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Book Review | ‘That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America’ by Amanda Jones

What Happens When an Ordinary Person Suddenly Becomes the Target of a Public Controversy?

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Amanda Jones was born and raised in the small, rural town of Watson in Livingston Parish in southern Louisiana, roughly 20 miles southeast of Baton Rouge. She still lives there with her husband and daughter in a house next door to her parents. Watson is a place of settled rhythms and few surprises, of family, church, and conservative tradition, where residents are very familiar with one another.

Employed for more than two decades as a middle school librarian at the same public school she attended, Jones was named the National Librarian of the Year by the School Library Journal in 2021. She adored her job, her students, and the place she occupied in her community. Her book, That Librarian , is the story of how her life was upended when she ran afoul of a local group called Citizens for a New Louisiana, which sounds benign enough, but is part of a far-right, nationwide ecosystem that targets individuals, books, and institutions it considers too liberal, permissive, and inclusive.

Too woke, in other words.

Apprehensive about threats to the Livingston Public Library system, Jones rose at a library Board of Control meeting on July 19, 2022 and voiced her concern that books by LGBTQIA authors or about reproductive health might be removed. “Once you start relocating and banning one topic, it becomes a slippery slope, and where does it end?” Although nothing in her remarks that evening was inflammatory or more radical than the standard guidance provided by the American Library Association, Jones quickly found herself the target of a fierce and vicious social media campaign. Accused of grooming and pedophilia, of encouraging children to engage in anal sex, Jones was assailed by people she had known for years and considered friends, parents of children she had taught, folks she encountered in the grocery store or the dry cleaners.

That the allegations were false didn’t matter. Amanda’s long record of dedicated public service, deep community ties, and Christian affiliation provided no protection, either. As with the hysterical witch trials of an earlier century, the notion that Amanda Jones was a purveyor of smut took on a life and momentum of its own. She was impure, woke, a danger to precious and impressionable children. Social media carried the story far beyond Livingston Parish.

What happens when an ordinary person suddenly becomes the target of a public controversy? What emotional toll is exacted? Jones experienced such anxiety, depression, and fear that she needed a leave of absence from the job she loved. Her family suffered. She received death threats. Had Jones retreated from public view and gone into hiding it would have been understandable, but she chose to defend her reputation, stand for the principles she believed in, and confront her accusers. While her detractors took the low road, Jones took the more difficult high road, upon which she discovered how much fortitude is required to do the right thing in the face of an organized, well-funded and unscrupulous opposition. 

Along with filing a defamation lawsuit, Jones got busy organizing other librarians across the country, networking, agitating, and defending books and the value of information, free inquiry and libraries as essential institutions that provide a host of vital services, particularly in small communities. That Librarian is a full-throated defense of the freedom to read, to discover, and to think.

“We should ALL want the freedom to read what we want,” Jones writes, “and have access to reading materials from a variety of viewpoints. Protecting our libraries is exactly how we do that. The attack on librarians and libraries is shameful and something everyone should fear.”

This review originally appeared in the California Review of Books .

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Book Review: ‘Swallow the Ghost’ a promising but uneven exploration of memory in internet age

This cover image released by Mulholland shows “Swallow the Ghost” by Eugenie Montague. (Mulholland via AP)

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In many ways, Eugenie Montague’s “Swallow the Ghost” feels like three separate novels. That’s what makes her debut novel so imaginative — and also so frustrating.

The story’s center is Jane Murphy, who works at a New York social media startup on an internet novel that’s become a viral hit through social media posts where elaborate backstories about its characters are formed.

But Murphy’s story and a tragic event are told through three interlocking sections. The first focuses on Jane. The second focuses on Jesse, a former journalist working as an investigator for a law firm. The third focuses on Jeremy, the pretentious, Kafka-quoting novelist and sometimes boyfriend of Jane’s.

The writing style and genre shifts with each section, but Montague’s novel at its heart explores memory in the digital era. It’s a promising concept but feels uneven.

Montague’s novel is filled with beautiful prose that’s hard to forget, and poses intriguing questions about how someone is remembered. The interactions between Jesse and his mother, who he cares for and who has dementia, are some of the most simply heartbreaking moments in the novel.

But there are other portions of the novel that meander, especially the final section of the book that is framed as a transcript of a conversation with Jeremy at a bookstore event. The conversation reveals more about Jane and also about the questions the novel poses, but it also slows down the momentum of the prior section focused on Jesse and the mystery he was investigating.

Though the approach falls short at times, it’s an ambitious one that leaves readers much to think about and introduces Montague as an inventive new voice.

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Ella fox-martens, the promise, by damon galgut, reviewed by ella fox-martens.

Somewhere in apartheid Pretoria, 1985, Rachel Swart, a recently re-converted Jewish woman, dies of cancer. On her deathbed, she feverishly forces her Christian, Afrikaans husband to promise to give the maid, Salome, the house where she already lives. Despite its illegality— Black people could not own property at the time —the conversation is overheard by Rachel’s teenage daughter Amor, who spends the next thirty years attempting to convince her father and two siblings to make good on her mother’s dying wish. 

So goes the setup of Damon Galgut’s Man Booker Award–winning novel The Promise , which is much less about the Swarts, and much more about deconstructing the place where such a story could feasibly be told. “Do you have no idea what country you’re living in?” Amor’s brother asks her. “No,” Galgut answers for us, “she doesn’t … history has not yet trod on her.” By the time The Promise ends in 2018, history will have ground its boot not only on Amor and her family, but the entire nation. Galgut, though– whom I interviewed in 2021 –welcomes the death of the old South Africa, which allows him to consider the central question of what grows out of its ashes.

Each of The Promise ’s four sections centers around the death of a different Swart. They’re also set in defining eras of South African politics, from the State of Emergency to Mandela’s presidency, Mbeki’s inauguration and Jacob Zuma’s eventual resignation. The romp through South Africa’s sordid past is a bizarre one, populated by impossible coincidences and brutal violence, with a chorus of odd supporting characters: a case of snakes, an incestuous priest, a yoga teacher called Mowgli, an evil reptile park salesman. 

The Promise ’s sweeping scope and utilization of quasi-magical realism to evoke the dysfunction of life in postcolonial states renders it closer to Midnight’s Children than Coetzee’s Disgrace . There is a neat strangeness to the proceedings that suggests a fable; Amor herself gets struck by lightning as a child. It’s a risky approach, given that apartheid and its consequences are raw enough for this kind of fictionalization to feel condescending. Yet, from a distance, the last thirty years—with the absurd scandals, dashed hopes, and constant corruption—do seem like a staged tragedy. After all, it was Jane Taylor’s 1998 play Ubu and the Truth Commission , with its puppets and talking crocodile, that emerged as one of the most painful artistic representations of racist violence under apartheid. The decision to open the novel with a Fellini quote is then eminently sensible. Disdaining unflinching realism as a sufficient vehicle for conveying the weight of history, The Promise instead offers a narrative that is only matched in surrealism by the facts themselves. In South Africa, Galgut implies, art can only ever hope to imitate life.

Even more polarizing is Galgut’s knowingly theatrical voice, which is unsurprising given his background as a playwright. Thoughts swirl around on the page, their origins unclear. Rachel’s ghost floats off to evaluate her own dead body before she is swiftly excised on grounds of unimportance. Galgut’s direction is ever-present, intruding upon events to offer moral judgements, or to muddy the waters until objective truth is blurred. “The family has returned,” he writes, “or maybe they have never left.” He picks people up and sets them down again. Perhaps they were in the living room, or the lounge. Amor left on a Tuesday, or a Wednesday, either in the evening or morning. As he notes, whatever actually happens “doesn’t matter.” Galgut implicates the reader with his frequent asides. “Shall we say” and “let us pretend” have the effect of rapping on the glass of an aquarium to startle the fish. The intention that underlies Galgut’s chaotic narration is simple: The reader must never become comfortable enough to forget that this is a story. Galgut’s refusal to allow suspension of disbelief strips the machinations of fiction bare, revealing people as symbols and place as setting—drawing constant attention to the ugly wiring that sustains personal and national propaganda.

What saves The Promise from being an exercise in history is its pitch-black sense of humor. Galgut even manages to force a genuine laugh during a murder scene with his stinging depiction of “South Africa’s finest”—two corrupt and incompetent detectives, one of whom is a little too happy to be examining a body. His ability to eviscerate racist, bourgeois white South Africans is unparalleled:

Astrid huffs audibly. Since she married a rich man, she finds the notion of work distasteful, especially when it’s a job. Running a house and raising a family is bad enough, but that’s why you have servants, to help you. It seems to Astrid that her little sister has chosen the life of a servant instead, and what for? To punish herself?

This is Galgut’s wisest stylistic choice. Without the embrace of satire, The Promise would never work as well as it does. When it comes to apartheid fiction by white writers, earnest sentimentality can reduce an otherwise competent novel into a spectacle of pearl-clutching and exploitation, placing white guilt above Black experience. Galgut never falls into that trap, mostly because he is always aware of his characters as devices. 

