific book, highlighting its main idea, characters, and genre. The book review highlights the individual’s ability to comprehend and grasp the book’s contents while evaluating the author’s arguments and issues raised.

Writing a book review of this kind is similar to writing an essay, as it requires presenting evidence and organizing the information in a clear and structured manner.

13. University Book Review

University book reviews are assignments or projects that university students receive from their professors, focusing on analyzing a particular text and writing an evaluation of its content.

The document should include an introduction that provides details such as the author’s name, book title, genre, and characters. A comprehensive analysis to identify the main ideas is also essential, followed by an overall assessment of the book’s quality.

About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.

Confrontation in Academic Communication pp 33–70 Cite as

The Academic Book Review

• Irena Vassileva 2  
• First Online: 22 August 2023

51 Accesses

This chapter dwells on the features and functions of the academic book review and uses the methodology of contrastive discourse analysis where the languages envisaged are English and German. The methodological apparatus for the analysis of academic book reviews in the two languages is the classical theory of argumentation. The results of the analysis show that of the three types of argumentation depending on the speaker’s purpose (epistemic, deontic, and ethical), epistemic argumentation dominates the reviews. This is not surprising, since academic discourse generally reflects the natural striving of science for the truth and for explanations of phenomena. Deontic argumentation is observed in recommendations where reviewers usually propose alternative, allegedly better ways and means of solving a particular problem. In contrast to other academic genres, deontic argumentation is relatively more frequent due to the evaluative character of the reviews. The same holds for ethical argumentation that presupposes the categorization of a claim on the scale of ‘good–bad’. Although this kind of personalized evaluation clashes in principle with the universal assumption of the objectivity of science, the wide use of topoi from the person in reviews points once again to their highly subjective character.

Especially prominent in this respect is the relatively frequent use of ‘personal attacks’ in English, realized in “scornful, contemptuous, and sarcastic tones” (Tannen, J Pragmatics, 34:1664, 2002)—a fact that contradicts Galtung’s (Struktur, Kultur und intellektueller Stil. Ein vergleichender Essay über sachsonische, teutonische, gallische und nipponische Wissenschaft. In Wierlacher A (ed) Das Fremde und das EigeneJudicum-Verlag, pp 151–193, 1985) observation that the English-speaking academic discourse community is more tolerant than the German-speaking one. This new development is most probably due to the function of English as the world lingua franca of research, the language which is the medium of the ever-growing global competition in academia.

• The academic book review
• Addressivity
• Theory of argumentation
• Premises in English and German
• Topoi in English and German book reviews

A shorter version of part of this chapter, including all graphs, has been published in: Vassileva, Irena (2010) Critical Book Reviews in German. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 20, N 3 . 354–367.

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The peculiar reluctance when it comes to criticism can also be explained by the fear that criticized colleagues could “take revenge” as reviewers under the protection of anonymity. Giving well-founded criticism is more time-consuming than handing out compliments, it benefits the competition, and replication studies hardly bring any reputation. In addition, criticism often goes largely unnoticed.

http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/guidelines.cfm

The frequent references to printing mistakes also seem to be a professionally related speciality of linguists.

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Writing a Book Review

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

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This resource discusses book reviews and how to write them.

Book reviews typically evaluate recently-written works. They offer a brief description of the text’s key points and often provide a short appraisal of the strengths and weaknesses of the work.

Readers sometimes confuse book reviews with book reports, but the two are not identical. Book reports commonly describe what happens in a work; their focus is primarily on giving an account of the major plot, characters, and/or main idea of the work. Most often, book reports are a K-12 assignment and range from 250 to 500 words. If you are looking to write a book report, please see the OWL resource, Writing a Book Report.

By contrast, book reviews are most often a college assignment, but they also appear in many professional works: magazines, newspapers, and academic journals. They typically range from 500-750 words, but may be longer or shorter. A book review gives readers a sneak peek at what a book is like, whether or not the reviewer enjoyed it, and details on purchasing the book.

Before You Read

Before you begin to read, consider the elements you will need to included in your review. The following items may help:

• Author: Who is the author? What else has s/he written? Has this author won any awards? What is the author’s typical style?
• Genre: What type of book is this: fiction, nonfiction, romance, poetry, youth fiction, etc.? Who is the intended audience for this work? What is the purpose of the work?
• Title: Where does the title fit in? How is it applied in the work? Does it adequately encapsulate the message of the text? Is it interesting? Uninteresting?
• Preface/Introduction/Table of Contents: Does the author provide any revealing information about the text in the preface/introduction? Does a “guest author” provide the introduction? What judgments or preconceptions do the author and/or “guest author” provide? How is the book arranged: sections, chapters?
• Book Jacket/Cover/Printing: Book jackets are like mini-reviews. Does the book jacket provide any interesting details or spark your interest in some way? Are there pictures, maps, or graphs? Do the binding, page cut, or typescript contribute or take away from the work?

As You Read

As you read, determine how you will structure the summary portion or background structure of your review. Be ready to take notes on the book’s key points, characters, and/or themes.

• Characters: Are there characters in the work? Who are the principal characters? How do they affect the story? Do you empathize with them?
• Themes/Motifs/Style: What themes or motifs stand out? How do they contribute to the work? Are they effective or not? How would you describe this author’s particular style? Is it accessible to all readers or just some?
• Argument: How is the work’s argument set up? What support does the author give for her/findings? Does the work fulfill its purpose/support its argument?
• Key Ideas: What is the main idea of the work? What makes it good, different, or groundbreaking?
• Quotes: What quotes stand out? How can you demonstrate the author’s talent or the feel of the book through a quote?

When You Are Ready to Write

Begin with a short summary or background of the work, but do not give too much away. Many reviews limit themselves only to the first couple of chapters or lead the reader up to the rising action of the work. Reviewers of nonfiction texts will provide the basic idea of the book’s argument without too much detailed.

The final portion of your review will detail your opinion of the work. When you are ready to begin your review, consider the following:

• Establish a Background, Remember your Audience: Remember that your audience has not read the work; with this in mind, be sure to introduce characters and principles carefully and deliberately. What kind of summary can you provide of the main points or main characters that will help your readers gauge their interest? Does the author’s text adequately reach the intended audience? Will some readers be lost or find the text too easy?
• Minor principles/characters: Deal only with the most pressing issues in the book. You will not be able to cover every character or idea. What principles/characters did you agree or disagree with? What other things might the author have researched or considered?
• Organize: The purpose of the review is to critically evaluate the text, not just inform the readers about it. Leave plenty room for your evaluation by ensuring that your summary is brief. Determine what kind of balance to strike between your summary information and your evaluation. If you are writing your review for a class, ask your instructor. Often the ratio is half and half.
• Your Evaluation: Choose one or a few points to discuss about the book. What worked well for you? How does this work compare with others by the same author or other books in the same genre? What major themes, motifs, or terms does the book introduce, and how effective are they? Did the book appeal to you on an emotional or logical way?
• Publisher/Price: Most book reviews include the publisher and price of the book at the end of the article. Some reviews also include the year published and ISBN.

When making the final touches to your review, carefully verify the following:

• Double-check the spelling of the author name(s), character names, special terms, and publisher.
• Try to read from the vantage point of your audience. Is there too much/enough summary? Does your argument about the text make sense?
• Should you include direct quotes from the reading? Do they help support your arguments? Double-check your quotes for accuracy.

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Blog • Understanding Publishing

Posted on Dec 29, 2020

The Ultimate List of Book Genres: 35 Popular Genres, Explained

Authors need to have a firm grasp on all the different genres of books in order to find the perfect home for their own. The tropes and expectations of a book’s genre will inform its content and style during the writing process, as well as fundamentals such as word count . But it’s also central to the marketing of a book , determining its target audience, and those all-important Amazon categories . Get your genre wrong, and you could be waving goodbye to book sales and hello to unsatisfied reader reviews!

How many book genres are there?

Though we’re only covering 35 of the most popular in this post, there are around 50 genres in total — the exact number depends on who you ask. If you take subgenres into account, over on Reedsy Discovery we have 107 different categories, while Amazon has over 16,000! 

That can be a lot to take in. So if you'd like some personalized guidance, we recommend taking this 1-minute quiz that will point you towards your genre (and subgenre). 

Which genre (or subgenre) am I writing?

Find out which genre your book belongs to. It only takes a minute!

For an overview of all of the genres, that's what the rest of this post is for. There’s bound to be a genre that’s the perfect fit for your book — all you have to do is find it!

Fiction genres

“Writing fiction is the act of weaving a series of lies to arrive at a greater truth.” — Khaled Hosseini

This book genre is characterized by elements of magic or the supernatural and is often inspired by mythology or folklore. In high fantasy — one that’s set in an entirely fictional world — these magical elements are at the forefront of the plot, as in Trudi Canavan’s  Black Magician trilogy. In low fantasy or magical realism, however, magic is subtly woven into an otherwise familiar, real-world setting. You can delve into  fantasy’s many subgenres to get to know your Arcanepunk from your Flintlock, and find your book’s home!

Pro tip for writing fantasy : To make your world feel real and functional, make sure it’s grounded in rules — an internal rationale, so to speak, encompassing everything from the workings of your society to your magic system.

Science Fiction

A popular genre of science fiction, dystopian novels offer a bleak and frightening vision of the future. Authors writing dystopias imagine a grim society, often in the aftermath of a disaster, facing things like oppressive governments, Black Mirror -esque technology, and environmental ruin. From widely popular series like The Hunger Games to critically-acclaimed classics like Nineteen Eighty-four , the enduring appeal of dystopian fiction lies in our burning desire to know where mankind is headed — and our perverse enjoyment of dark stories, so long as they aren’t actually happening to us. 

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Action & Adventure

If you’re writing adventure, then chances are your book follows the structure of the Hero’s Journey . Your protagonist has a very important goal to achieve, but they’re really going to have to go through the wringer first! You throw up obstacle after obstacle, putting your hero in downright dangerous situations but eventually, they triumph and return home transformed. The action and adventure genre also complements a huge range of others, which means it has its fingers in everything from fantasy novels like The Hobbit to classic romance like J ane Eyre .

