A critical book review describes what a book is about, analyzes how well the book achieved its purpose, and expresses personal reactions of the reviewer on the quality, meaning and significance of the book.

You are to choose one book from the list distributed in class (and available online via Canvas). There is a maximum of two students per book. You might wish to purchase the book, but this is not a requirement. Many of the books are available in the library (either on campus or from the public library). I also have books in my personal library that I am willing to lend out. Choose a book on a topic that truly interests you. If you are uncertain whether a book is right for you, ask me and I will help you choose.

As you read the book take note of the following:

• The main purpose/theme of the book
  • Sometimes the author states this explicitly, but sometimes it is only implied; a good place to look for this is in the introduction or the preface to the book.
  • You should also flag passages that you feel are illustrative of the purpose
  • Who is the intended audience of this book?

• Author’s expertise and background
  • Make note of the author’s previous works; cultural, academic or political affiliations if given; any corporate affiliations; current occupation.
  • Does the author hold a university degree?
  • What qualifies the author to write the book? Extensive industry experience? A Ph.D.?

• What are the author’s main points?
  • Make note of the main thesis and any individual points

• What types of sources does the author include as evidence for his or her claims? Consider the quality and veracity of these sources. Are they convincing? Do they provide adequate support for the author’s claims?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of this book?
  • Does the author provide excellent examples? Does the author stray from her/his objective? Etc.

• How does this book relate to others on the same (or similar) topic?
  • Is this book unique? Does it add new information? Who would find it most useful?

• Personal experiences you might have had that relate to the subject of the book or any illustrative examples given by the author
  • Your personal experiences might support the author’s contentions, or your experiences might contradict the points being made by the author. Both types of experiences are important.

Consider the following points for criteria to evaluate/judge the book by:

• If the author’s purpose was to argue for a particular solution to a problem, then the reviewer should judge whether the author has defined the problem, identified causes, planned points of attack, provided necessary background information and offered a specific solution.
• If the author was arguing for the relevance of a particular theory, the reviewer should evaluate what kind of theory the author is arguing for, what kind of evidence the author uses to support his or her claims, how valid the evidence seems, how much the book contributes to the knowledge of the field.

A NOTE OF CAUTION: Please do NOT consult online reviews of your chosen book before you have written your review. If you are stuck and do not know how to proceed, come to see me and I will give you suggestions. If you consult other reviews once you are done and would like to add them as additional support, this is acceptable, but you must clearly attribute the ideas to the source of the review and include the full URL.

Critical Book Review Template

The book review should be between 1500 and 2000 words, single-spaced and have 1” margins. You will submit your review online via Course Tools, in either Word or PDF format. The review must be your original work.

1. Cover Page
   1. Title of the book you are reviewing, author’s full name, place of publication: publisher, year of publication.
   2. Student Name
   3. Number of words in your review
   4. Date
   5. Course number
      
      

1. Header
   Include a header with your name and an abbreviated title of the book you are reviewing.
   
   
2. Introduction
   The opening paragraph lets your readers know what the review will say. Include the author and title of the book again, but not the full citation. Include a very brief overview of the contents of the book, and which group of readers would find this book most useful. End the introduction with a concise statement summarizing the contents of your review, including your overall reaction to, and evaluation of, the book.
   
   
3. Background Information
   This section helps place the book in context. Provide what information you know about the author in terms of his or her affiliations and experience and whether you believe that she/he is qualified to write on this subject. Provide a brief overview of the general subject area and discuss any other relevant books on the subject that you are familiar with. If this is the first time you have read a book in this subject, you can discuss how it relates to other areas that you are more familiar with. Explain how this book relates to marketing or business strategy. Indicate external sources, e.g. other books, articles, using APA style in-text citations.
   
   
4. Summary of Main Points
   Summarize the main thesis or purpose of the book, what the author was hoping to achieve. Assume an informed audience; I have read many of the books and am familiar with all of them so you do not have to cover the entire contents of the book. Explain the specific points you feel are most compelling or interesting, and those points you feel are most controversial or worth challenging (stick to description here, you will discuss and evaluate the points in the next section). You may quote or paraphrase key phrases from the author, making sure to indicate this clearly by citing the page number and/or using quotation marks or indenting the quotes.
   
   
5. Evaluation of the Book
   in this section it is important to clearly distinguish your own views from those of the author’s, so be sure to indicate your personal views and evaluations by using the first person and indicate thoughts from the author with page numbers and/or quotation marks (you do not have to provide the full citation). If you are citing sources OTHER than the book you are reviewing, please indicate this using APA style in-text citations. Remember to justify your evaluation with examples, frameworks, models, etc. that were not mentioned by the author. Consider discussing the following points in this section:
   1. How well the book achieved its purpose;
   2. What possibilities are suggested by the book;
   3. What points are most compelling and why;
   4. What the book left out or did not address;
   5. What specific points are not convincing and why;
   6. What personal experience you have had related to the subject.
      
      Conclusion
      This section should tie together issues raised in the review and provide a concise, overall comment on the book.

1. References – Cite external sources referenced in your review, e.g. company websites, journal or newspaper articles, other books, etc. No need to cite the book if you included the full information at the beginning of your review.

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