Yes, as others have noted , Salome is barely developed—nobody is. As Amor journeys home for the last time, having devoted her life to serving others out of a misguided sense of martyrdom, she proves herself incapable of seeing Salome (or Black people at large) as anything other than the answer to her own problems of conscience. Decades have passed, and Salome is an old woman now. As her son Lukas makes clear, it’s “thirty years too late” to be grateful for anything. Amor’s supposedly noble resolution to keep Rachel’s promise has always been self-serving. Without her guilt, she barely exists. Her peaceful ruminations on her own death sum up Galgut’s core idea elegantly: “Other branches will fill the space,” he writes. “Other stories will write themselves over yours, scratching out every word.” Like a cauterized wound, the Swarts and the South Africa they represent need to die for the new country to decide its own future. With that hope, Galgut ends The Promise on a wistful note as Amor climbs down from the roof, having just scattered her brother’s ashes. She descends towards a fragile blank slate, where the past must be laid to rest in order to survive whatever happens next.

Published on March 17, 2022

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Go Ahead, Put Down That Book

There’s no reason to agonize over the titles you don’t finish.

This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here.

This week, Sophie Vershbow asked English teachers, librarians, writers, and readers when it’s okay not to finish a book . My answer to that question is: almost always, unless you’re writing a review of it; in that case, please read it from cover to cover. You might think that, as a book-review editor, I’d have a completist attitude toward reading. In reality, I tend to drop books early and often.

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My approach to reading is partly due to the fact that, given the number of titles I need to check out every month for my job, I just don’t have time to finish everything I start. But it’s also a philosophical choice, one that’s guided by a view of the written word as something to luxuriate in. “For a lot of people, the act of spending time with literature is more important than finishing any one book,” Vershbow observed. That sentiment resonated with me: Some of my most meaningful reading experiences have involved treating the book more as a work of art to commune with than a task to complete.

I often find that I can prematurely part ways without angst even with a volume I’m thoroughly enjoying; I know that if I’m meant to finish it, I’ll find my way back eventually. Of course, if I want to recommend a book widely or rave about it on the internet, I need to complete it, in case the story takes an unexpected turn or something happens in the last few pages that changes my perspective. The same rule applies if I feel like hating. “Not finishing a story weakens your ability to properly assess it,” Vershbow advises. “It’s fine to abandon a title, but if you do, keep the strong opinions to a minimum.”

Not long ago, one of my colleagues told me about a rule her friend’s mother’s book club follows, and I’ve been sharing it with friends when they admit that they’re struggling through this or that beloved title: Subtract your age from 100, and you’ll end up with the number of pages you need to read before dropping a book. Only 20 years old? You’ll need to read 80 pages before you can move on. But if you’re 90, you need to read only 10. By that age, you’ve earned the right not to spend a second of your time on something that doesn’t bring you joy.

When Is It Okay to Not Finish a Book?

By Sophie Vershbow

How to decide to put down a book—without all the angst

Read the full article.

What to Read

Song of Solomon , by Toni Morrison

Morrison’s 1977 novel—her third, and the one that really established her literary reputation—is centered on Milkman Dead, a young man living in the Midwest and feeling lost and rudderless. Inspired by a family legend about a buried bag of gold, he leaves home and embarks on a classic hero’s journey, though his is set within the cultural frame of the Black American experience. As Milkman moves deeper into the South, reversing his family’s migration, he encounters figures both mythic and prosaic and defends himself against mortal dangers. Gradually, he realizes that he’s searching not for the treasure, but for clues to his own identity. The novel reads a bit like a detective story: Milkman must piece together scraps of nursery rhymes, local folk tales, mysterious place-names, and riddles. In the glorious moment when he finally succeeds, he is freed from his illusions about himself and his history. Morrison’s gorgeous prose makes you want to leap along with him, “as fleet and bright as a lodestar,” into the clear, sweet air of self-knowledge.   — Pamela Newton

From our list: Eight books that will change your perspective

Out Next Week

📚 Christopher Isherwood Inside Out , by Katherine Bucknell

📚 Foreign Agents , by Casey Michel

📚 My Child, the Algorithm , by Hannah Silva

Your Weekend Read

She’s Everything. He’s Just Doug.

By Helen Lewis

The politics of gender—and race—are the inevitable backdrop to this year’s convention. During the honorary roll call on Tuesday night, several delegates mentioned their pride at nominating a woman of color. During the speeches, Shirley Chisholm’s name was regularly invoked, as the first woman and first Black American to seek the presidential nomination from one of the two major parties. In the corridors of the United Center, delegates could buy sugar-pink “Madam President” T-shirts. “Sixty years ago, Fannie Lou Hamer came to this convention in 1964, and was denied entry to sit as a delegate, because she was a Black woman,” the actor Wendell Pierce, who came with the Louisiana delegation, told me on the convention floor. “To think that 60 years later, we just nominated a Black woman to lead the party—that is a tribute to that legacy.”

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The 10 Best Book Reviews of 2021

Merve emre on simone de beauvoir, justin taylor on joy williams, and more.

The older I get, the more I’m interested in critics who play around with form and style. Mixing genres, experimenting with voice and structure, and tapping into personal experience are some of my favorite devices, though I still have a soft spot for the formal limitations of an 800-word newspaper writeup. From longform online essays to crisp perspectives in print, here are my 10 favorite book reviews of 2021.

Brought to you by Book Marks , Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.”

Parul Sehgal on Soyica Diggs Colbert’s Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry ( New York Times )

Sehgal deftly takes on the style of the theatre in her review of a book about Chicago’s greatest playwright, by opening her first paragraph like the first scene in a play.

“The curtain rises on a dim, drab room. An alarm sounds, and a woman wakes. She tries to rouse her sleeping child and husband, calling out: ‘Get up!’ It is the opening scene—and the injunction—of Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun , the story of a Black family living on the South Side of Chicago.”

Merve Emre on Simone de Beauvoir’s The Inseparables (tr. Lauren Elkin) ( The New Yorker )

Emre always helps readers see things in a new way, in this case not just Simone de Beauvoir’s lost novel, but also Simone de Beauvoir herself.

“To read The Inseparables is to learn what could have been, and to judge what was a little more harshly. It is to see in the memoirs a lingering refusal to give Zaza the autonomy that everyone in life seems to have denied her at the greatest possible cost. And it is to see in The Second Sex an inability, or perhaps an unwillingness, to make as affirmative a case as possible for lesbian identity.”

Victoria Chang and Dean Rader on Douglas Kearney’s Sho ( Los Angeles Review of Books )

Reviews-in-dialogue are my new favorite thing. I love how naturalistic and conversational they are, as the form really allows critics to be themselves. Chang and Rader are a joy to read.

“Kearney’s body of work is very much about play with language, yet, that somehow feels like it diminishes the political aspects of his poems and his body of work. Perhaps play itself in Kearney’s work is a political act. I find this tension fascinating because on the one hand, I often get carried away in Kearney’s language (and the conceptual aspects of his work), but I’m also acutely aware of the humanity in his work (or the exploration of anti-humanity). In this way, maybe play and the political are not mutually exclusive. Maybe for Kearney, play = confrontation.”

J. Howard Rosier on Frederick Seidel’s Selected Poems ( Poetry Foundation )

Rosier does a great job bringing paratext to bear on the text itself, in this case interviews and Seidel’s other work.

“For a poet as revered as Seidel, there are scant mentions of turns of phrase being Seidelian, few poetic narratives or structures construed as Seidelesque. Chalk it up to the oddity of a formalist disassociating form from content; Seidel uses form like a hypnotist to mesmerize readers so that they are sedated, or at the very least put at ease, in spite of his content.”

Sheila Liming on Edith Wharton’s Ghosts ( Cleveland Review of Books )

Every editor’s dream assignment is a critic with deep subject matter expertise, and you can’t beat Liming—author of What A Library Means to A Woman: Edith Wharton and the Will to Collect Books —writing about Wharton’s ghost stories.

“Here are ‘fetches’ (ominous doppelgangers) of Celtic superstition, zombie mistresses rising from the grave, and ghost dogs, even. But for each of these paranormal threats there is an equally normal, equally mundane, and equally human villain attached to the story. In this way, Wharton’s Ghosts can be read and interpreted in concert with many of her better-known works, including novels like The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence , which tell stories of everyday human malice.”

Meg Ringer on Jon McGregor’s Lean Fall Stand ( Chicago Review of Books )

Some of the best reviews are the product of a critic who brings personal experience into their analysis of the book at hand. Ringer’s perspective on Lean Fall Stand is full of unique insights and emotional power. (Disclosure: I founded the Chicago Review of Books in 2016, but stepped back from an editorial role in 2019.)

“Though there was a time—before we met, before his diagnosis—when my husband traveled to Antarctica, Robert and Anna’s story is not ours. It is barely even close. But Lean Fall Stand reads like a meditation on the questions we all must someday face: Who am I? What can I stand? Who will be there when I fall?”

Ryan Ruby on Peter Weiss ( The Point )

Speaking of hybrids between personal essays and reviews, Ruby’s experience discovering the work of Weiss during the 2016 election is riveting stuff.

“By creating physical objects that survive their creators and the world in which they were made, the artist helps to manufacture the continuity of our collective experience of historical time, and to the extent that it distinguishes itself, the work of art can become a symbol of that continuity. ‘Imagination lived so long as human beings who resisted lived,’ the narrator writes, but in the end what Weiss demonstrates in The Aesthetic of Resistance is that the converse is also true, and just as important, then as now, for what the imagination always has and always will resist is death.”