Also called detective fiction, this book genre is characterized by a gripping plot that revolves around a mystery — but hopefully, you’ve cracked that clue! The setting, characters, and tone of your book will determine precisely which category it falls under: cozy mystery , hardboiled, or something in between. But at the core of any mystery is a crime that must be solved by the protagonist. To get a sense of the clever trail of clues that’s so vital to this genre, check out Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie — the grande dame of mystery fiction.

Pro tip for writing a mystery : When planning your novel, consult the Fichtean curve , a narrative structure that emphasizes mini-crises, ratcheting up the tension to keep readers anxious to reach the climax.

What unites the books in this genre is not theme, plot, or setting, but the feeling they inspire in the reader: your pulse quickens, and your skin prickles as you turn the page with bated breath. Of course, this feeling of dread only comes about if the author creates the right atmosphere — an essential feature dependent on the subgenre. Gothic horror, for example, sends a shiver down your spine with spooky settings and paranormal elements, while gross-out horror shocks the reader with hacked-up flesh and buckets of blood. The master of horror fiction in all its guises? Stephen King , of course.

Pro tip for writing horror : Make the stakes plain and straightforward — survival, the death of a loved one, etc. — and clearly establish them for the reader, so they are in no doubt about the character’s motivation.

Thriller & Suspense

A horror story can also be called a thriller, if it employs psychological fear to build suspense . But not all thrillers are horror stories . So what are they? While this book genre encompasses many of the same elements as mystery, in a thriller the protagonist is usually acting to save their own life, rather than to solve the crime. Thrillers typically include cliffhangers, deception, high emotional stakes, and plenty of action — keeping the reader on the edge of their seat until the book’s climax. Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl is a masterclass in the dark, mysterious thriller. 

Pro tip for writing a thriller : Avoid anything that bogs down the pacing. If you notice that a scene is getting tied up in everyday details, or doesn’t add enough excitement to the plot, rewrite it or cut it altogether!

Historical Fiction

This book genre encompasses fictional stories in a historical setting , carefully balancing creativity and facts. In most cases, the characters and events are imagined by the author and enriched with historically accurate details from a specific time period. Take The Help by Kathryn Stockett, for example — a fictional story set in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. But occasionally, as is the case with Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell trilogy, the author builds the main story around real historical figures and events. 

Like almost all of these genres, it's crucial that historical fiction works in exposition and historical detail subtly. Want to learn more about how to do this? Check out our free course on the golden writing rule, Show, Don't Tell.

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Romance is so frequently used as a subplot that it can sometimes be tricky to know whether or not you’re writing in this genre . The key thing to remember is that the romantic relationship must be the center point of the plot. (Other giveaways include a “happily ever after” ending and the warm fuzzies.) If your novel has a romantic relationship at its heart and is perfectly at home in another genre, it probably falls into one of romance’s many subgenres , including but not limited to: young adult romance, paranormal romance, and historical romance.

Women’s Fiction

Women’s fiction is an umbrella term for books written to target a female audience, generally reflecting on the shared experience of being a woman or the growth of a female protagonist. Because of this rather broad definition, authors will quite often write a romance novel or mystery, for example, that could also be labeled women’s fiction. Despite the connotations of one alternative name for this genre (“chick-lit”), many critically acclaimed bestsellers, including Jaqueline Woodson’s Red at The Bone, fall under its purview. 

Contemporary Fiction

Literary Fiction

Like contemporary fiction, books considered literary fiction can’t be neatly filed under any other genre. What distinguishes this genre from contemporary fiction is that works of literary fiction are thought to have considerable artistic value. If your prose is meant to engage the reader in thought, if your narrative is character-driven and introspective, and if you provide personal or social commentary on a “serious” theme, then chances are you’re writing lit-fic. Modern classics by the likes of Virginia Woolf or Ali Smith would be labeled literary fiction.

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Magical Realism

You may remember us mentioning magical realism under the umbrella of fantasy — but considering its highbrow style and literary prestige, magical realism is often considered a genre in its own right. Its hallmarks include a real-world setting, a cast of run-of-the-mill characters (no vampires, fairies, or sorcerers), a fluid and non-linear timeline, and supernatural happenings — a baby born with feathered wings, or an egg hatching a ruby — left unexplained. Authors like Isabel Allende and Toni Morrison have used this literary style to grapple with serious social ills, from colonialism to fascism and slavery.  

Graphic Novel

Short Story

Though they can belong to any of the other book genres on this list, short stories are frequently grouped together in their own genre because they’re, well, so much shorter than novels. Often the author will compile a collection linked together by a narrative thread or, more commonly, a shared theme. The stories in A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin, for example, follow a series of women in different occupations — from cleaning women to ER nurses — all struggling to survive.

Young Adult

Young adult fiction , or YA, targets readers aged 12-18 and reflects its readership by following teenage characters as they grapple with the unique challenges of adolescence. Most works of YA fiction can be labeled “ coming-of-age novels ”, in which the characters exit childhood and enter adulthood — a transition that results in a loss of innocence and a shifting sense of identity. Some of the biggest bestsellers in recent years have belonged to this genre, including The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and anything by John Green. 

Pro tip for writing young adult fiction : Though your teen character’s voice should be true to her life experience, you should never “dumb down” the language, story, or style choices in a YA novel.

The shiny new penny on this book genres list, new adult is like young adult aged-up: coming-of-age stories after the messiness of adolescence. Its college-age protagonists are walked through the gauntlet of becoming fully-fledged grownups, ditching the stress of the SATs and senior prom for college exams, career transitions, and more mature first times. Big names in New Adult , like Cora Carmack, tend to write steamy romances set in dorm rooms. But this genre isn’t all about collegiate love stories — your gritty urban fantasy or immersive historical fiction could find its home here, too. 

Books in this genre are written with readers under the age of twelve in mind. Of course, kids will do a lot of growing between the ages of zero and twelve, which is why children’s books range from baby board books all the way up to middle grade ‘epics’ of 50,000 words. Hopefully, if you’re writing children’s literature , you already know you are. But it’s crucial that you also know which age group you’re trying to target, as this will impact the themes, characters, and complexity of your book.

Nonfiction genres

This is a broad category encompassing a number of nonfiction subgenres . From memoirs and biographies to books to self-help and true crime books, there's a type of nonfiction for every kind of reader.

Memoir & Autobiography

Both memoirs and autobiographies provide a true account of the author’s life. They differ in that an autobiography provides a chronological account of your life’s events and accomplishments, whereas a memoir puts the emphasis on only the most defining, emotional moments. Generally, these moments are drawn together by a single theme — or a significant time, place, or relationship — to communicate a message you wish to share with readers. The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson is a popular example of a memoir .

Pro tip for writing a memoir : Treat yourself as an interview subject and ask yourself questions that will trigger those life-defining stories — the ups and downs, the events that shaped you, what you sacrificed, what you learned.

Like autobiographies, biographies provide readers with a person’s life story; but they’re written in the third person by someone other than the subject. Generally, the subject of a biography is (or was) well-known — somebody whose life can teach readers an interesting lesson worth learning. Biographies, memoirs, and autobiographies differ from the rest of the nonfiction on this list, in that they weave a narrative in almost the same way a novel does. A great biography , like Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton , isn’t a laundry list of events, but a life-giving tribute. 

Food & Drink

Food and drink is one of nonfiction’s hottest book genres, making it a crowded and highly competitive market. As a result, today’s cookbooks tend to cater to specific cuisines, dietary, and/or lifestyle needs. If you’re writing a cookbook , you might consider pairing recipes with nutritional information, short autobiographical narratives, or even workouts. Jo Wicks’s 30 Day Kickstart Plan and Less Fuss No Waste Kitchen by Lindsay Miles are excellent examples of modern cookbooks. 

Art & Photography

Some of the bestselling books in nonfiction, self-help books encourage personal improvement and confidence. Whether the focus is on relationships, emotional well-being, or finances, if you’re writing a book that aims to uplift and empower the reader, then you’re probably writing self-help .

The books in this genre lay down the known facts about a historical era, event, or figure. And since this is nonfiction, all the facts have to be accurate (though that doesn’t mean there’s no room for inference or opinion). The goal of these books is to educate and inform the reader, so this genre does include all those textbooks you used in school. But many history books ditch the play-by-play format to chronicle the past in a way more akin to storytelling. One of our favorite history books is Sapiens: A Brief History of Mankind by Yuval Noah Harari. 

Travel memoirs and travelogues, like Jonathan Glancey’s The Journey Matters , take us all over the world, giving even the most devoted homebodies a tantalizing taste of adventure, wildlife, and the great outdoors. These pocket-sized books — featuring destination reviews, lists of where to eat and what to see, and tips for traveling on a budget — are without a doubt some of the most useful titles on the shelves.

Laugh-out-loud memoirs by the funniest celebs, satirical essays from the likes of David Sedaris, or gag gifts like How to Adult — all the books in this rib-tickling genre are written with one thing in mind: making readers laugh! So if you’ve compiled a collection of all your favorite dad jokes or penned a cathartic brain-dump of your most cringe-worthy memories, then your book may also belong in the humor genre. 

An essay may sound like a boring assignment from your school years, but the books in this genre are among some of the most moving and inspirational works of literature there are. Many powerful voices — like James Baldwin and Roxane Gay — have used these short works to reflect on their own personal experiences and views, combining them into a collection that serves as an eye-opening social commentary on a particular theme or subject. 

Guide / How-to 

Religion & Spirituality

From histories of the Catholic Church to spiritual guidebooks and memoirs of the Eat, Pray, Love variety, this genre has a place for anything and everything related to the topics of religion and spirituality. 

Humanities & Social Sciences

Got something wise to say? Then your book might just belong among the books of this eclectic genre — as long as it discusses a topic related to (deep breath): philosophy, history, literature, language, art, religion, music, or the human condition. This might seem like a pretty wide net to fall into, but keep in mind that books in this genre are typically quite academic; if you’ve written more of a free-flowing spiritual guide, it probably belongs in the previous genre. 

