"I attempt to write as if I did not care what reviewers said, what peers thought, or what prevailing opinions may be.”
Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) English American author, journalist and literary critic
Just like web pages, book reviews can be written by any one and are found on all types of web sites. Thus it is important to make an effort to determine the authority of the author of book reviews found on the Web. While many good reviews can be found, it is a good idea to avoid those written by customers on a seller's web site, i.e., Amazon or Barnes & Noble. While these reviews may be useful to you personally, they are not always appropriate for research papers. If your assignment requires you to locate book reviews, it is a good idea to check with your instructor about whether a particular review should be used in a scholarly paper.
Books reviews can be found in many of the databases available to registered users of Mount Aloysius College. They can be accessed through the Library web site under the "Articles/Databases" button. ProQuest Central is a good starting point. Do an Advanced Search. Type the title of the book in the search box and choose "Review" from the "Document type" list.
Here are suggestions for just a few websites that provide high quality reviews.
London Review of Books
The online edition of this semi-monthly book review journal from England contains full-text articles and reviews, as well as letters to the editor. Registration (free) required to access the review archive, which contains over 12,000 articles by more than 2000 contributors from the past 30 years.
New York Review of Books
Online edition of the publication Esquire Magazine calls "the premier literary-intellectual magazine in the English language." In addition to selections from the current issue, it has an archive of several hundred articles from past issues.
New York Times Book Review
Includes an archive of thousands of reviews, book-related pieces, bestseller lists, and interviews back to 1981.
Resource Guide from the University of Chicago Library
A general guide to reviews of all types - Books, Film, Music, Theater - this links to the page on book reviews. Suggestions are offered for book review sites for general audiences and scholarly audiences.
Book Review, noun
1. a critical description, evaluation, or analysis of a book, expecially one published in a newspaper or magazine.
2. a section or page of a newspaper or magazine devoted to such material.
(Source: Dictionary.com)
Click on this link for a Sample Book Review.
Current issue on Library newspaper rack
(past six months at Circulation desk)
&
online at New York Review of Books