Justin Taylor on Joy Williams’ Harrow ( Bookforum )

I love a good delayed lede. In this marvelous example, the title of the book Taylor’s reviewing doesn’t even appear until more than 800 words have passed.

“I drove across the Everglades in May. I had originally planned to take Alligator Alley, but someone tipped me off that, in the twenty years since I left South Florida, the historically wild and lonesome stretch of road had been fully incorporated into I-75, turned into a standard highway corridor with tall concrete walls on both sides, designed to keep the traffic noise in and the alligators out.”

Lauren LeBlanc on Maurice Carlos Ruffin’s The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You ( Los Angeles Times )

Ruffin’s fiction does a lot of interesting things with place, and LeBlanc smartly centers her review on New Orleans, as well as the way Ruffin subverts geographical expectations.

“Several recent story collections (Bryan Washington’s Lot and Dantiel W. Moniz’s Blood Milk Heat spring to mind) present geographies as characters. While Ruffin’s stories can’t help but transport the reader to humid, sunken, decaying New Orleans, it’s too easy to say this book is merely a set of love songs to the city. What makes such collections ring true is the way they subvert conventional knowledge.”

Victor LaValle on James Han Mattson’s Reprieve ( New York Times )

Opening a review with a question can be a powerful way to focus a reader’s attention, as LaValle does here with a compelling lede drawn from his own insights as a horror fiction writer.

“Why do people enjoy being scared? This is a pretty common question for those of us who write horror, or stories tinged with horror, and maybe for those who design roller coasters too. Why do some people take pleasure in terror?”

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17 book review examples to help you write the perfect review.

It’s an exciting time to be a book reviewer. Once confined to print newspapers and journals, reviews now dot many corridors of the Internet — forever helping others discover their next great read. That said, every book reviewer will face a familiar panic: how can you do justice to a great book in just a thousand words?

As you know, the best way to learn how to do something is by immersing yourself in it. Luckily, the Internet (i.e. Goodreads and other review sites , in particular) has made book reviews more accessible than ever — which means that there are a lot of book reviews examples out there for you to view!

In this post, we compiled 17 prototypical book review examples in multiple genres to help you figure out how to write the perfect review . If you want to jump straight to the examples, you can skip the next section. Otherwise, let’s first check out what makes up a good review.

Are you interested in becoming a book reviewer? We recommend you check out Reedsy Discovery , where you can earn money for writing reviews — and are guaranteed people will read your reviews! To register as a book reviewer, sign up here.

Pro-tip : But wait! How are you sure if you should become a book reviewer in the first place? If you're on the fence, or curious about your match with a book reviewing career, take our quick quiz:

Should you become a book reviewer?

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What must a book review contain?

Like all works of art, no two book reviews will be identical. But fear not: there are a few guidelines for any aspiring book reviewer to follow. Most book reviews, for instance, are less than 1,500 words long, with the sweet spot hitting somewhere around the 1,000-word mark. (However, this may vary depending on the platform on which you’re writing, as we’ll see later.)

In addition, all reviews share some universal elements, as shown in our book review templates . These include:

• A review will offer a concise plot summary of the book. 
• A book review will offer an evaluation of the work. 
• A book review will offer a recommendation for the audience. 

If these are the basic ingredients that make up a book review, it’s the tone and style with which the book reviewer writes that brings the extra panache. This will differ from platform to platform, of course. A book review on Goodreads, for instance, will be much more informal and personal than a book review on Kirkus Reviews, as it is catering to a different audience. However, at the end of the day, the goal of all book reviews is to give the audience the tools to determine whether or not they’d like to read the book themselves.

Keeping that in mind, let’s proceed to some book review examples to put all of this in action.

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Book review examples for fiction books

Since story is king in the world of fiction, it probably won’t come as any surprise to learn that a book review for a novel will concentrate on how well the story was told .

That said, book reviews in all genres follow the same basic formula that we discussed earlier. In these examples, you’ll be able to see how book reviewers on different platforms expertly intertwine the plot summary and their personal opinions of the book to produce a clear, informative, and concise review.

Note: Some of the book review examples run very long. If a book review is truncated in this post, we’ve indicated by including a […] at the end, but you can always read the entire review if you click on the link provided.

Examples of literary fiction book reviews

Kirkus Reviews reviews Ralph Ellison’s The Invisible Man :

An extremely powerful story of a young Southern Negro, from his late high school days through three years of college to his life in Harlem.

His early training prepared him for a life of humility before white men, but through injustices- large and small, he came to realize that he was an "invisible man". People saw in him only a reflection of their preconceived ideas of what he was, denied his individuality, and ultimately did not see him at all. This theme, which has implications far beyond the obvious racial parallel, is skillfully handled. The incidents of the story are wholly absorbing. The boy's dismissal from college because of an innocent mistake, his shocked reaction to the anonymity of the North and to Harlem, his nightmare experiences on a one-day job in a paint factory and in the hospital, his lightning success as the Harlem leader of a communistic organization known as the Brotherhood, his involvement in black versus white and black versus black clashes and his disillusion and understanding of his invisibility- all climax naturally in scenes of violence and riot, followed by a retreat which is both literal and figurative. Parts of this experience may have been told before, but never with such freshness, intensity and power.

This is Ellison's first novel, but he has complete control of his story and his style. Watch it.

Lyndsey reviews George Orwell’s 1984 on Goodreads:

YOU. ARE. THE. DEAD. Oh my God. I got the chills so many times toward the end of this book. It completely blew my mind. It managed to surpass my high expectations AND be nothing at all like I expected. Or in Newspeak "Double Plus Good." Let me preface this with an apology. If I sound stunningly inarticulate at times in this review, I can't help it. My mind is completely fried.

This book is like the dystopian Lord of the Rings, with its richly developed culture and economics, not to mention a fully developed language called Newspeak, or rather more of the anti-language, whose purpose is to limit speech and understanding instead of to enhance and expand it. The world-building is so fully fleshed out and spine-tinglingly terrifying that it's almost as if George travelled to such a place, escaped from it, and then just wrote it all down.

I read Fahrenheit 451 over ten years ago in my early teens. At the time, I remember really wanting to read 1984, although I never managed to get my hands on it. I'm almost glad I didn't. Though I would not have admitted it at the time, it would have gone over my head. Or at the very least, I wouldn't have been able to appreciate it fully. […]

The New York Times reviews Lisa Halliday’s Asymmetry :

Three-quarters of the way through Lisa Halliday’s debut novel, “Asymmetry,” a British foreign correspondent named Alistair is spending Christmas on a compound outside of Baghdad. His fellow revelers include cameramen, defense contractors, United Nations employees and aid workers. Someone’s mother has FedExed a HoneyBaked ham from Maine; people are smoking by the swimming pool. It is 2003, just days after Saddam Hussein’s capture, and though the mood is optimistic, Alistair is worrying aloud about the ethics of his chosen profession, wondering if reporting on violence doesn’t indirectly abet violence and questioning why he’d rather be in a combat zone than reading a picture book to his son. But every time he returns to London, he begins to “spin out.” He can’t go home. “You observe what people do with their freedom — what they don’t do — and it’s impossible not to judge them for it,” he says.

The line, embedded unceremoniously in the middle of a page-long paragraph, doubles, like so many others in “Asymmetry,” as literary criticism. Halliday’s novel is so strange and startlingly smart that its mere existence seems like commentary on the state of fiction. One finishes “Asymmetry” for the first or second (or like this reader, third) time and is left wondering what other writers are not doing with their freedom — and, like Alistair, judging them for it.

Despite its title, “Asymmetry” comprises two seemingly unrelated sections of equal length, appended by a slim and quietly shocking coda. Halliday’s prose is clean and lean, almost reportorial in the style of W. G. Sebald, and like the murmurings of a shy person at a cocktail party, often comic only in single clauses. It’s a first novel that reads like the work of an author who has published many books over many years. […]

Emily W. Thompson reviews Michael Doane's The Crossing on Reedsy Discovery :

In Doane’s debut novel, a young man embarks on a journey of self-discovery with surprising results.

An unnamed protagonist (The Narrator) is dealing with heartbreak. His love, determined to see the world, sets out for Portland, Oregon. But he’s a small-town boy who hasn’t traveled much. So, the Narrator mourns her loss and hides from life, throwing himself into rehabbing an old motorcycle. Until one day, he takes a leap; he packs his bike and a few belongings and heads out to find the Girl.

Following in the footsteps of Jack Kerouac and William Least Heat-Moon, Doane offers a coming of age story about a man finding himself on the backroads of America. Doane’s a gifted writer with fluid prose and insightful observations, using The Narrator’s personal interactions to illuminate the diversity of the United States.

The Narrator initially sticks to the highways, trying to make it to the West Coast as quickly as possible. But a hitchhiker named Duke convinces him to get off the beaten path and enjoy the ride. “There’s not a place that’s like any other,” [39] Dukes contends, and The Narrator realizes he’s right. Suddenly, the trip is about the journey, not just the destination. The Narrator ditches his truck and traverses the deserts and mountains on his bike. He destroys his phone, cutting off ties with his past and living only in the moment.