Parenting & Families

Parents and families struggling with discipline, education, bonding, the care of a newborn baby, or a child with special needs, can turn to this well-stocked genre of books when they need to bring in the reinforcements. If you’ve written a memoir that’ll have families whole-heartedly nodding in agreement, or a guide brimming with advice for frazzled parents, then you can find a place for your book in the parenting and families section. 

Science & Technology

The job of science nonfiction is not to predict the future, but to make sense of the world we’re currently living in — which, quite honestly, can feel like science fiction to some of us! Readers of this genre range from complete beginners trying to understand the things around them to technophiles whose brains are whirring to keep up with the pace of change, so there’s bound to be a niche for your book, however advanced it is. 

As much as kids love fairytales and talking animals, they’re often just as happy to pick up a nonfiction book at storytime. Whether it’s an activity book to keep them busy, a powerful true story like Malala’s Magic Pencil , or a children’s encyclopedia to feed their brains, children’s nonfiction is all about making learning fun. And the wildly popular Horrible Histories series has proven that this genre can compete with wizards and superheroes at every age!

There you have it: 35 of the most popular genres of books. Hopefully, this list will help you get your foot in the right door. But if your book doesn’t slot neatly into any of these categories (though there are quite some more types of nonfiction to consider), don’t be afraid to declare it a hybrid, or to dig a little deeper into the subcategories that you’ll find in the shade of these umbrella genres.

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Book Reviews

The stories in 'green frog' are wildly entertaining and wonderfully diverse.

Gabino Iglesias

Gina Chung's Green Frog is a fantastic medley of short stories that dance between literary fiction, fable, Korean folklore, and science fiction.

Wildly entertaining, wonderfully diverse, and always delivered with a superb understanding of pacing and economy of language, the stories in this collection are full of emotional intelligence but also prove Chung isn't afraid to explore what genre mixing can do for short narratives.

Writing about collections is always tricky because not every story can fit into a review. In the case of Green Frog , where none of the 15 stories are mediocre, it's even more difficult. Thankfully, there are some tales that demand individual attention. "How to Eat Your Own Heart," which kicks off the collection, offers a set of instructions to cut your heart out of your chest, prepare it, and eat in a way that will lead to its regrowth. Strangely funny and a tad unsettling, this one establishes the tone for the stories that follow.

In "After the Party," a woman contemplates marriage and the universe, while feeling the weight of things that could happen, or that never did. "Rabbit Heart," which condenses a woman's long-distance relationship with her grandmother and their reunion right before the elderly woman's death, is the first of a few tales that explore otherness and dig deep into the experiences of the Korean diaspora.

"Presence," one of the crowning jewels of this book, is a unique science-fiction narrative about the power of memories that also contains elements of horror. A woman who helped developed a way of storing away bad memories — something she and her husband, who was also her boss, always thought of as helpful — is haunted by a dark presence. After visiting a retreat, she understands the way in which we are the sum of all our memories. Some of the same elements are present in "Attachment Processes," a story about a couple who acquire a robot with the personality and memories of the teenage daughter they lost in a car accident. The young girl isn't their daughter; she's a product they purchase from a company that aims "to reconstruct the deceased using the most sophisticated artificial-intelligence and consciousness-upload techniques." However, she looks exactly like their dead daughter when she was younger and eventually becomes a vessel that can hold the love they have to give as well as a constant reminder that death is the end of life but not the end of our feelings. These two stories, which seem to be in conversation with each other, are only two of many that do the same, which gives the collection a wonderful sense of cohesion.

Many stories in Green Frog feature Koreans or Korean Americans and talk about Korean food or how learning the language is important, and sometimes a challenge, for those not living in Korea. In "Human Hearts," Chung goes deep into Korean folktale territory to deliver a story about a kumiho — a shapeshifting creature also known as the nine-tailed fox — that's tasked with avenging her own sister and learns to step away from her mother's shadow in the process. Some of the same elements — growing up, finding your own way in life, and the effects of offspring being forced to scrutinize their relationship to their parents — are also present in "The Sound of Water," which follows a young man still living at home who has convinced himself that his life is the way it is because his parents need him, gets to the core of small-town life through a Korean lens and even touches on anti-Asian sentiment.

Mixed in with these longer, more multilayered stories are shorter ones that are also memorable because of their topic or main character. "Mantis," for example, is about the love life of the insect that gives the story its title. Another standout is "The Arrow," which explores the way we can learn to understand our parents only after life has put us in a bad place. Lastly, in "You'll Never Know How Much I Loved You," another story that focuses on a grandmother-granddaughter relationship, Chung looks at how it's easier to dish out advice than to apply it to ourselves.

Chung is a keen observer of the human condition who is unafraid to tackle difficult themes like growing up, abandoning our dreams and settling, grief, being an outsider, and the complexities of multiculturalism and its impact on those who are caught between two cultures and thus never feel like they fully belong to either. However, she's also a talented storyteller who can easily take her deep messages and wrap them in entertaining, emotionally resonant short fiction. The fabulist takes and great writing make Green Frog a great collection, but the way Chung works feminism and otherness, while almost always centering Korean or Korean American woman, is what makes this a must read.

Gabino Iglesias is an author, book reviewer and professor living in Austin, Texas. Find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @Gabino_Iglesias .

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30 New Books Critics Think You Should Read Right Now

Nbcc board members review this year’s nbcc award finalists.

Every year, in the weeks leading up to the National Book Critics Circle Awards, the NBCC board members take the time to  review and appreciate  the  thirty finalists , recognized in Autobiography, Biography, Criticism, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry. Needless to say, these thirty books make a pretty good reading list.

This year’s National Book Critics Circle Awards will be held at the New School in New York City on March 21. In the meantime, see what the NBCC’s board members have to say about all of the finalists below:

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Susan Kiyo Ito, I Would Meet You Anywhere: A Memoir (Mad Creek Books, an imprint of The Ohio State University Press)

Susan Ito’s heart-rending and courageous memoir holds a secret at its core. At nineteen, as a transracial adoptee raised by nisei parents, she sleuths out the identity of her Japanese-American birth mother, defying laws that keep adoption records sealed. Their fraught first meeting is the beginning of decades of emotional ebbs and flows, as Ito’s biological mother cuts off contact with her repeatedly to maintain anonymity and avoid naming the man who fathered her. What sustains Ito: Marriage, motherhood, advocating for adoptees, and writing her own story. I Would Meet You Anywhere illuminates the complexities of identity, family, and belonging.

David Masumoto, with artwork by Patricia Wakida, Secret Harvest: A Hidden Story of Separation and the Resilience of a Family Farm (Red Hen Press)

Secret Harvests limns the compounded tragedy of the Japanese internment for one family, when a cognitively disabled member, herself disabled via the racism of inadequate medical care–was separated and “lost” to the family during World War II. David Mas Masumoto uncovers the smallest thread of the story and achieves the seemingly impossible feat of reconnecting the lost family member whose story had been lost to racism but also family shame. In stark, stunning prose combined with Patricia Wakida’s evocative woodcut prints, Secret Harvests manages to take absence and turn it into presence, illuminating the hard-won resilience and joys as well as the darker corners of the author’s family history—and that of our nation as well.

Ahmed Naji, translated by Katharine Halls, Rotten Evidence: Reading and Writing in an Egyptian Prison (McSweeney’s)

Ahmed Naji’s eloquent, and at times searingly funny, memoir of his time spent in an Egyptian prison, Rotten Evidence , reveals the importance of literature as a form of self-liberation. Naji was convicted of “violating public modesty” after an excerpt from his novel Using Life was published in a journal in Egypt. Naji recounts his experiences in detail, from the mundane daily indignities of incarceration to the camaraderie that develops between prisoners. The memoir is also an erudite literary text as Naji expounds on works of Egyptian literature, the Arabic language itself, and the limits imposed by successions of authoritarian governments. Katharine Halls’s lively translation captures Naji’s distinctive voice, by turns intellectual, enraged, sardonic; Naji comes across as someone who remarkably can always crack wise about his bully jailers and the ignorance of his government’s censors.

Safiya Sinclair, How to Say Babylon: A Memoir (Simon & Schuster)

How to Say Babylon , Safiya Sinclair’s lyric memoir, is intimate, unforgettable and a shining example of why poets should write prose. The Eden of Sinclair’s Jamaican childhood is irrevocably altered under her father’s strict Rastafarian upbringing which first constrains, and then threatens, her life. Her poetic soul is matched by her resilience and perseverance and is the foundation of her courageous expressions of individuality and agency. Sinclair expertly weaves moments both harrowing and idyllic in a way that is candid, yet still generous to even those who have harmed her, which speaks both of her sensitivity and strength, and makes this memoir singular, universal and transporting.

Matthew Zapruder, Story of a Poem: A Memoir (Unnamed Press)

Matthew Zapruder’s Story of a Poem pursues two questions simultaneously: what makes a poem work, and what makes a life matter. If those questions seem to belong to different realms of meaning, it is the quiet brilliance of this book to convince you of their interdependence. The story is of the creation and revision of several poems—messy, developing drafts included—and the equally messy process of understanding a child whose autism diagnosis wrenches the author’s first draft of parenthood into a new shape—all while the air outside darkens with wildfire smoke. It is rare to see the competing calls to creativity and care explored so literally, and with such urgency and tenderness, as they are here.

Jonathan Eig, King: A Life (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

In his sweeping biography of Martin Luther King Jr. Jonathan Eig recovers the civil rights leader from “the gray mist of hagiography.” Eig traces the arc of “Little Mike,” son of a Georgia sharecropper, to national prominence as an eloquent advocate for Black rights, as well as a crusader against the Vietnam War and poverty, all the way to Memphis and the Lorraine Motel balcony. Building on more than 200 interviews and recently released FBI files, Eig recently made national news by debunking a famous quotation about Malcolm X attributed to King, tracking fissures in the civil rights movement, and revealing King’s womanizing. With the velocity of a thriller, Eig evokes King in all his complexity, an imperfect but extraordinary man.

