To write a solid book review, you must be a writer, yourself. Doing book reviews is like doing movie reviews; you must be intimately familiar with the creative process involved. Being a writer gives you the understanding of the internal dynamics of the creative process and writing to be able to write a book review. You must also be familiar with the subject to be able to do an objective book review. Writing a solid book review also means gathering some information on the writer: their education, their life experiences; what other books or articles they've written.

Avoid nastiness and defamatory language. After all, we are all colleagues in a sense. Act like a colleague and give a review that includes constructive criticism-not insults. We are constantly improving ourselves as writer's. I've never stopped improving myself and learning from constructive criticism. Besides, if you 'hatchet' somebody's work, the odds are that they are not going to learn anything and they're going to retreat into a defensive node, especially if they are beginning writers. You don't have to be soft; just the right amount of criticism. Show them where there is room for improvement. You don't have to be soft, either-just avoiding nasty, rhetorical remarks. A strong, non-nasty review will also keep your audience reading your reviews.

In your book review, look at the plot and the characterizations. Do a short synopsis of their story, adding what is good and/or bad in the story. If it's a stellar story, point out in your review to what makes the story so good and appealing to a mass audience. If it's a mix between good and bad, show both points. After all, your job as a reviewer is to enlighten the reading public to what makes a good book.

After all, your work is in the spotlight, too!

Learn more about this author, Todd Daigneault.
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