As he crosses the country, The Narrator connects with several unique personalities whose experiences and views deeply impact his own. Duke, the complicated cowboy and drifter, who opens The Narrator’s eyes to a larger world. Zooey, the waitress in Colorado who opens his heart and reminds him that love can be found in this big world. And Rosie, The Narrator’s sweet landlady in Portland, who helps piece him back together both physically and emotionally.

This supporting cast of characters is excellent. Duke, in particular, is wonderfully nuanced and complicated. He’s a throwback to another time, a man without a cell phone who reads Sartre and sleeps under the stars. Yet he’s also a grifter with a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” attitude that harms those around him. It’s fascinating to watch The Narrator wrestle with Duke’s behavior, trying to determine which to model and which to discard.

Doane creates a relatable protagonist in The Narrator, whose personal growth doesn’t erase his faults. His willingness to hit the road with few resources is admirable, and he’s prescient enough to recognize the jealousy of those who cannot or will not take the leap. His encounters with new foods, places, and people broaden his horizons. Yet his immaturity and selfishness persist. He tells Rosie she’s been a good mother to him but chooses to ignore the continuing concern from his own parents as he effectively disappears from his old life.

Despite his flaws, it’s a pleasure to accompany The Narrator on his physical and emotional journey. The unexpected ending is a fitting denouement to an epic and memorable road trip.

The Book Smugglers review Anissa Gray’s The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls :

I am still dipping my toes into the literally fiction pool, finding what works for me and what doesn’t. Books like The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray are definitely my cup of tea.

Althea and Proctor Cochran had been pillars of their economically disadvantaged community for years – with their local restaurant/small market and their charity drives. Until they are found guilty of fraud for stealing and keeping most of the money they raised and sent to jail. Now disgraced, their entire family is suffering the consequences, specially their twin teenage daughters Baby Vi and Kim.  To complicate matters even more: Kim was actually the one to call the police on her parents after yet another fight with her mother. […]

Examples of children’s and YA fiction book reviews

The Book Hookup reviews Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give :

♥ Quick Thoughts and Rating: 5 stars! I can’t imagine how challenging it would be to tackle the voice of a movement like Black Lives Matter, but I do know that Thomas did it with a finesse only a talented author like herself possibly could. With an unapologetically realistic delivery packed with emotion, The Hate U Give is a crucially important portrayal of the difficulties minorities face in our country every single day. I have no doubt that this book will be met with resistance by some (possibly many) and slapped with a “controversial” label, but if you’ve ever wondered what it was like to walk in a POC’s shoes, then I feel like this is an unflinchingly honest place to start.

In Angie Thomas’s debut novel, Starr Carter bursts on to the YA scene with both heart-wrecking and heartwarming sincerity. This author is definitely one to watch.

♥ Review: The hype around this book has been unquestionable and, admittedly, that made me both eager to get my hands on it and terrified to read it. I mean, what if I was to be the one person that didn’t love it as much as others? (That seems silly now because of how truly mesmerizing THUG was in the most heartbreakingly realistic way.) However, with the relevancy of its summary in regards to the unjust predicaments POC currently face in the US, I knew this one was a must-read, so I was ready to set my fears aside and dive in. That said, I had an altogether more personal, ulterior motive for wanting to read this book. […]

The New York Times reviews Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood :

Alice Crewe (a last name she’s chosen for herself) is a fairy tale legacy: the granddaughter of Althea Proserpine, author of a collection of dark-as-night fairy tales called “Tales From the Hinterland.” The book has a cult following, and though Alice has never met her grandmother, she’s learned a little about her through internet research. She hasn’t read the stories, because her mother, Ella Proserpine, forbids it.

Alice and Ella have moved from place to place in an attempt to avoid the “bad luck” that seems to follow them. Weird things have happened. As a child, Alice was kidnapped by a man who took her on a road trip to find her grandmother; he was stopped by the police before they did so. When at 17 she sees that man again, unchanged despite the years, Alice panics. Then Ella goes missing, and Alice turns to Ellery Finch, a schoolmate who’s an Althea Proserpine superfan, for help in tracking down her mother. Not only has Finch read every fairy tale in the collection, but handily, he remembers them, sharing them with Alice as they journey to the mysterious Hazel Wood, the estate of her now-dead grandmother, where they hope to find Ella.

“The Hazel Wood” starts out strange and gets stranger, in the best way possible. (The fairy stories Finch relays, which Albert includes as their own chapters, are as creepy and evocative as you’d hope.) Albert seamlessly combines contemporary realism with fantasy, blurring the edges in a way that highlights that place where stories and real life convene, where magic contains truth and the world as it appears is false, where just about anything can happen, particularly in the pages of a very good book. It’s a captivating debut. […]

James reviews Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight, Moon on Goodreads:

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown is one of the books that followers of my blog voted as a must-read for our Children's Book August 2018 Readathon. Come check it out and join the next few weeks!

This picture book was such a delight. I hadn't remembered reading it when I was a child, but it might have been read to me... either way, it was like a whole new experience! It's always so difficult to convince a child to fall asleep at night. I don't have kids, but I do have a 5-month-old puppy who whines for 5 minutes every night when he goes in his cage/crate (hopefully he'll be fully housebroken soon so he can roam around when he wants). I can only imagine! I babysat a lot as a teenager and I have tons of younger cousins, nieces, and nephews, so I've been through it before, too. This was a believable experience, and it really helps show kids how to relax and just let go when it's time to sleep.

The bunny's are adorable. The rhymes are exquisite. I found it pretty fun, but possibly a little dated given many of those things aren't normal routines anymore. But the lessons to take from it are still powerful. Loved it! I want to sample some more books by this fine author and her illustrators.

Publishers Weekly reviews Elizabeth Lilly’s Geraldine :

This funny, thoroughly accomplished debut opens with two words: “I’m moving.” They’re spoken by the title character while she swoons across her family’s ottoman, and because Geraldine is a giraffe, her full-on melancholy mode is quite a spectacle. But while Geraldine may be a drama queen (even her mother says so), it won’t take readers long to warm up to her. The move takes Geraldine from Giraffe City, where everyone is like her, to a new school, where everyone else is human. Suddenly, the former extrovert becomes “That Giraffe Girl,” and all she wants to do is hide, which is pretty much impossible. “Even my voice tries to hide,” she says, in the book’s most poignant moment. “It’s gotten quiet and whispery.” Then she meets Cassie, who, though human, is also an outlier (“I’m that girl who wears glasses and likes MATH and always organizes her food”), and things begin to look up.

Lilly’s watercolor-and-ink drawings are as vividly comic and emotionally astute as her writing; just when readers think there are no more ways for Geraldine to contort her long neck, this highly promising talent comes up with something new.

Examples of genre fiction book reviews

Karlyn P reviews Nora Roberts’ Dark Witch , a paranormal romance novel , on Goodreads:

4 stars. Great world-building, weak romance, but still worth the read.

I hesitate to describe this book as a 'romance' novel simply because the book spent little time actually exploring the romance between Iona and Boyle. Sure, there IS a romance in this novel. Sprinkled throughout the book are a few scenes where Iona and Boyle meet, chat, wink at each, flirt some more, sleep together, have a misunderstanding, make up, and then profess their undying love. Very formulaic stuff, and all woven around the more important parts of this book.

The meat of this book is far more focused on the story of the Dark witch and her magically-gifted descendants living in Ireland. Despite being weak on the romance, I really enjoyed it. I think the book is probably better for it, because the romance itself was pretty lackluster stuff.

I absolutely plan to stick with this series as I enjoyed the world building, loved the Ireland setting, and was intrigued by all of the secondary characters. However, If you read Nora Roberts strictly for the romance scenes, this one might disappoint. But if you enjoy a solid background story with some dark magic and prophesies, you might enjoy it as much as I did.

I listened to this one on audio, and felt the narration was excellent.

Emily May reviews R.F. Kuang’s The Poppy Wars , an epic fantasy novel , on Goodreads:

“But I warn you, little warrior. The price of power is pain.”

Holy hell, what did I just read??

➽ A fantasy military school

➽ A rich world based on modern Chinese history

➽ Shamans and gods

➽ Detailed characterization leading to unforgettable characters

➽ Adorable, opium-smoking mentors

That's a basic list, but this book is all of that and SO MUCH MORE. I know 100% that The Poppy War will be one of my best reads of 2018.

Isn't it just so great when you find one of those books that completely drags you in, makes you fall in love with the characters, and demands that you sit on the edge of your seat for every horrific, nail-biting moment of it? This is one of those books for me. And I must issue a serious content warning: this book explores some very dark themes. Proceed with caution (or not at all) if you are particularly sensitive to scenes of war, drug use and addiction, genocide, racism, sexism, ableism, self-harm, torture, and rape (off-page but extremely horrific).

Because, despite the fairly innocuous first 200 pages, the title speaks the truth: this is a book about war. All of its horrors and atrocities. It is not sugar-coated, and it is often graphic. The "poppy" aspect refers to opium, which is a big part of this book. It is a fantasy, but the book draws inspiration from the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Rape of Nanking.

Crime Fiction Lover reviews Jessica Barry’s Freefall , a crime novel:

In some crime novels, the wrongdoing hits you between the eyes from page one. With others it’s a more subtle process, and that’s OK too. So where does Freefall fit into the sliding scale?

In truth, it’s not clear. This is a novel with a thrilling concept at its core. A woman survives plane crash, then runs for her life. However, it is the subtleties at play that will draw you in like a spider beckoning to an unwitting fly.

Like the heroine in Sharon Bolton’s Dead Woman Walking, Allison is lucky to be alive. She was the only passenger in a private plane, belonging to her fiancé, Ben, who was piloting the expensive aircraft, when it came down in woodlands in the Colorado Rockies. Ally is also the only survivor, but rather than sitting back and waiting for rescue, she is soon pulling together items that may help her survive a little longer – first aid kit, energy bars, warm clothes, trainers – before fleeing the scene. If you’re hearing the faint sound of alarm bells ringing, get used to it. There’s much, much more to learn about Ally before this tale is over.

Kirkus Reviews reviews Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One , a science-fiction novel :

Video-game players embrace the quest of a lifetime in a virtual world; screenwriter Cline’s first novel is old wine in new bottles.

The real world, in 2045, is the usual dystopian horror story. So who can blame Wade, our narrator, if he spends most of his time in a virtual world? The 18-year-old, orphaned at 11, has no friends in his vertical trailer park in Oklahoma City, while the OASIS has captivating bells and whistles, and it’s free. Its creator, the legendary billionaire James Halliday, left a curious will. He had devised an elaborate online game, a hunt for a hidden Easter egg. The finder would inherit his estate. Old-fashioned riddles lead to three keys and three gates. Wade, or rather his avatar Parzival, is the first gunter (egg-hunter) to win the Copper Key, first of three.

Halliday was obsessed with the pop culture of the 1980s, primarily the arcade games, so the novel is as much retro as futurist. Parzival’s great strength is that he has absorbed all Halliday’s obsessions; he knows by heart three essential movies, crossing the line from geek to freak. His most formidable competitors are the Sixers, contract gunters working for the evil conglomerate IOI, whose goal is to acquire the OASIS. Cline’s narrative is straightforward but loaded with exposition. It takes a while to reach a scene that crackles with excitement: the meeting between Parzival (now world famous as the lead contender) and Sorrento, the head of IOI. The latter tries to recruit Parzival; when he fails, he issues and executes a death threat. Wade’s trailer is demolished, his relatives killed; luckily Wade was not at home. Too bad this is the dramatic high point. Parzival threads his way between more ’80s games and movies to gain the other keys; it’s clever but not exciting. Even a romance with another avatar and the ultimate “epic throwdown” fail to stir the blood.

Too much puzzle-solving, not enough suspense.

Book review examples for non-fiction books

Nonfiction books are generally written to inform readers about a certain topic. As such, the focus of a nonfiction book review will be on the clarity and effectiveness of this communication . In carrying this out, a book review may analyze the author’s source materials and assess the thesis in order to determine whether or not the book meets expectations.

Again, we’ve included abbreviated versions of long reviews here, so feel free to click on the link to read the entire piece!

The Washington Post reviews David Grann’s Killers of the Flower Moon :

The arc of David Grann’s career reminds one of a software whiz-kid or a latest-thing talk-show host — certainly not an investigative reporter, even if he is one of the best in the business. The newly released movie of his first book, “The Lost City of Z,” is generating all kinds of Oscar talk, and now comes the release of his second book, “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI,” the film rights to which have already been sold for $5 million in what one industry journal called the “biggest and wildest book rights auction in memory.”

Grann deserves the attention. He’s canny about the stories he chases, he’s willing to go anywhere to chase them, and he’s a maestro in his ability to parcel out information at just the right clip: a hint here, a shading of meaning there, a smartly paced buildup of multiple possibilities followed by an inevitable reversal of readerly expectations or, in some cases, by a thrilling and dislocating pull of the entire narrative rug.

All of these strengths are on display in “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Around the turn of the 20th century, oil was discovered underneath Osage lands in the Oklahoma Territory, lands that were soon to become part of the state of Oklahoma. Through foresight and legal maneuvering, the Osage found a way to permanently attach that oil to themselves and shield it from the prying hands of white interlopers; this mechanism was known as “headrights,” which forbade the outright sale of oil rights and granted each full member of the tribe — and, supposedly, no one else — a share in the proceeds from any lease arrangement. For a while, the fail-safes did their job, and the Osage got rich — diamond-ring and chauffeured-car and imported-French-fashion rich — following which quite a large group of white men started to work like devils to separate the Osage from their money. And soon enough, and predictably enough, this work involved murder. Here in Jazz Age America’s most isolated of locales, dozens or even hundreds of Osage in possession of great fortunes — and of the potential for even greater fortunes in the future — were dispatched by poison, by gunshot and by dynamite. […]

Stacked Books reviews Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers :

I’ve heard a lot of great things about Malcolm Gladwell’s writing. Friends and co-workers tell me that his subjects are interesting and his writing style is easy to follow without talking down to the reader. I wasn’t disappointed with Outliers. In it, Gladwell tackles the subject of success – how people obtain it and what contributes to extraordinary success as opposed to everyday success.

The thesis – that our success depends much more on circumstances out of our control than any effort we put forth – isn’t exactly revolutionary. Most of us know it to be true. However, I don’t think I’m lying when I say that most of us also believe that we if we just try that much harder and develop our talent that much further, it will be enough to become wildly successful, despite bad or just mediocre beginnings. Not so, says Gladwell.

Most of the evidence Gladwell gives us is anecdotal, which is my favorite kind to read. I can’t really speak to how scientifically valid it is, but it sure makes for engrossing listening. For example, did you know that successful hockey players are almost all born in January, February, or March? Kids born during these months are older than the others kids when they start playing in the youth leagues, which means they’re already better at the game (because they’re bigger). Thus, they get more play time, which means their skill increases at a faster rate, and it compounds as time goes by. Within a few years, they’re much, much better than the kids born just a few months later in the year. Basically, these kids’ birthdates are a huge factor in their success as adults – and it’s nothing they can do anything about. If anyone could make hockey interesting to a Texan who only grudgingly admits the sport even exists, it’s Gladwell. […]

Quill and Quire reviews Rick Prashaw’s Soar, Adam, Soar :

Ten years ago, I read a book called Almost Perfect. The young-adult novel by Brian Katcher won some awards and was held up as a powerful, nuanced portrayal of a young trans person. But the reality did not live up to the book’s billing. Instead, it turned out to be a one-dimensional and highly fetishized portrait of a trans person’s life, one that was nevertheless repeatedly dubbed “realistic” and “affecting” by non-transgender readers possessing only a vague, mass-market understanding of trans experiences.

In the intervening decade, trans narratives have emerged further into the literary spotlight, but those authored by trans people ourselves – and by trans men in particular – have seemed to fall under the shadow of cisgender sensationalized imaginings. Two current Canadian releases – Soar, Adam, Soar and This One Looks Like a Boy – provide a pointed object lesson into why trans-authored work about transgender experiences remains critical.

To be fair, Soar, Adam, Soar isn’t just a story about a trans man. It’s also a story about epilepsy, the medical establishment, and coming of age as seen through a grieving father’s eyes. Adam, Prashaw’s trans son, died unexpectedly at age 22. Woven through the elder Prashaw’s narrative are excerpts from Adam’s social media posts, giving us glimpses into the young man’s interior life as he traverses his late teens and early 20s. […]

Book Geeks reviews Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love :

WRITING STYLE: 3.5/5

SUBJECT: 4/5

CANDIDNESS: 4.5/5

RELEVANCE: 3.5/5

ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 3.5/5

“Eat Pray Love” is so popular that it is almost impossible to not read it. Having felt ashamed many times on my not having read this book, I quietly ordered the book (before I saw the movie) from amazon.in and sat down to read it. I don’t remember what I expected it to be – maybe more like a chick lit thing but it turned out quite different. The book is a real story and is a short journal from the time when its writer went travelling to three different countries in pursuit of three different things – Italy (Pleasure), India (Spirituality), Bali (Balance) and this is what corresponds to the book’s name – EAT (in Italy), PRAY (in India) and LOVE (in Bali, Indonesia). These are also the three Is – ITALY, INDIA, INDONESIA.

Though she had everything a middle-aged American woman can aspire for – MONEY, CAREER, FRIENDS, HUSBAND; Elizabeth was not happy in her life, she wasn’t happy in her marriage. Having suffered a terrible divorce and terrible breakup soon after, Elizabeth was shattered. She didn’t know where to go and what to do – all she knew was that she wanted to run away. So she set out on a weird adventure – she will go to three countries in a year and see if she can find out what she was looking for in life. This book is about that life changing journey that she takes for one whole year. […]

Emily May reviews Michelle Obama’s Becoming on Goodreads:

Look, I'm not a happy crier. I might cry at songs about leaving and missing someone; I might cry at books where things don't work out; I might cry at movies where someone dies. I've just never really understood why people get all choked up over happy, inspirational things. But Michelle Obama's kindness and empathy changed that. This book had me in tears for all the right reasons.

This is not really a book about politics, though political experiences obviously do come into it. It's a shame that some will dismiss this book because of a difference in political opinion, when it is really about a woman's life. About growing up poor and black on the South Side of Chicago; about getting married and struggling to maintain that marriage; about motherhood; about being thrown into an amazing and terrifying position.

I hate words like "inspirational" because they've become so overdone and cheesy, but I just have to say it-- Michelle Obama is an inspiration. I had the privilege of seeing her speak at The Forum in Inglewood, and she is one of the warmest, funniest, smartest, down-to-earth people I have ever seen in this world.

And yes, I know we present what we want the world to see, but I truly do think it's genuine. I think she is someone who really cares about people - especially kids - and wants to give them better lives and opportunities.

She's obviously intelligent, but she also doesn't gussy up her words. She talks straight, with an openness and honesty rarely seen. She's been one of the most powerful women in the world, she's been a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School, she's had her own successful career, and yet she has remained throughout that same girl - Michelle Robinson - from a working class family in Chicago.

I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't benefit from reading this book.

Hopefully, this post has given you a better idea of how to write a book review. You might be wondering how to put all of this knowledge into action now! Many book reviewers start out by setting up a book blog. If you don’t have time to research the intricacies of HTML, check out Reedsy Discovery — where you can read indie books for free and review them without going through the hassle of creating a blog. To register as a book reviewer , go here .

And if you’d like to see even more book review examples, simply go to this directory of book review blogs and click on any one of them to see a wealth of good book reviews. Beyond that, it's up to you to pick up a book and pen — and start reviewing!

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How to Write a Book Review: A Comprehensive Tutorial With Examples

You don’t need to be a literary expert to craft captivating book reviews. With one in every three readers selecting books based on insightful reviews, your opinions can guide fellow bibliophiles toward their next literary adventure.

Learning how to write a book review will not only help you excel at your assigned tasks, but you’ll also contribute valuable insights to the book-loving community and turn your passion into a professional pursuit.

In this comprehensive guide,  PaperPerk  will walk you through a few simple steps to master the art of writing book reviews so you can confidently embark on this rewarding journey.

What is a Book Review?

A book review is a critical evaluation of a book, offering insights into its content, quality, and impact. It helps readers make informed decisions about whether to read the book.

Writing a book review as an assignment benefits students in multiple ways. Firstly, it teaches them how to write a book review by developing their analytical skills as they evaluate the content, themes, and writing style .

Secondly, it enhances their ability to express opinions and provide constructive criticism. Additionally, book review assignments expose students to various publications and genres, broadening their knowledge.

Furthermore, these tasks foster essential skills for academic success, like critical thinking and the ability to synthesize information. By now, we’re sure you want to learn how to write a book review, so let’s look at the book review template first.

Table of Contents

Book Review Template

How to Write a Book Review- A Step-by-Step Guide

Check out these 5 straightforward steps for composing the best book review.

Step 1: Planning Your Book Review – The Art of Getting Started

You’ve decided to take the plunge and share your thoughts on a book that has captivated (or perhaps disappointed) you. Before you start book reviewing, let’s take a step back and plan your approach. Knowing how to write a book review that’s both informative and engaging is an art in itself.

Choosing Your Literature

First things first, pick the book you want to review. This might seem like a no-brainer, but selecting a book that genuinely interests you will make the review process more enjoyable and your insights more authentic.

Crafting the Master Plan

Next, create an  outline  that covers all the essential points you want to discuss in your review. This will serve as the roadmap for your writing journey.

The Devil is in the Details

As you read, note any information that stands out, whether it overwhelms, underwhelms, or simply intrigues you. Pay attention to:

• The characters and their development
• The plot and its intricacies
• Any themes, symbols, or motifs you find noteworthy

Remember to reserve a body paragraph for each point you want to discuss.

The Key Questions to Ponder

When planning your book review, consider the following questions:

• What’s the plot (if any)? Understanding the driving force behind the book will help you craft a more effective review.
• Is the plot interesting? Did the book hold your attention and keep you turning the pages?
• Are the writing techniques effective? Does the author’s style captivate you, making you want to read (or reread) the text?
• Are the characters or the information believable? Do the characters/plot/information feel real, and can you relate to them?
• Would you recommend the book to anyone? Consider if the book is worthy of being recommended, whether to impress someone or to support a point in a literature class.
• What could be improved? Always keep an eye out for areas that could be improved. Providing constructive criticism can enhance the quality of literature.

Step 2 – Crafting the Perfect Introduction to Write a Book Review

In this second step of “how to write a book review,” we’re focusing on the art of creating a powerful opening that will hook your audience and set the stage for your analysis.

Identify Your Book and Author

Begin by mentioning the book you’ve chosen, including its  title  and the author’s name. This informs your readers and establishes the subject of your review.

Ponder the Title

Next, discuss the mental images or emotions the book’s title evokes in your mind . This helps your readers understand your initial feelings and expectations before diving into the book.

Judge the Book by Its Cover (Just a Little)

Take a moment to talk about the book’s cover. Did it intrigue you? Did it hint at what to expect from the story or the author’s writing style? Sharing your thoughts on the cover can offer a unique perspective on how the book presents itself to potential readers.

Present Your Thesis

Now it’s time to introduce your thesis. This statement should be a concise and insightful summary of your opinion of the book. For example:

“Normal People” by Sally Rooney is a captivating portrayal of the complexities of human relationships, exploring themes of love, class, and self-discovery with exceptional depth and authenticity.

Ensure that your thesis is relevant to the points or quotes you plan to discuss throughout your review.

Incorporating these elements into your introduction will create a strong foundation for your book review. Your readers will be eager to learn more about your thoughts and insights on the book, setting the stage for a compelling and thought-provoking analysis.

How to Write a Book Review: Step 3 – Building Brilliant Body Paragraphs

You’ve planned your review and written an attention-grabbing introduction. Now it’s time for the main event: crafting the body paragraphs of your book review. In this step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the art of constructing engaging and insightful body paragraphs that will keep your readers hooked.

Summarize Without Spoilers

Begin by summarizing a specific section of the book, not revealing any major plot twists or spoilers. Your goal is to give your readers a taste of the story without ruining surprises.

Support Your Viewpoint with Quotes

Next, choose three quotes from the book that support your viewpoint or opinion. These quotes should be relevant to the section you’re summarizing and help illustrate your thoughts on the book.

Analyze the Quotes

Write a summary of each quote in your own words, explaining how it made you feel or what it led you to think about the book or the author’s writing. This analysis should provide insight into your perspective and demonstrate your understanding of the text.

Structure Your Body Paragraphs

Dedicate one body paragraph to each quote, ensuring your writing is well-connected, coherent, and easy to understand.

For example:

• In  Jane Eyre , Charlotte Brontë writes, “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me.” This powerful statement highlights Jane’s fierce independence and refusal to be trapped by societal expectations.
• In  Normal People , Sally Rooney explores the complexities of love and friendship when she writes, “It was culture as class performance, literature fetishized for its ability to take educated people on false emotional journeys.” This quote reveals the author’s astute observations on the role of culture and class in shaping personal relationships.
• In  Wuthering Heights , Emily Brontë captures the tumultuous nature of love with the quote, “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” This poignant line emphasizes the deep, unbreakable bond between the story’s central characters.

By following these guidelines, you’ll create body paragraphs that are both captivating and insightful, enhancing your book review and providing your readers with a deeper understanding of the literary work. 

How to Write a Book Review: Step 4 – Crafting a Captivating Conclusion

You’ve navigated through planning, introductions, and body paragraphs with finesse. Now it’s time to wrap up your book review with a  conclusion that leaves a lasting impression . In this final step of “How to write a Book Review,” we’ll explore the art of writing a memorable and persuasive conclusion.

Summarize Your Analysis

Begin by summarizing the key points you’ve presented in the body paragraphs. This helps to remind your readers of the insights and arguments you’ve shared throughout your review.

Offer Your Final Conclusion

Next, provide a conclusion that reflects your overall feelings about the book. This is your chance to leave a lasting impression and persuade your readers to consider your perspective.

Address the Book’s Appeal

Now, answer the question: Is this book worth reading? Be clear about who would enjoy the book and who might not. Discuss the taste preferences and circumstances that make the book more appealing to some readers than others.

For example:  The Alchemist is a book that can enchant a young teen, but those who are already well-versed in classic literature might find it less engaging.

Be Subtle and Balanced

Avoid simply stating whether you “liked” or “disliked” the book. Instead, use nuanced language to convey your message. Highlight the pros and cons of reading the type of literature you’ve reviewed, offering a balanced perspective.

Bringing It All Together

By following these guidelines, you’ll craft a conclusion that leaves your readers with a clear understanding of your thoughts and opinions on the book. Your review will be a valuable resource for those considering whether to pick up the book, and your witty and insightful analysis will make your review a pleasure to read. So conquer the world of book reviews, one captivating conclusion at a time!

How to Write a Book Review: Step 5 – Rating the Book (Optional)

You’ve masterfully crafted your book review, from the introduction to the conclusion. But wait, there’s one more step you might consider before calling it a day: rating the book. In this optional step of “how to write a book review,” we’ll explore the benefits and methods of assigning a rating to the book you’ve reviewed.

Why Rate the Book?

Sometimes, when writing a professional book review, it may not be appropriate to state whether you liked or disliked the book. In such cases, assigning a rating can be an effective way to get your message across without explicitly sharing your personal opinion.

How to Rate the Book

There are various rating systems you can use to evaluate the book, such as:

• A star rating (e.g., 1 to 5 stars)
• A numerical score (e.g., 1 to 10)
• A letter grade (e.g., A+ to F)

Choose a rating system that best suits your style and the format of your review. Be consistent in your rating criteria, considering writing quality, character development, plot, and overall enjoyment.

Tips for Rating the Book

Here are some tips for rating the book effectively:

• Be honest: Your rating should reflect your true feelings about the book. Don’t inflate or deflate your rating based on external factors, such as the book’s popularity or the author’s reputation.
• Be fair: Consider the book’s merits and shortcomings when rating. Even if you didn’t enjoy the book, recognize its strengths and acknowledge them in your rating.
• Be clear: Explain the rationale behind your rating so your readers understand the factors that influenced your evaluation.

Wrapping Up

By including a rating in your book review, you provide your readers with additional insight into your thoughts on the book. While this step is optional, it can be a valuable tool for conveying your message subtly yet effectively. So, rate those books confidently, adding a touch of wit and wisdom to your book reviews.

Additional Tips on How to Write a Book Review: A Guide

In this segment, we’ll explore additional tips on how to write a book review. Get ready to captivate your readers and make your review a memorable one!

Hook ’em with an Intriguing Introduction

Keep your introduction precise and to the point. Readers have the attention span of a goldfish these days, so don’t let them swim away in boredom. Start with a bang and keep them hooked!

Embrace the World of Fiction

When learning how to write a book review, remember that reviewing fiction is often more engaging and effective. If your professor hasn’t assigned you a specific book, dive into the realm of fiction and select a novel that piques your interest.

Opinionated with Gusto

Don’t shy away from adding your own opinion to your review. A good book review always features the writer’s viewpoint and constructive criticism. After all, your readers want to know what  you  think!

Express Your Love (or Lack Thereof)

If you adored the book, let your readers know! Use phrases like “I’ll definitely return to this book again” to convey your enthusiasm. Conversely, be honest but respectful even if the book wasn’t your cup of tea.

Templates and Examples and Expert Help: Your Trusty Sidekicks

Feeling lost? You can always get help from formats, book review examples or online  college paper writing service  platforms. These trusty sidekicks will help you navigate the world of book reviews with ease. 

Be a Champion for New Writers and Literature

Remember to uplift new writers and pieces of literature. If you want to suggest improvements, do so kindly and constructively. There’s no need to be mean about anyone’s books – we’re all in this literary adventure together!

Criticize with Clarity, Not Cruelty

When adding criticism to your review, be clear but not mean. Remember, there’s a fine line between constructive criticism and cruelty. Tread lightly and keep your reader’s feelings in mind.

Avoid the Comparison Trap

Resist the urge to compare one writer’s book with another. Every book holds its worth, and comparing them will only confuse your reader. Stick to discussing the book at hand, and let it shine in its own light.

Top 7 Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Writing a book review can be a delightful and rewarding experience, especially when you balance analysis, wit, and personal insights. However, some common mistakes can kill the brilliance of your review. 

In this section of “How to write a book review,” we’ll explore the top 7 blunders writers commit and how to steer clear of them, with a dash of  modernist literature  examples and tips for students writing book reviews as assignments.

Succumbing to the Lure of Plot Summaries

Mistake: Diving headfirst into a plot summary instead of dissecting the book’s themes, characters, and writing style.

Example: “The Bell Jar chronicles the life of a young woman who experiences a mental breakdown.”

How to Avoid: Delve into the book’s deeper aspects, such as its portrayal of mental health, societal expectations, and the author’s distinctive narrative voice. Offer thoughtful insights and reflections, making your review a treasure trove of analysis.

Unleashing the Spoiler Kraken

Mistake: Spilling major plot twists or the ending without providing a spoiler warning, effectively ruining the reading experience for potential readers.

Example: “In Metamorphosis, the protagonist’s transformation into a monstrous insect leads to…”

How to Avoid: Tread carefully when discussing significant plot developments, and consider using spoiler warnings. Focus on the impact of these plot points on the overall narrative, character growth, or thematic resonance.

Riding the Personal Bias Express

Mistake: Allowing personal bias to hijack the review without providing sufficient evidence or reasoning to support opinions.

Example: “I detest books about existential crises, so The Sun Also Rises was a snoozefest.”

How to Avoid: While personal opinions are valid, it’s crucial to back them up with specific examples from the book. Discuss aspects like writing style, character development, or pacing to support your evaluation and provide a more balanced perspective.

Wielding the Vague Language Saber

Mistake: Resorting to generic, vague language that fails to capture the nuances of the book and can come across as clichéd.

Example: “This book was mind-blowing. It’s a must-read for everyone.”

How to Avoid: Use precise and descriptive language to express your thoughts. Employ specific examples and quotations to highlight memorable scenes, the author’s unique writing style, or the impact of the book’s themes on readers.

Ignoring the Contextualization Compass

Mistake: Neglecting to provide context about the author, genre, or cultural relevance of the book, leaving readers without a proper frame of reference.

Example: “This book is dull and unoriginal.”

How to Avoid: Offer readers a broader understanding by discussing the author’s background, the genre conventions the book adheres to or subverts, and any societal or historical contexts that inform the narrative. This helps readers appreciate the book’s uniqueness and relevance.

Overindulging in Personal Preferences

Mistake: Letting personal preferences overshadow an objective assessment of the book’s merits.

Example: “I don’t like stream-of-consciousness writing, so this book is automatically bad.”

How to Avoid: Acknowledge personal preferences but strive to evaluate the book objectively. Focus on the book’s strengths and weaknesses, considering how well it achieves its goals within its genre or intended audience.

Forgetting the Target Audience Telescope

Mistake: Failing to mention the book’s target audience or who might enjoy it, leading to confusion for potential readers.

Example: “This book is great for everyone.”

How to Avoid: Contemplate the book’s intended audience, genre, and themes. Mention who might particularly enjoy the book based on these factors, whether it’s fans of a specific genre, readers interested in character-driven stories, or those seeking thought-provoking narratives.

By dodging these common pitfalls, writers can craft insightful, balanced, and engaging book reviews that help readers make informed decisions about their reading choices.

These tips are particularly beneficial for students writing book reviews as assignments, as they ensure a well-rounded and thoughtful analysis.!

Many students requested us to cover how to write a book review. This thorough guide is sure to help you. At Paperperk, professionals are dedicated to helping students find their balance. We understand the importance of good grades, so we offer the finest writing service , ensuring students stay ahead of the curve. So seek expert help because only Paperperk is your perfect solution!

What is the difference between a book review and a report?

Who is the target audience for book reviews and book reports, how do book reviews and reports differ in length and content, can i write professional book reviews, what are the key aspects of writing professional book reviews, how can i enhance my book-reviewing skills to write professional reviews, what should be included in a good book review.

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Book Reviews

What this handout is about.

This handout will help you write a book review, a report or essay that offers a critical perspective on a text. It offers a process and suggests some strategies for writing book reviews.

What is a review?

A review is a critical evaluation of a text, event, object, or phenomenon. Reviews can consider books, articles, entire genres or fields of literature, architecture, art, fashion, restaurants, policies, exhibitions, performances, and many other forms. This handout will focus on book reviews. For a similar assignment, see our handout on literature reviews .

Above all, a review makes an argument. The most important element of a review is that it is a commentary, not merely a summary. It allows you to enter into dialogue and discussion with the work’s creator and with other audiences. You can offer agreement or disagreement and identify where you find the work exemplary or deficient in its knowledge, judgments, or organization. You should clearly state your opinion of the work in question, and that statement will probably resemble other types of academic writing, with a thesis statement, supporting body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Typically, reviews are brief. In newspapers and academic journals, they rarely exceed 1000 words, although you may encounter lengthier assignments and extended commentaries. In either case, reviews need to be succinct. While they vary in tone, subject, and style, they share some common features:

• First, a review gives the reader a concise summary of the content. This includes a relevant description of the topic as well as its overall perspective, argument, or purpose.
• Second, and more importantly, a review offers a critical assessment of the content. This involves your reactions to the work under review: what strikes you as noteworthy, whether or not it was effective or persuasive, and how it enhanced your understanding of the issues at hand.
• Finally, in addition to analyzing the work, a review often suggests whether or not the audience would appreciate it.

Becoming an expert reviewer: three short examples

Reviewing can be a daunting task. Someone has asked for your opinion about something that you may feel unqualified to evaluate. Who are you to criticize Toni Morrison’s new book if you’ve never written a novel yourself, much less won a Nobel Prize? The point is that someone—a professor, a journal editor, peers in a study group—wants to know what you think about a particular work. You may not be (or feel like) an expert, but you need to pretend to be one for your particular audience. Nobody expects you to be the intellectual equal of the work’s creator, but your careful observations can provide you with the raw material to make reasoned judgments. Tactfully voicing agreement and disagreement, praise and criticism, is a valuable, challenging skill, and like many forms of writing, reviews require you to provide concrete evidence for your assertions.

Consider the following brief book review written for a history course on medieval Europe by a student who is fascinated with beer:

Judith Bennett’s Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600, investigates how women used to brew and sell the majority of ale drunk in England. Historically, ale and beer (not milk, wine, or water) were important elements of the English diet. Ale brewing was low-skill and low status labor that was complimentary to women’s domestic responsibilities. In the early fifteenth century, brewers began to make ale with hops, and they called this new drink “beer.” This technique allowed brewers to produce their beverages at a lower cost and to sell it more easily, although women generally stopped brewing once the business became more profitable.

The student describes the subject of the book and provides an accurate summary of its contents. But the reader does not learn some key information expected from a review: the author’s argument, the student’s appraisal of the book and its argument, and whether or not the student would recommend the book. As a critical assessment, a book review should focus on opinions, not facts and details. Summary should be kept to a minimum, and specific details should serve to illustrate arguments.

Now consider a review of the same book written by a slightly more opinionated student:

Judith Bennett’s Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600 was a colossal disappointment. I wanted to know about the rituals surrounding drinking in medieval England: the songs, the games, the parties. Bennett provided none of that information. I liked how the book showed ale and beer brewing as an economic activity, but the reader gets lost in the details of prices and wages. I was more interested in the private lives of the women brewsters. The book was divided into eight long chapters, and I can’t imagine why anyone would ever want to read it.

There’s no shortage of judgments in this review! But the student does not display a working knowledge of the book’s argument. The reader has a sense of what the student expected of the book, but no sense of what the author herself set out to prove. Although the student gives several reasons for the negative review, those examples do not clearly relate to each other as part of an overall evaluation—in other words, in support of a specific thesis. This review is indeed an assessment, but not a critical one.

Here is one final review of the same book:

One of feminism’s paradoxes—one that challenges many of its optimistic histories—is how patriarchy remains persistent over time. While Judith Bennett’s Ale, Beer, and Brewsters in England: Women’s Work in a Changing World, 1300-1600 recognizes medieval women as historical actors through their ale brewing, it also shows that female agency had its limits with the advent of beer. I had assumed that those limits were religious and political, but Bennett shows how a “patriarchal equilibrium” shut women out of economic life as well. Her analysis of women’s wages in ale and beer production proves that a change in women’s work does not equate to a change in working women’s status. Contemporary feminists and historians alike should read Bennett’s book and think twice when they crack open their next brewsky.

This student’s review avoids the problems of the previous two examples. It combines balanced opinion and concrete example, a critical assessment based on an explicitly stated rationale, and a recommendation to a potential audience. The reader gets a sense of what the book’s author intended to demonstrate. Moreover, the student refers to an argument about feminist history in general that places the book in a specific genre and that reaches out to a general audience. The example of analyzing wages illustrates an argument, the analysis engages significant intellectual debates, and the reasons for the overall positive review are plainly visible. The review offers criteria, opinions, and support with which the reader can agree or disagree.

Developing an assessment: before you write

There is no definitive method to writing a review, although some critical thinking about the work at hand is necessary before you actually begin writing. Thus, writing a review is a two-step process: developing an argument about the work under consideration, and making that argument as you write an organized and well-supported draft. See our handout on argument .

What follows is a series of questions to focus your thinking as you dig into the work at hand. While the questions specifically consider book reviews, you can easily transpose them to an analysis of performances, exhibitions, and other review subjects. Don’t feel obligated to address each of the questions; some will be more relevant than others to the book in question.

• What is the thesis—or main argument—of the book? If the author wanted you to get one idea from the book, what would it be? How does it compare or contrast to the world you know? What has the book accomplished?
• What exactly is the subject or topic of the book? Does the author cover the subject adequately? Does the author cover all aspects of the subject in a balanced fashion? What is the approach to the subject (topical, analytical, chronological, descriptive)?
• How does the author support their argument? What evidence do they use to prove their point? Do you find that evidence convincing? Why or why not? Does any of the author’s information (or conclusions) conflict with other books you’ve read, courses you’ve taken or just previous assumptions you had of the subject?
• How does the author structure their argument? What are the parts that make up the whole? Does the argument make sense? Does it persuade you? Why or why not?
• How has this book helped you understand the subject? Would you recommend the book to your reader?

Beyond the internal workings of the book, you may also consider some information about the author and the circumstances of the text’s production:

• Who is the author? Nationality, political persuasion, training, intellectual interests, personal history, and historical context may provide crucial details about how a work takes shape. Does it matter, for example, that the biographer was the subject’s best friend? What difference would it make if the author participated in the events they write about?
• What is the book’s genre? Out of what field does it emerge? Does it conform to or depart from the conventions of its genre? These questions can provide a historical or literary standard on which to base your evaluations. If you are reviewing the first book ever written on the subject, it will be important for your readers to know. Keep in mind, though, that naming “firsts”—alongside naming “bests” and “onlys”—can be a risky business unless you’re absolutely certain.

Writing the review

Once you have made your observations and assessments of the work under review, carefully survey your notes and attempt to unify your impressions into a statement that will describe the purpose or thesis of your review. Check out our handout on thesis statements . Then, outline the arguments that support your thesis.

Your arguments should develop the thesis in a logical manner. That logic, unlike more standard academic writing, may initially emphasize the author’s argument while you develop your own in the course of the review. The relative emphasis depends on the nature of the review: if readers may be more interested in the work itself, you may want to make the work and the author more prominent; if you want the review to be about your perspective and opinions, then you may structure the review to privilege your observations over (but never separate from) those of the work under review. What follows is just one of many ways to organize a review.

Introduction

Since most reviews are brief, many writers begin with a catchy quip or anecdote that succinctly delivers their argument. But you can introduce your review differently depending on the argument and audience. The Writing Center’s handout on introductions can help you find an approach that works. In general, you should include:

• The name of the author and the book title and the main theme.
• Relevant details about who the author is and where they stand in the genre or field of inquiry. You could also link the title to the subject to show how the title explains the subject matter.
• The context of the book and/or your review. Placing your review in a framework that makes sense to your audience alerts readers to your “take” on the book. Perhaps you want to situate a book about the Cuban revolution in the context of Cold War rivalries between the United States and the Soviet Union. Another reviewer might want to consider the book in the framework of Latin American social movements. Your choice of context informs your argument.
• The thesis of the book. If you are reviewing fiction, this may be difficult since novels, plays, and short stories rarely have explicit arguments. But identifying the book’s particular novelty, angle, or originality allows you to show what specific contribution the piece is trying to make.
• Your thesis about the book.

Summary of content

This should be brief, as analysis takes priority. In the course of making your assessment, you’ll hopefully be backing up your assertions with concrete evidence from the book, so some summary will be dispersed throughout other parts of the review.

The necessary amount of summary also depends on your audience. Graduate students, beware! If you are writing book reviews for colleagues—to prepare for comprehensive exams, for example—you may want to devote more attention to summarizing the book’s contents. If, on the other hand, your audience has already read the book—such as a class assignment on the same work—you may have more liberty to explore more subtle points and to emphasize your own argument. See our handout on summary for more tips.

Analysis and evaluation of the book

Your analysis and evaluation should be organized into paragraphs that deal with single aspects of your argument. This arrangement can be challenging when your purpose is to consider the book as a whole, but it can help you differentiate elements of your criticism and pair assertions with evidence more clearly. You do not necessarily need to work chronologically through the book as you discuss it. Given the argument you want to make, you can organize your paragraphs more usefully by themes, methods, or other elements of the book. If you find it useful to include comparisons to other books, keep them brief so that the book under review remains in the spotlight. Avoid excessive quotation and give a specific page reference in parentheses when you do quote. Remember that you can state many of the author’s points in your own words.

Sum up or restate your thesis or make the final judgment regarding the book. You should not introduce new evidence for your argument in the conclusion. You can, however, introduce new ideas that go beyond the book if they extend the logic of your own thesis. This paragraph needs to balance the book’s strengths and weaknesses in order to unify your evaluation. Did the body of your review have three negative paragraphs and one favorable one? What do they all add up to? The Writing Center’s handout on conclusions can help you make a final assessment.

Finally, a few general considerations:

• Review the book in front of you, not the book you wish the author had written. You can and should point out shortcomings or failures, but don’t criticize the book for not being something it was never intended to be.
• With any luck, the author of the book worked hard to find the right words to express her ideas. You should attempt to do the same. Precise language allows you to control the tone of your review.
• Never hesitate to challenge an assumption, approach, or argument. Be sure, however, to cite specific examples to back up your assertions carefully.
• Try to present a balanced argument about the value of the book for its audience. You’re entitled—and sometimes obligated—to voice strong agreement or disagreement. But keep in mind that a bad book takes as long to write as a good one, and every author deserves fair treatment. Harsh judgments are difficult to prove and can give readers the sense that you were unfair in your assessment.
• A great place to learn about book reviews is to look at examples. The New York Times Sunday Book Review and The New York Review of Books can show you how professional writers review books.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Drewry, John. 1974. Writing Book Reviews. Boston: Greenwood Press.

Hoge, James. 1987. Literary Reviewing. Charlottesville: University Virginia of Press.

Sova, Dawn, and Harry Teitelbaum. 2002. How to Write Book Reports , 4th ed. Lawrenceville, NY: Thomson/Arco.

Walford, A.J. 1986. Reviews and Reviewing: A Guide. Phoenix: Oryx Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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There arise suddenly throughout these poems vivacious, invigorating lines, such as “In the library I try and try / to cram in all the poets and storytellers ….” