A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit.[1]
A book review may be a primary source, an opinion piece, a summary review, or a scholarly view.[2] Books can be reviewed for printed periodicals, magazines, and newspapers, as school work, or for book websites on the Internet. A book review's length may vary from a single paragraph to a substantial essay. Such a review may evaluate the book based on personal taste. Reviewers may use the occasion of a book review for an extended essay that can be closely or loosely related to the subject of the book, or to promulgate their ideas on the topic of a fiction or non-fiction work.
Some journals are devoted to book reviews, and reviews are indexed in databases such as the Book Review Index and Kirkus Reviews; but many more book reviews can be found in newspaper and scholarly databases such as Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index , and dscipline-specific databases.
Photios I of Constantinople has been called "the inventor of the book review" for his work, Bibliotheca.[3]
Academic reviews are both a form of academic service and a contribution to the academic literature.[4] They are frequently published as a section or part of academic journals.[5] They help the profession understand what has been happening in their profession, and work on the emerging intellectual challenges of their field.[4] However, not all academics are incentivized to take on the work required in a book review, because they are often not rewarded for that work.[4] Book reviews can be used to predict which monographs are likely to have subsequent citations.[5]
In academic criticism, popular book reviews in newspapers and magazine reviews are often used to evaluate the relative audience and impact of books during a period.[7]