Book Review Guidelines and
Overview: Your book review should be written in the style of a review found in
Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, which you can find in E-Journals from the SU Library website. Your review should be between 1,000 and 1,500 words.
It should contain the following parts:
Introduction (100-200 words, 15 points)
Synopsis of book (300-400 words, 30 points)
Analysis (500-700 words, 50 points)
Conclusion (100-200 words, 15 points)
References (not included in word count) and appropriate Formatting (10 points)
The Introduction should:
Contain a general description of the topic/problem that the book deals with
Explain why the work is timely and relevant
Draw your reader in so that they want to continue reading your review
The Synopsis should:
Summarize the books argument
Discuss the method(s) used in the book to collect data
Use a short quote from the author, if available, that explains very clearly why the book was written. If a quote isn’t available, you should summarize why you think the book was written
Talk briefly about the author(s). What are their qualifications and expertise?
Discuss the organization of the book, and most significant findings. Remember, this is a work of non-fiction. You arent giving away the ending, there are no spoiler alerts. People read book reviews to decide if reading the entire book is worth their valuable time or not. Help them figure that out.
The Analysis should:
Be the longest section of your review
Identify what you think the greatest strength of the book is. Pick one, and explain it in more detail, using examples from the book.
Pick up to two more minor strengths and explain them
Identify what you think the largest weakness of the book is. Pick one, and explain it in more detail. How might the author(s) have done a better job dealing with the weakness youve described?
Pick up to two more minor weaknesses and explain them.
The Conclusion should:
Wrap up your review by summarizing what you thought of the book
Do you recommend it or not? Who should read the book (who is it for)?
References and Formatting of Text:
The full citation of the book should be at the end of the review, one or two lines below your text.
Any other articles, news stories, etc. that you used in your review should be cited too.
12-point Times New Roman
1-inch margins on all sides
Single-spaced
Free of spelling and grammatical errors
Proofread for clarity, content, and organization