Gregg Hecimovich, The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts: The True Story of the Bondwoman’s Narrative (Ecco)

The Bondwoman’s Narrative , written in the mid-nineteenth century and believed to be the first novel by a Black woman, caused a sensation when it was authenticated and published by Henry Louis Gates Jr. in 2002. Until now, however, the author’s identity remained  a mystery. In this compelling new biography, Hecimovich combs through public records, handwritten diaries, almanacs, wills, and slave inventories and invites readers into his search, even the dead ends,  to reveal Crafts as the former Hannah Bond, a child traumatically separated from her enslaved mother, who learned to read and write before escaping to the North and completing the book. Hecimovich convincingly demonstrates that Crafts’ writing was influenced by popular literature, in particular Dickens’ Bleak House , yet stands, sui generis , as what he calls “one of the most powerful imaginative records we have of slavery.”

Yunte Huang, Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s Rendezvous with American History (Liveright)

Daughter of the Dragon provides a riveting glimpse into the life of the beguiling actress Anna May Wong, one of Old Hollywood’s most recognizable faces. The book is the triumphant capstone to an ambitious trilogy: here, as in previous installments on Charlie Chan and the original Siamese twins (both NBCC finalists), Huang shines his spotlight upon a single, iconic figure in order to reveal a bigger picture. This dramatic account of Wong’s ascent to silver screen stardom—and subsequent descent into alcoholism and oblivion—thoughtfully illuminates the crucial role played by Asian Americans in the spectacle of modern culture.

Rachel Shteir, Betty Friedan (Yale University Press)

In Betty Friedan , Rachel Shteir investigates the life, work and complex legacy of the trailblazing feminist. While Friedan remains respected for her contributions to early second wave feminism, her resistance to intersectional feminist work leaves her out of sync with contemporary feminist activism. The first biography of Friedan in a generation, drawing on extensive research and interviews with Friedan’s contemporaries, Shteir examines the ways in which Friedan’s early years growing up Jewish in the midwest and living in the shadow of her mother’s thwarted education, shaped her ambition, career trajectory and personal life. The determination that led Friedan to become a forceful national leader also closed her off from compromise and evolution. In this timely, important biography, Shtier makes the case that her impact remained crucial to social change in 20th century America.

Jonny Steinberg, Winnie & Nelson: A Portrait of a Marriage (Knopf)

Jonny Steinberg’s deeply insightful, painstakingly researched Winnie and Nelson: A Portrait of a Marriage unmasks the Mandelas, sliding past their public mythos, and the simpler romantic narrative they told each other, to reveal the emotional labyrinth beneath. Steadily, through newly recovered material about the couple’s conversations – gathered by eavesdropping Afrikaner prison guards – Steinberg reveals how incarceration, torture, infidelity, and time itself, changed both husband and wife and their political stances. We’re left with a strong sense of the horrors they endured during apartheid, and the tenderness that remained between them at the end, even after they had inflictied pain on one another, and enduried so much cruelty and torture. With its exploration of two radically different approaches to apartheid, this beautiful biography speaks movingly to present-day struggles for racial justice.

Nicholas Dames, The Chapter: A Segmented History from Antiquity to the Twenty-First Century (Princeton University Press)

1.) One of the most thrilling things a book of criticism can do is answer a question that you didn’t know you had. 2.) The question in The Chapter is particularly delicious, because you likely accept chaptering as a matter of course, without asking why books are split up. 3.) Nicholas Dames roams wonderfully from the Gospels to, in a particular highlight, George Eliot. He explores time, transitions, and the literal manufacturing of books. 4.) Dames is also a clear, lucid writer. 5.) The critical cliché in this case is true: after reading The Chapter , you will never quite read anything else the same way.

Myriam Gurba, Creep: Accusations and Confessions (Avid Reader Press)

Creep is the very rare book of essays that could easily read as a single full-length study. Across her works to date ( Mean , Dahlia Season ) Myriam Gurba has developed a control over tone that lets her combine all of Creep’s elements—the creeping presence of Richard Ramirez, the itching fear of lice, anti-Mexican racism everywhere, cold Joan Didion beside the hot Los Angeles strawberries, Gurba teaching her high school students that that rape is about geography, not sex—into a coherent portrait in local sensibility. Creep is a tricky book that reads easy.

Naomi Klein, Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Naomi Klein has long challenged readers to look at the way we live from a slightly skewed angle in hopes of ultimately making the world more just. In this masterwork of storytelling, reporting, criticism, and analysis, she uses the idea of the twin, or the fun house version of our own world, to explore how truth works—or doesn’t—in today’s political and cultural climate. “It’s tough to live in a moment when so many truths that had been sold as settled suddenly become wobbly,” she writes. In this time of uncertainty we’re lucky to have her be one of our guiding voices.

Grace E. Lavery, Pleasure and Efficacy: Of Pen Names, Cover Versions, and Other Trans Techniques (Princeton University Press)

Pleasure and Efficacy provides a groundbreaking study of the idea of gender transition in the modern era. Grace E. Lavery, a literary scholar and prominent activist, marshals a kaleidoscopic array of examples—from pseudonyms to psychoanalysis to The Silence of the Lambs —in support of her claim that sex change is possible. By turns playful and polemical, Lavery unpacks complex theoretical texts with an efficacy that is as astonishing to behold as it is pleasurable to read: a bold affirmation of the trans condition.

Tina Post, Deadpan: The Aesthetics of Black Inexpression (NYU Press)

Deeply researched and refreshingly lucid, Tina Post’s Deadpan arrives as one of the most original and affecting aesthetic surveys in recent memory. Long consigned to the realm of play-it-straight humor, the book recontextualizes the act of withholding to taxonimize its origins and uses—specifically the tact it assumes when intersecting with blackness. Refusing to differentiate between “embodied blackness (or blackness as performed by black people) and symbolic blackness (or blackness in the cultural imaginary),”  the author instead maps the many tributaries connecting the one to the other, illuminating how specimenization, perceived threat, gradients, and the tension between excess and absence evolve and get repurposed by black and white artists alike.

Teju Cole, Tremor (Random House)

In Cole’s triumphant return to fiction, the critic, novelist, and photographer finds new possibilities for autofiction. The book is dense with digressions on art and colonialism from Tunde, the Harvard-photography-professor narrator (one chapter takes the form of a lecture implicating an audience of museum patrons in the legacy of cultural appropriation). But it’s more than a vehicle for ideas. Rather, the story is about what these ideas mean for Tunde as he considers his own degrees of privilege and the exploitative nature of photography while reckoning with memories of growing up in Nigeria and of an old friend whose occasional presence adds to Tremor ’s elegiac and haunting quality.

Daniel Mason, North Woods (Random House)

A house surrounded by an apple orchard in Western Massachusetts provides the setting for Daniel Mason’s ghostly masterpiece. Told in vivid overlapping stories, spanning from the Puritan colonial era to the future, the novel lays bare the poisonous American obsession with property and its deleterious effect on ecological succession. Beauty, humor, and violence surface in the lives of the house’s colorful inhabitants over the years: spinster sisters, ambitious farmers, a painter harboring a secret desire, and a troubled young man, among others. The bold accordion-like structure of North Woods (letters, songs, and poetry are mixed with conventional narration) traces an erosion of humanity even as its players yearn for a better future.

Lorrie Moore, I Am Homeless if This Is Not My Home (Knopf)

Lorrie Moore’s I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home is hilarious and beautifully written, which is no surprise coming from Moore, whose short stories and novels have delighted readers since 1985’s Self-Help . The surprise is in the absolute boldness of this novel—a zombie road trip is interspersed with letters from an innkeeper written just after the Civil War. Even more astounding is the beating heart of the work—amid the chaos and contortion of the plot, this is a tender and poignant examination of grief, loss, and memory. It’s a wonderfully elusive book from a master of form, packing multitudes into just under 200 pages.

Marie NDiaye, translated by Jordan Stump, Vengeance Is Mine (Knopf)

At the heart of Marie NDiaye’s hypnotic and ingenious literary thriller is a sensational legal case: Maître Susane is hired to represent a wealthy man’s wife, who has been accused of murdering the couple’s three children. Susane, who has never tried a murder case and is of a working-class background, believes she met Principaux, her client’s husband, decades earlier when she was ten years old. NDiaye, who began publishing her slippery and original fictions three decades ago at 17, entwines subtle mysteries with depictions of harrowing violence. Elliptical and lyrical, Vengeance Is Mine amounts to a disquieting exhumation of the past and its tight, invisible hold on the present.

Justin Torres, Blackouts (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Justin Torres radically experiments with the biographical fiction genre to stunning effect. Structured like an exquisite nesting doll of stories, the novel follows the arrival of the young exhausted narrator at the Palace, a convalescent home where he has come to help Juan finish his erasure project involving Sex Variants , a real-life 1941 collection of anonymous interviews with gay and lesbian people. Contributions by queer journalist Jan Gay were uncredited, and Juan and the narrator work together to highlight this unjustly forgotten legacy, as Juan prods the narrator for details of his own clouded past. Blackouts is a tour de force of desire and reclamation.

R oxana Asgarian, We Were Once A Family (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Asgarian draws on her background as a Houston court reporter for her astonishing debut. The book is a meticulous, harrowing, and deeply empathetic investigation of the story behind the deaths of a married white Portland, Ore., lesbian couple and their six Black Texas-born adopted children from a cliffside car crash in Mendocino County, Calif., that was ruled a murder-suicide. Asgarian provides a blistering indictment of the Houston family court, child protection agencies, and adoption agencies that wrest children such as the victims away from their birth families, and of the media’s focus, in looking for answers to explain the crime, on the psychology of the adoptive mothers rather than the structural conditions impacting the children’s birth families.

Kerry Howley, Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs (Knopf)

You might not expect to be moved by a book whose title refers to a conspiracy theory about how Monster Energy Drinks are actually vehicles for Satan. But Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs is a clear-eyed and nuanced accounting of the ways in which our modern security state reduces human beings into little more than unending terabytes of data. Kerry Howley interprets such data in a way that is distinctly human and deeply generous; she distills small, telling details from a larger story about conspiracy theorists and whistleblowers and everyone in between, while still allowing her narrative to meander and digress in surprising and revelatory ways.

Dina Nayeri, Who Gets Believed? (Catapult Books)

In Who Gets Believed? , Dina Nayeri ( The Ungrateful Refugee ) collates data from real situations where the stakes of personal credibility are high and their outcomes apparently arbitrary. She connects a refugee whose story is rejected on absurd grounds to her own skepticism, as a Christian child refugee in the United States, of the thrashing antics of the girls around her in church. Nayeri exploits her heterogenous life experience (a management consultancy interlude is among the book’s oblique surprises) to compose a work something like philosophy, one that forces old conceptual questions back into conversation with their crucial roles in daily life.

Jeff Sharlet, The Undertow (W. W. Norton)

In “The Undertow: Scenes From a Slow Civil War,” journalist and author Jeff Sharlet takes readers on a chillingly urgent tour of Donald Trump’s America. Sharlet gives us much more than soundbites as he immerses himself in Trump rallies, a men’s rights conference and a prosperity Gospel megachurch, and as he talks in depth with conspiracy theorists, white nationalists and acolytes of Ashli Babbitt, the woman shot on Jan. 6, 2021, as she tried to break into the U.S. Capitol, “transformed” after her death, Sharlet writes, into “yet another flag, like a new tarot card in the deck of fascism.”

Christina Sharpe, Ordinary Notes (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

From the glimmering mosaic of Christina Sharpe’s Ordinary Notes emerges a luminous vision of a mind and life, “ordinary” only in the sense that it contains the matter of her daily reckonings, the memories of an extraordinary mother, the “antiblack notes” that have impinged on her and all Americans’ experience of life, and the lovely counter-notes—the lessons, the art, the courageous voicings—that create a new understanding of the world: “All of our renewed power to refuse the concentric senses of the ruinous.”

Saskia Hamilton, All Souls (Graywolf Press)

In the exquisite and profoundly affecting All Souls , completed just before her death, Saskia Hamilton wonders if writing can be “a form of practice or of preparation for death” and answers with a meditation on all the things that mattered deeply to her: family, memory, art, and literature. What she creates is something surpassingly rare, a kind of auto-elegy that is all the more moving for being devoid of sentimentality and self-pity, a vision of a brilliant mind mulling over the shards of what she knows, trying to see into and past death, not to vanquish it but to capture life, “caught in the far gone far alone glance / of mortality.”

Kim Hyesoon, translated by Don Mee Choi, Phantom Pain Wings (New Directions)

With stunning originality and audacity, Kim Hyesoon creates an alternative imaginative universe that reflects a consciousness battered by and overcoming life’s agonies: the aftereffects of war and dictatorship, the oppressions of a patriarchal society, the death of a father. In Don Mee Choi’s powerful translation of Phantom Pain Wings , the presence of the multi-faceted creature called “bird”—nemesis, inner daemon, doppelganger, muse—reverberates outward until, as with all great poetry, it assumes the fragile, mortal proportions of art itself: “I thought about bird flying freely in the ruins / bird that will fall if I don’t keep writing.”

Romeo Oriogun, The Gathering of Bastards (University of Nebraska Press)

“Perhaps exile is us running through history // I have not to give, even my body is empty of a country.” So begins Romeo Oriogun’s breathtaking The Gathering of Bastards , a multitemporal saga of migration charted against journeys of queerness and subsequent exile. Nigerian-born Oriogun’s poems are rooted between boundaries, engaging with war and dictatorship while employing a lyricism that instills a sense of magical possibility. Despite repeated losses, Oriogun pens an expansive dream of freedom: “Having known that there is no home apart from terror, / I lend my voice to our survival. I demand a wild life.” Through the wild lives of these poems, Oriogun offers readers a profound communion.

Robyn Schiff, Information Desk (Penguin Books)

With a sweep that encompasses the intelligence, eroticism, and callousness of the Western art canon, Robyn Schiff’s Information Desk presents a mundane setting for the epic: the eponymous desk at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the poet worked in her youth. Yet for all its cataloguing of the indignities of the role, Schiff’s epic poem refuses to stay grounded, taking readers on a whorl through art history, her personal relationships, and the behavior of parasitic wasps. What unites these topics is the symbiotic relationship the subjects have with their muses (or hosts). Like the book itself, these relationships are sometimes beautiful, oftentimes brutal, and alluring in their observation that not all monuments are erected on equal footing.

Charif Shanahan, Trace Evidence (Tin House)

“Dear one: I was trying to enter my own life, I felt outside my own life. I was / Looking, trying to find a door.” In the searching intimacies of Trace Evidence, Charif Shanahan uncovers his own hard-earned definitions of identity amidst the dislocations of a life at the margins–postcolonial, queer, biracial–in order to inhabit life on his own terms. A near-fatal accident in Morocco, the home country of his mother, becomes the focal point for gorgeously frank and delicate lyrics that both query and implore: “Is it possible my function is to hold / All the intricate, interstitial pain / And articulate clarity? / Tie a boat to my wrist, I sprout wings.”

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“Love Lies Bleeding” and the Perils of Genre

By Richard Brody

Some filmmakers use the conventions of genre as guideposts as they lead viewers into strange territory, as Jordan Peele did with horror in “ Get Out .” Others use the same markers to keep viewers on well-worn paths. The British filmmaker Rose Glass’s début feature, “ Saint Maud ,” from 2019—in which a young nurse pursues religious faith to the point of delusion—promised in its early scenes to be a modern classic of fanaticism along the lines of Paul Schrader’s “First Reformed.” But Glass pressed the action into the sensational tropes of horror and left the characters and the subject undeveloped. In her second feature, “Love Lies Bleeding,” she does something similar—but to different effect. The movie, shot from a script by Glass and Weronika Tofilska, is based on a good idea, a battle to reveal the hidden grip of a predatory small-town patriarch, but here, too, Glass’s reliance on genre conventions—in this case, those of neo-noir—prevents her from fully working out the narrative premise. The result is more entertaining this time, though, because Glass fashions the premise into such a clever, brisk, and twisty story.

The focus of “Love Lies Bleeding” is a young woman, Lou ( Kristen Stewart ), who’s stuck in her New Mexico home town. She’s a gym manager with little to manage but much grunt work to do; the film’s first sequence finds her unclogging a toilet with a gloved hand. Lou can’t take her eyes off a new arrival at the gym, a well-muscled woman named Jackie (Katy O’Brian), who works at a gun range. Jackie is a drifter who has hitchhiked to town en route to Las Vegas, where she plans to take part in a bodybuilding competition. She and Lou become lovers the same night they meet and, the next morning, Jackie moves in.

The town’s evil patriarch is Lou’s father, Lou, Sr. (Ed Harris), who owns the gym and the gun range, and also, essentially, the police department. He’s been getting away with murder for years, and when Lou was younger he involved her in his crimes. She loathes him but remains tethered to him, because she must stay in town to help her sister, Beth (Jena Malone), who is trapped in an abusive marriage to a guy named J.J. (Dave Franco). Lou also wants to help Jackie, and offers her a supply of illegal steroid shots to boost her chances in Las Vegas. Jackie quickly bulks up but also develops a severe case of ’roid rage, leading to a terrifying act of vigilante justice. Now Lou must find a way to dispose of evidence. Thanks to Lou, Sr.,’s horrific example, Lou knows what to do, but her father, ever tentacular, gets wind of what’s going on. Fearing that the young lovers will expose his bloody deeds, he lays plans to silence them—and anyone else he thinks may compromise him.

The tale unfolds with wit and dramatic flair. Even on second viewing, with surprises dispelled and spoilers spoiled, the twists hold up, as engrossing to anticipate as they previously were to be jolted by. But this is a movie that gives with one hand and takes away with the other, and as its pleasures mount so, too, does a sense of emptiness. The events onscreen don’t feel so much observed as dispensed, as if the filmmaker’s inspirations peaked at the keyboard. Glass pegs “Love Lies Bleeding” to its genre with splashes of gore, garish light effects, and flamboyantly grotesque idiosyncrasies, such as Lou, Sr.,’s affection for big and exotic insects, and his conspicuously dubious hair style.

Amid the generalized atmosphere of seaminess, the specifics of the main characters’ lives get elided. Lou’s traumatic past is examined only as much as is necessary to establish, in a series of quick flashbacks, her participation in her father’s crimes. The movie, cutting from one plot point to the next, doesn’t give the two women much space or time for the sorts of offhand conversation that can reveal character; they share few confidences and disclose no observations or opinions, no tastes or distastes. What they do share is sexual desire. Their mutual attraction is the movie’s prime force. Most of the sex scenes, while forthright, are conventional, with rounds of writhing and panting, but one of them, rooted in the couple’s explicit talk about pleasure, is unusual and acute. Ultimately, though, desire seems to be all that defines the women’s bond.

The movie’s incuriosity about the characters’ larger ideas and experiences dulls one of its enticing peculiarities. “Love Lies Bleeding” is a period piece, set in 1989, an era evoked from the start by an odd collection of vintage cars, including Lou’s two-tone pickup. People make calls on landlines and pay phones, and a news broadcast reports East Germans facing no opposition as they jubilantly cross over to the West. Yet Lou and Jackie have nothing to say about the events of their time and show little interest in the wider world. The one cultural object in Lou’s apartment is a 1988 book of short stories by Patrick Califia, “ Macho Sluts ,” a pioneering work of lesbian B.D.S.M. literature; it gets more attention from a nosy F.B.I. agent than from Lou or Jackie.

In this regard, “Love Lies Bleeding” is very much a movie of the current moment; it resembles such acclaimed recent releases as “ Past Lives ” and “ All of Us Strangers ” in its presentation of protagonists whose intellectual and cultural lives are portrayed only to the extent that they serve the plot. Today, the labor of movies is increasingly being outsourced—to viewers. Many films are basically kits that require the audience to do the work not merely of interpretation but of characterization, based on a handful of clues. For Lou, these details are her sisterly bond with Beth and her criminal one with the father she hates; as for Jackie, she was adopted at thirteen—a bullied fat kid who therefore learned to fight, and then fled the religious narrowness of her home town in rural Oklahoma. Those specifics frame “Love Lies Bleeding” as a game of cinematic Mad Libs, inviting viewers to fill in the blanks with whatever traits, interests, inclinations, enthusiasms, and backstories they like.

Such blankness is all the stranger because Glass nods to a film that relies on similar material but achieves far more with it—the first-generation noir classic “Bigger Than Life,” from 1956, which has the distinction of being, in effect, a primordial ’roid-rage movie. Directed by Nicholas Ray and based on reporting, in this magazine, by Berton Roueché, the movie stars James Mason as a schoolteacher named Ed who is given a diagnosis of a vascular disease that would likely be fatal were it not for a new “miracle drug,” cortisone. But the medicine has side effects, and Ed experiences grandiose delusions that ultimately make him violent. Ray symbolizes this derangement with startling images, at one point using forced perspective to make Ed appear taller than a school building. Taking a cue from Ray, Glass briefly, ingeniously depicts the steroid-addled Jackie as an actual giant able to grab people as if they were dolls. But where the framework of “Bigger Than Life” is a starting point for surprisingly far-reaching psychological and cultural explorations, the framework of “Love Lies Bleeding” serves as a boundary limiting both character and context.

Although the roles in Glass’s film are not deeply defined, she nonetheless revels in the presence and manner of her actors, whose formidable personalities burst out of the tight bonds of plot to give the film a plausible semblance of life. I first took note of O’Brian’s assertive vigor in the wan Marvel contrivance “ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ” (2023), where she was one of the few authentic elements. And though the part of Jackie is more of a showcase than a genuine challenge, it’s good to see her given more screen time and a greater variety of situations in which to develop her talent. Stewart, of course, has not lacked for leading roles, but “Love Lies Bleeding” does more than spotlight her distinctive artistry; it suggests aspects of her acting that remain untapped. Her star power is atypical: she doesn’t so much fill the screen, the way most charismatic actors do, as bend it to fit her by a force of will so natural that it hardly looks like any effort at all. That’s why her performances appear as casual as they are intense, why her acting seems nearly like not acting.

With this singular style, Stewart dominates “Love Lies Bleeding.” Glass deploys Stewart’s mode of performance as a familiar element, and, instead of becoming the character, the character becomes Stewart. But there’s another, less seen side to Stewart: her virtuosity. In Pablo Larraín’s film “ Spencer ” (2021), she incarnated Princess Diana so completely as to render herself nearly unrecognizable. She hasn’t yet had a role that fuses both sides of her talent, the personality and the creativity, the nature and the inventiveness. Ultimately, the true genre of “Love Lies Bleeding” is a Kristen Stewart movie. That genre, too, is one that the director neither expands nor reinvents. ♦

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7 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

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Writers writing about writers writing: It all gets a little hall-of-mirrors, sure, but that’s literary criticism for you. This week we recommend three books that look back at earlier eras of writing, from Marilynne Robinson’s luminous reflection on the Book of Genesis to Ramie Targoff’s survey of women writing in the 16th and 17th centuries to Tricia Romano’s oral history of The Village Voice.

Also up: an elegy for peasants and their way of life, and, in fiction, an Icelandic novel about an amnesiac, a British novel about a bride-to-be re-evaluating her life choices, and a South Korean story collection that tends toward the otherworldly. Happy reading. — Gregory Cowles

SHAKESPEARE’S SISTERS: How Women Wrote the Renaissance Ramie Targoff

Targoff’s rich excavation of writers of the 16th and early 17th centuries introduces not just four women but their work: fine poetry, ingenious translation, elegant diaries, subversive drama. Targoff brings a historian’s scope and a critic’s eye to her subject, and manages to make the result both enlightening and pleasurable.

“Fascinating. ... Targoff’s intent is to scrape away the layer of literary obscurity from Shakespeare’s sisters and present the pentimento as transcendent survivors. Their work indeed lives on.”

From Tina Brown’s review

Knopf | $33

READING GENESIS Marilynne Robinson

To read the first book of the Bible in Robinson’s company is a thrill. With exacting, benevolent intelligence, the prizewinning author of “Housekeeping,” “Gilead” and other novels (along with several previous works of nonfiction) brings marvelously to life this ancient chronicle of human longing, vice and virtue, and the awed intimations of divinity that inspired it.

“Its power lies in the particular reading it gives us of one of the world’s foundational texts, which is also one of the foundations of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s mind and faith.”

From Francis Spufford’s review

Farrar, Straus & Giroux | $29

PIGLET Lottie Hazell

Two weeks before her wedding, a young woman learns of her betrothed’s betrayal. She decides to proceed as planned — but will she be able to? Hazell’s debut novel is a tantalizing layer cake of horror, romance (sort of) and timely questions about the power of appetite.

“If I owned a bookstore, I’d hand-sell ‘Piglet’ to everyone. … Hazell’s prose is as tart and icy as lemon sorbet; her sentences are whipcord taut, drum tight.”

From Jennifer Weiner’s review

Holt | $27.99

THE FREAKS CAME OUT TO WRITE: The Definitive History of The Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture Tricia Romano

Romano’s oral history of The Village Voice tracks its rise from a local New York paper to a muckraking powerhouse with national influence. Interviews with former staff members, admirers and a killer’s row of cultural critics capture the anarchic, audacious spirit of America’s most important alternative weekly.

“A well-made disco ball of a book — it’s big, discursive, ardent, intellectual and flecked with gossip. … May be the best history of a journalistic enterprise I’ve ever read.”

From Dwight Garner’s review

PublicAffairs | $35

REMEMBERING PEASANTS: A Personal History of a Vanished World Patrick Joyce

Most of the people who have lived on this planet since the invention of agriculture have been what we now call peasants. And yet, as Joyce writes in his sensitive rumination on agricultural laborers, it’s a state of being that’s always been treated with a total lack of respect. While Joyce, a historian, addresses most of Europe in this sweeping study, his investment is particular: In the process, he paints a moving portrait of his own family.

A “moving and sensitive rumination on the historic fate of these earthbound people. … Joyce’s study is an elegy for a way of life, and a way of understanding the world.”

From Fintan O’Toole’s review

Scribner | $30

YOUR ABSENCE IS DARKNESS Jon Kalman Stefansson

An amnesiac pieces together his identity from strangers’ stories in this peripatetic Icelandic novel, translated by Philip Roughton, which unfolds from an awakening in a small rural church into a rich history of a whole community. Stefansson uses the drama and comedy of everyday lives to dive into a broad range of topics: philosophy, music, faith and even the science of earthworms.

“Elemental nature and human tragedy are equally present. … Each story could stand on its own; one of the pleasures of the novel is the slow revelation of their connections.”

From Daniel Mason’s review

Biblioasis | Paperback, $19.95

YOUR UTOPIA: Stories Bora Chung

Chung’s new story collection, translated by Anton Hur, takes readers to otherworldly places and fantastical scenarios — ranging from an immortality research clinic to a version of Earth ravaged by a virus that causes cannibalism — to explore the very real quandaries we face as humans today.

“Chung builds out her stories with imagination, absurdity and a dry sense of humor, all applied with X-Acto knife precision.”

From Alexandra Kleeman’s review

Algonquin Books | Paperback, $18.99

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Tessa Hulls’s “Feeding Ghosts” chronicles how China’s history shaped her family. But first, she had to tackle some basics: Learn history. Learn Chinese. Learn how to draw comics.

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The Ultimate Guide to 35 Popular Book Genres

S tep into any bookstore or library, and you'll find shelves of books organized by popular book genres. Of course, there's a division between fiction (made up) and nonfiction (true) stories, but the categories don't stop there. Understanding what makes each genre distinct can help you stride confidently to the shelf of books you're most likely to enjoy. If your summer reading list is packed with easy, breezy beach reads, you'll probably find plenty to love on the romance shelf as well. And if Stephen King's writing is more your speed? Well, it's to the horror section for you!

As more authors pump out cross-genre books, it can be tricky to track how many genres actually exist. There is no hard, fast number. Some librarians might say there are 14 or 15 genres of books, while some authors might quickly list off a few dozen. What we can say for sure is that book genres evolve just as language and tastes evolve. And one more thing to keep in mind: Age ranges—think middle-grade children's books , young adult and adult—are not genres. A book's genre depends on the style and themes, not the age-appropriateness of the material.

Below, discover 35 popular book genres, along with reading suggestions that include the best books of all time , mystery books , true-crime books , autobiographies , memoirs and more.

Join the free Reader’s Digest Book Club for great reads, monthly discussions, author Q&As and a community of book lovers.

The characters aren't real. The magic, mystery and monsters are made up. And the historical events are a backdrop for the author's imagination. But the adrenaline and excitement you feel while flipping the pages of a fiction book ? Well, that's just a benefit of reading .

Action and adventure

From swashbuckling sea adventures and jungle treks to sports stories and action-packed treasure hunts, the action and adventure book genre beckons readers with tales of derring-do. Of course, many action and adventure novels also cross into other categories. You'll spot action-packed plots in crime dramas, mystery novels, thrillers, science fiction and even fantasy. What makes a book fall into this category is that it keeps moving—think page-turning action in place of character contemplation or lush, evocative descriptions of the setting.

Beach reads

There's no singular definition for the beach read book genre, a class of easy, breezy novels perfect for poolside or seaside reading. So then what makes the perfect beach read? Whether the plot is driven by action or romance, the book should appeal to a broad swathe of readers. It shouldn't be too intellectually involved or require a detailed spreadsheet to understand the medley of characters or turns of events. In short, beach reads are easy and enjoyable stories. Bonus points for vacation-destination settings!

Classic books tend to be old and widely read. They frequently appear on high school English reading lists or college literature syllabi. Love them or hate them, the classics are here to stay. Their universal themes, from forbidden love ( Romeo and Juliet , anyone?) to evolving identity (as in Their Eyes Were Watching God ), have sparked book club discussions for decades. Unfortunately, most novels canonized as classics do not represent the diversity of today's readers. That's why it's important to read across book genres, incorporating both age-old authors and fresh voices into your reading routine.

Dark academia

Fancy a gothic story set in a boarding school or university? What about a novel peopled with academics who study the underworld or have visions of an alternate, darker reality? These are classic dark academia vibes. This genre is marked by dark plot twists against an academic backdrop. Dark academia books tend to fall into other genres as well—fantasy-tinged academic tales or murder in academia, for instance. That's why you may hear people calling dark academia a subgenre rather than a stand-alone genre.

Domestic fiction

Domestic fiction tends to be a realistic (rather than fantastical) portrayal of daily middle-class life. Conflicts are intimate and interpersonal, such as a friendship gone awry or a marriage gone bad. Often, these books are set in the suburbs or contemporary work environments. While these descriptions make the novels sound plodding and ordinary, great domestic fiction is anything but boring. Contemporary writers like Liane Moriarty and Celeste Ng have mastered the art of suspenseful domestic fiction that thrums with moral conundrums, dark secrets and unreliable narrators.

Cold, heartless politicians have overtaken society. Human rights are legally violated. Or maybe humanity's reliance on technology has created an inescapably numbed future. Whatever the specifics, the joys of the past have been stripped from daily life, and the future looks bleak. Welcome to dystopia! Dystopian fiction asks readers to imagine a world in which political structures have gone sideways. It's speculative and scary yet realistic enough to ask the reader, "Could this happen?"

Erotic fiction falls under the broader genre of romance fiction, but don't confuse these books for traditional romance novels or rom-coms. These books stand apart for their mature themes, provocative banter and steamy sex scenes. The erotic book genre could technically include explicit nonfiction too, but most fans of modern erotic romance reach for books with some character development and plot twists. While their subcategory is up for debate, many Colleen Hoover books like  It Ends With Us , have been dubbed "spicy" by #BookTok fans. But probably the most recognizable erotica novel is none other than Fifty Shades of Grey .

According to the Massachusetts College for Liberal Arts, the fairy-tale genre includes magical stories, "usually originating in folklore." Themes include heroism, coming of age and resourcefulness. Often, the hero or heroine ascends from rags to riches or obscurity to fame. Though most well-known fairy tales in the United States have European roots, the fairy-tale genre spans continents and cultures.

Fantasy has long been a popular book genre for readers who crave total escapism. From sword fights to sorcery and dragons to dire wolves, fantasy stories take readers on a journey that illuminates real-world lessons and truths through an entirely speculative setting. Within this sprawling category, you'll find subgenres like high fantasy (think Lord of the Rings ), portal fantasy (like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ), urban fantasy (like American Gods ) and more.

Graphic novel

Nope, graphic novels aren't the same as comic books. While these stories are told in a comic-strip format, they're longer and cover a wider range of book genres than comic books do. Stellar graphic novels include the same essential elements as any good read: dynamic characters, rising and falling action, and a compelling plot. And don't let anyone tell you they're not "real" books—Art Spiegelman's graphic novel Maus , a story about the Holocaust , even won the Pulitzer Prize.

Historical fiction

While historical fiction is constrained by time, the books are hardly stifled by the genre's bounds. Bestselling historical fiction novels span time and place: Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles sets up in ancient Greece. Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing transports readers to 18th-century West Africa. And E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime brings 20th-century New York City to life. Some historical fiction books are also romances. Others are thrillers or mysteries. What defines the genre is that the story uses real places and events as settings and plot points in a fictional story.

The horror genre offers speculative fiction in its most terrifying form. In other words, great horror books are realistic enough to be believable while still packing an adrenaline-surging punch. Bestselling author Stephen King breaks the genre into three subtypes: Gross-out, horror and terror. But you may find tinges of other genres within the mix, like the dark humor that runs through Grady Hendrix's The Final Girl Support Group or the simmering romance found in so many vampire novels . At the end of the day, though, what lands a novel in this category is the ability to scare readers silly.

The growing LGBTQ+ category spans a variety of book genres, from sweet romances to sci-fi thrillers to tender coming-out stories. What sets this genre apart is that a queer author weaves a story about a queer character. These books weren't always the bestsellers they are today. But over time, many LGBTQ+ authors paved the way for others to tell authentic stories from their own perspectives.

Literary fiction

It's common for readers to falsely equate literary fiction with the term literature . But literature includes any and all writing. Literary fiction, on the other hand, includes novels with a heavy emphasis on character development rather than a fast-paced plot. These books often exhibit a distinct writing style and strong social themes, such as grief, friendship and second chances. Not sure if a book qualifies as literary fiction? Look for a badge of honor; literary fiction titles are often award winners.

Magical realism

Magical realism is a book genre that infuses everyday life with fantastical elements. First popularized by Latin American authors , this style of sprinkling a little magic on top of the ordinary has taken the literary world by storm. While some book genres are defined by a single element (romance, for instance), magical realism typically includes three: a realistic setting, a touch of the supernatural (a hero with an uncanny ability to foretell the future, or a quirky aunt with telepathic powers, for instance) and a touch of poetry or literary style. If you're just dipping your toes into this book genre, start with the works of Gabriel García Márquez, a master of the genre.

An unexplained disappearance. Murder in the mansion. A jewel thief on the loose. Welcome to the land of mysteries! Mystery books can feature fun games of cat-and-mouse, sizzling romances between detectives or even old ladies playing the role of amateur sleuth, as is the case in some of the best cozy mysteries . Regardless of the characters or setting, any good mystery includes a crime, a detective-like protagonist and plot twists that eventually lead to a resolution. Most mysteries have witty dialogue, a few red herrings and enough clues to help the reader play an active role in guessing who committed the crime.

From epic love stories to swoonworthy beach flings, romance books tell the story of two people who are attracted to each other and must overcome some sort of obstacle to end up together. And wow, do these books sell! According to the Romance Writers of America, romance accounts for nearly a quarter of fiction books sold in the United States. Who doesn't love a good romantic comedy or enemies-to-lovers tale full of witty banter?

Science fiction

The science fiction book genre explores concepts outside the realm of reality. What if aliens exist? What if one aspect of society—politics, technology, even socioeconomic classes—became grossly exaggerated? How would life change? From space travel and alternate realities to dystopian fiction and time travel (subgenres of sci-fi), these books transport readers to whole new worlds.

Mysteries and thrillers often go hand in hand. But what makes the best thriller books shine are adrenaline-spiking tension, suspense and fast-paced action. Some psychological thrillers start as slow burns, but by the end, they'll have your heart racing and palms sweating as you follow the main characters to the sometimes-bitter end. Also, here is how to read faster to make the most of reading a thriller book.

Time travel

Time travel is a common theme in science fiction, but this subgenre overlaps with other book genres as well. The only requirement for a good time travel yarn is—you guessed it!—a primary character who traverses time in a nonlinear fashion. From Blake Crouch's mind-bending Recursion to Casey McQuiston's romantic comedy One Last Stop , time travel books delight readers with a plot that moves seamlessly from the future to the past.

Women's fiction

Women's fiction can include several book genres. This standard bookstore classification typically contains books written by female authors for women. Of course, men and nonbinary readers can undoubtedly enjoy so-called women's fiction. Women's fiction books frequently include domestic settings riddled with themes of friendship, love and marital strife.

Want to read about real people, real events and real issues? Nonfiction books are just what you're looking for.

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Art and photography

Art and photography books usually feature an artist's work alongside text commentary. The hefty, beautifully printed pages make excellent coffee table books —a thoughtful gift idea for book lovers . If a picture is worth a thousand words, these books are worth their weight in gold!

Autobiography

The distinction between biography and autobiography is easy: While biographies require an author to research someone's life deeply, autobiographies are written by the subject. From politicians to famous actors, the subjects of autobiographies inspire, educate and promote empathy for an experience vastly different from your own. These firsthand glimpses of life on the road less traveled make for powerful reading.

Biographies

Both autobiographies and biographies chronicle the life of an important figure. But biographies offer a peek into the experiences of someone who might not be available to share their own story, whether because they're long gone, not a writer or simply too busy. Of course, this means that biographies might not hold all the answers. They're often used to theorize about a famous person's motivations and relationships.

What makes a great cookbook? Clear instructions and ingredient lists, of course. Some of the best cookbooks also feature artfully plated photos that make you drool and captivating commentary on why each dish matters. Cookbook collectors flock to tomes that offer exciting or inspirational tidbits. From the history of an ingredient to the author's personal memories of a dish, cookbooks are more than just recipes—they're often an introductory guide to cuisines or new cooking techniques.

Also called anthologies, essay collections indeed are a genre of their own. Essays offer writers a chance to speak their truth in prose. Sometimes, an essay describes a scene or event. Other times, it argues a point (say, about race relations in America ) or tries to teach a lesson. While they may have varying lengths and forms, essays are always nonfiction.

How-to guides

One of the most practical genres of books, how-to guides offer exactly what the name implies: actionable plans and instructions for accomplishing a specific task. Some how-to guides offer general overviews of new skills (drawing, photography or sewing, for example). Others provide specialized instructions for readers who want to learn how to use a certain software program or woodworking technique. The best how-to guides include charts, graphs or other visuals to help readers learn as they go.

In the mood to laugh out loud? This is the book genre for you. While some novels incorporate humor, the humor genre includes nonfiction books written by comedians. From hilarious memoirs to sidesplitting anecdotes, top-notch humor books weave social commentary and real-life situations together with a lighthearted perspective.

It's easy to fret over the difference between memoirs and autobiographies. They're both nonfiction books about the author's life, right? Here's an easy way to spot the difference between these book genres: Autobiographies tell the author's whole life story in chronological order, while memoirs cover a collection of memories (often on a theme, such as travel, personal growth or growing up queer). Like autobiographies, excellent memoirs can inspire and educate readers through firsthand accounts from a new perspective.

Narrative nonfiction

The best narrative nonfiction sweeps readers into a story with a fully realized arc. In other words, the book reads more like a novel than an informational article or textbook. Most memoirs are narrative nonfiction, but not all narrative nonfiction comes in memoir form. For proof it spans genres, just look to the book that many say invented the format: Truman Capote's In Cold Blood , a true-crime story that's gripped readers for decades. Some authors of this genre tell their own stories, while others do deep research to tell someone else's story.

Ah, poetry. Does it have to rhyme? Or be separated into stanzas? Not anymore, dear readers! The best poetry evokes emotions. It makes the reader slow down and reflect. This genre tends to highlight the rhythmic or lyrical quality of language, yes, but many modern poets write in free verse rather than sticking to rhymes and meters.

Religion and spirituality

Almost any bookstore has a shelf set aside for the religion and spirituality genre. But which books can you expect to find there? Religion and spirituality includes many nonfiction subgenres. You might find the best books for your zodiac sign , astrology books , new-age guides, faith-based devotionals and more. The only criterion for this genre is that the book is about religion, spirituality or faith-based practice.

The ultimate nonfiction read, self-help books are one of the most practical book genres. Self-help books differ from how-to guides in that they're more about personal development than mastering a specific skill. Whether you're hoping to finesse your finances, develop a growth mindset or foster creativity, there's a self-help book for you.

Also known as "armchair travel," great travel books transport you outside your home. These adventurous tales often inspire future vacations through descriptions of places, people, foods and cultural customs. John Steinbeck, Paul Theroux and Bill Bryson all made a splash in this wanderlust-fueled book genre—but that doesn't mean you can't find new and exciting travel writers to follow. From Kate Harris's cycling trip along the Silk Road to Susan Lewis Solomont's time as an ambassador's wife in Spain, there's a travelogue waiting to whisk you away.

Like an episode of Unsolved Mysteries or 60 Minutes , true-crime books read like thrillers or murder mysteries (or the true-crime documentaries you gobble up like candy). The difference between these and your favorite James Patterson page-turner is that the crimes actually happened. Sometimes, the book ends with a satisfying resolution. Other times, the author simply presents the evidence and leading theories for readers to suss out for themselves.

• Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts : "Fairytales & Folktales"
• Vanderbilt University : "Three Levels of Terror"
• Romance Writers of America : "About the Romance Genre"

The post The Ultimate Guide to 35 Popular Book Genres appeared first on Reader's Digest .

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The book Poor Things is based on is even stranger than the film

Here’s how the Emma Stone movie differs from Alasdair Gray’s brilliant novel

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Poor Things is a pretty odd movie . The film, now available to stream on Hulu, and up for 11 Oscars, fits the expectations for a project from Yorgos Lanthimos, the absurdist director of such curiosities as The Lobster and The Favourite . But the movie isn’t half as odd as the 1992 novel it’s based on, by eccentric Scottish writer and artist Alasdair Gray .

Lanthimos read the book and decided to adapt it as far back as 2010. “Immediately when I read the novel, I felt like I haven’t read anything like it, and especially, I was drawn to the character of Bella Baxter,” Lanthimos told Polygon in an interview in late 2023 . “I just found her a fascinating character and someone that could definitely carry a film.”

Lanthimos met Gray at the time and was impressed by his energy and enthusiasm. (Gray was then in his 70s; he died in 2019.) The author dragged Lanthimos on a speed-walking tour of his native Glasgow, “showing [him] the necropolis, the cemetery, the university, parks, things around his neighborhood, and just talking about the novel and the characters,” Lanthimos recalled. Gray said he had seen Lanthimos’ film Dogtooth and thought it was great, and gave the Poor Things adaptation his blessing.

The movie Lanthimos eventually made is pretty faithful to Gray’s book. The story follows the same lines, and the extraordinary concept — a reclusive Victorian surgeon brings a dead woman back to life by transplanting the brain of her unborn child into her adult body — is straight from the book. That character, Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), is just as startling, spirited, and lovable in the movie as she is on the page. The film echoes many of the book’s themes — free will, sexual liberation, escape from social norms — and screenwriter Tony McNamara finds a tone that is not so far from Gray’s in its mix of mordant humor and warmth, silliness, and seriousness.

But even though Poor Things the movie may seem like a lot, Poor Things the novel is even more. Lanthimos and McNamara made some big changes in their adaptation. Here are some of the ways the book is different.

Poor Things, book vs. movie

Like most of Gray’s books, Poor Things is deeply Scottish. Although Bella goes on a globe-trotting adventure, the book opens and closes in Glasgow, where her creator, Godwin “God” Baxter, lives, eventually with his assistant, Archibald McCandless. Scottish identity, history, and politics are important themes in the book. Lanthimos jettisoned all this by moving the action to a hazily imagined London, although Godwin remains Scottish in Willem Dafoe’s portrayal.

The movie’s phantasmagorical art deco world is quite different from the world of the book, too. With its strange vehicles, architecture, and modes of dress, it feels quite disconnected from our reality. Gray’s book obviously has some outlandish elements too — it is a kind of parody of Victorian Gothic novels — but it takes place in a world, and a history, that are recognizably real.

The Willem Dafoe character

Godwin Baxter is grotesque in the movie, with his scarred face and his brown-bubble belches, but Gray’s Godwin is another level of weird. He is enormously large, with an outsized head and “conical” hands ending in daintily pointed fingers that the other characters find too disturbing to look at. They are also unsettled by his unpleasantly high-pitched, screeching voice. Lanthimos and Dafoe considerably soften this creation, although his essential kindliness and misplaced spirit of scientific inquiry remain. And since he retains his Scottishness, Dafoe’s version of Baxter works as an affecting avatar for Gray himself, the creator of this weird story.

Gray was a lifelong socialist and Scottish nationalist who had great compassion for his characters. Lanthimos tends to avoid overt political statements and study his characters from a distance, as if they were under a microscope. One of the film’s few failures is the moment of Bella’s sociopolitical awakening, when she sees a scene of appalling poverty in Alexandria. Stone sells the moment as hard as she can, but Lanthimos averts his gaze, presenting the supposedly devastating scene as a tiny, blurry tableau at the foot of one of his grand, surreal vistas. In the book, the scene is vivid and personal, and marks the beginning of a more explicit socialist crusade for Bella.

Lanthimos told Polygon that a retreat from the book’s political content was deliberate, and aimed at making the movie more relatable and more focused on Bella’s journey as a woman. “I didn’t find that it could be as much part of the film we were making, which is following her story, that story about a woman — which is a much more universal thing,” he said. “The book is also a huge essay about a lot of political things, and especially about Scotland and its relationship with the rest of the world and so, yes, that aspect couldn’t be an equal part in the film.”

Unreliable narrators

The movie is presented mostly from Bella’s point of view, with occasional cuts back to Godwin and Max McCandles (his renamed apprentice, played by Ramy Youssef) in the London house. The book has a more complex, nested structure. Most of it is narrated by McCandless, with long letters from Bella giving updates on her world tour. But there’s also a framing device in which Gray presents himself as the editor of McCandless’ vanity autobiography; an account of a meeting with Bella, much later in her life; and a refutation of McCandless’ account by Bella herself, who says it is all a morbid invention and “positively stinks.”

In the book, it’s at least a possibility that Bella’s weird origin story is all the invention of her timid husband McCandless, which she frames as an appalling attempt to downplay her achievements and politics in order to boost his own perspective. Or maybe Gray was just making fun of his own overactive imagination and male gaze on this story of feminine empowerment. The film doesn’t have any such ambiguity — although arguably, the fantastical setting puts the whole thing in quotation marks of a different sort.

The Margaret Qualley character

The biggest insertion made by Lanthimos and McNamara — and the one that makes the least sense — is Margaret Qualley as Felicity, a repeat of the Bella experiment by Godwin and Max. It’s unclear why they try to make a new Bella when the first one leaves — possibly they want to make improvements, or they feel deserted and lonely after Bella elopes. Felicity is good for a few sight gags, and Qualley’s timing is spot-on, but the invention of the character significantly cheapens Godwin and Max’s motivations for no real purpose, and Felicity doesn’t actually do anything significant to the story.

Poor Things’ ending, reframed

Lanthimos and McNamara choose to end their version of the story at a happy, if slightly twisted, moment for Bella. After discovering her true identity and meeting her cruel former husband, Alfie Blessington (Christopher Abbott), Bella returns to the late Godwin’s house with a motley found family, including Felicity and Max, and takes up Godwin’s experimental surgery. The movie’s final gag is that she has swapped Blessington’s brain with a goat’s — a just revenge for his abuse of her former self, perhaps, but a cruel use of the dark art that brought her to life that doesn’t ring true for the character.

Through its extended coda and framing devices, the book presents a much more ambivalent account of the rest of Bella’s life. She and Archibald McCandless put their medical skills to better use in the book, serving the people of Glasgow with a women’s clinic and a public health initiative. But McCandless is ineffectual, and Bella’s socialist ideals are eventually thwarted by political reality. She’s last seen as an eccentric old woman whose only patients are dogs. It’s a much sadder end — but, arguably, a less bitter one. Alasdair Gray’s books are many things, but they’re never cruel.

Is Poor Things a good book?

Yes! It’s brilliant, funny, and even more surprising than the film — you should read it. Poor Things may be Lanthimos’ most upbeat movie to date, but the book has a natural warmth the film doesn’t, and a more complex and nuanced perspective on the (very bizarre, occasionally outrageous) material. Like all of Gray’s books, it’s boldly illustrated and painstakingly typeset by the author himself, which makes it a unique reading experience.

Poor Things is probably the best place to start exploring Alasdair Gray, but if you want to go deeper into his work, you’ll find much to reward you in his dystopian, weirdly horny, and just plain weird writing. His first novel, Lanark , a surrealist portrait of Glasgow, took him 30 years to write and may be his masterpiece. If Poor Things got you interested in his unique perspective on sex and sexual politics, you could give 1982, Janine a try. But some of his very best and wildest work is to be found in his short story collections. Unlikely Stories, Mostly will give you a feel for the dizzying scope of his imagination, from apocalyptic sci-fi to the court of an imagined Asian emperor. If you’re ready to commit, the massive, beautiful Every Short Story is a tome that will surprise and delight you for years to come.

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Late Night with the Devil

A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation's living rooms. A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation's living rooms. A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation's living rooms.

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