How to Write a Book Review Purdue Owl

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Writing a Book Report

Summary:

This resource discusses book reports and how to write them.

Volume reports are informative reports that discuss a volume from an objective stance. They are similar to book reviews merely focus more on a summary of the work than an evaluation of it. Book reports normally draw what happens in a piece of work; their focus is primarily on giving an account of the major plot, characters, thesis, and/or main thought of the work. Most oftentimes, book reports are a K-12 assignment and range from 250 to 500 words.

Book reviews are well-nigh often a higher consignment, but they as well announced in many professional person works: magazines, newspapers, and academic journals. If you are looking to write a book review instead of a book report, please see the OWL resources, Writing a Volume Review.

Before You Read

Before you begin to read, consider what types of things you will need to write your book written report. Kickoff, you will demand to get some bones information from the book:

• Writer
• Title
• Publisher location, name of publisher, year published
• Number of Pages

Yous tin either begin your report with some sort of citation, or you can contain some of these items into the written report itself.

Side by side, endeavour to reply the following questions to go you started thinking near the volume:

• Author: Who is the writer? Accept y'all read any other works by this author?
• Genre: What blazon of book is this: fiction, nonfiction, biography, etc.? What types of people would like to read this kind of book? Exercise you typically read these kinds of books? Do you like them?
• Title: What does the title practice for you? Does it spark your interest? Does it fit well with the text of the book?
• Pictures/Volume Jacket/Encompass/Printing: What does the book jacket or volume cover say? Is information technology accurate? Were you excited to read this book because of information technology? Are there pictures? What kinds are there? Are they interesting?

As You Read

While reading a piece of work of fiction, go along rails of the major characters. You lot tin also do the same with biographies. When reading nonfiction works, even so, look for the main ideas and be ready to talk about them.

• Characters: Who are the main characters? What happens to them? Did you similar them? Were there good and bad characters?
• Main Ideas: What is the main idea of the book? What happens? What did you learn that you did not know earlier?
• Quotes: What parts did yous like best? Are in that location parts that you could quote to make your report more enjoyable?

When You Are Set to Write

Announce the book and author. So, summarize what yous have learned from the book. Explain what happens in the volume, and discuss the elements you lot liked, did not similar, would have inverse, or if you would recommend this book to others and why. Consider the post-obit items likewise:

• Principles/characters: What elements did you like best? Which characters did y'all similar all-time and why? How does the author unfold the story or the main idea of the book?
• Organize: Make sure that nigh of your paper summarizes the work. Then you may analyze the characters or themes of the work.
• Your Evaluation: Cull one or a few points to discuss near the book. What worked well for you? How does this work compare with others by the same author or other books in the aforementioned genre? What major themes, motifs, or terms does the volume innovate, and how constructive are they? Did the book appeal to y'all on an emotional or logical style?
• Recommend: Would y'all recommend this book to others? Why? What would you tell them before they read it? What would you talk most after you read it?

Revising/Final Copy

Do a quick double cheque of your newspaper:

• Double-check the spelling of the author name(due south), character names, special terms, and publisher.
• Check the punctuation and grammar slowly.
• Make sure you provide enough summary so that your reader or teacher can tell you read the book.
• Consider adding some interesting quotes from the reading.

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Source: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/book_reports.html

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