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Resources by format

Here are listed guides for finding materials based on their formats.

A book review is an article that is published in a newspaper, magazine, or scholarly work that describes and evaluates a book. Keep in mind while searching for reviews of a book that many books are published each year, only a small fraction of them are reviewed. Reviews are written for different purposes and they will vary in terms of content and depth of evaluation. Since reviews are printed in many different kinds of publications, you may need to search several sources.

Reviews are produced after the publication of a book, so knowing the initial publication date will help refine your search (knowing the exact title and author's name is also necessary). Discovery Search will usually list the publication date of books in our collection. Use WorldCat from OCLC to find publication dates for books not found in Discovery Search. Finding reviews for older books may require using print indexes in addition to recommended databases.

Many sources (online or in print) will only give a citation for the review. Use that citation to track down the complete text of the review.

Reviews differ from literary critiques of books. Critiques explore the style and themes used by an author or genre.

Types of reviews

Summary reviews
Summary reviews are short reviews published in magazines that briefly summarize the content of the book. These are often found in library trade journals that librarians use to make purchasing decisions. These sources can also be searched using the general interest resources listed below. Summary reviews can be found close to the date of publication of the book in question (or possibly shortly before).
Opinion reviews
Opinion reviews give the article's author's opinion about the book. The review will typically include a brief summary of the book, and could include discussion on writing style, audience level and the book author's area of expertise. Opinion reviews are published in newspapers, popular magazines and specialty publications like the New York Times Book Review. These sources can be searched using the Popular Newspapers and Magazines resources listed below. Opinion reviews are typically written soon after the publication date of the book.
Scholarly reviews
Scholarly reviews are written by experts in the field being reviewed. They are typically found in scholarly journals or as book chapters. These reviews will go beyond summarizing the book by evaluating the issues and methods discussed in the book. Use the same resources you would use to find scholarly articles on a topic, such as the databases listed on the Subject guides . Scholarly reviews can appear months or years after the publication of a book.

Book review databases

General interest databases for book reviews

See also the list of newspaper and magazine databases.

Subject specific databases

Many subject-specific databases will include book reviews. Use the Subject guides or Ask a Librarian for recommendations of relevant resources. Many will include the ability to limit search results to book reviews (check the help links if it is not immediately obvious if this is possible).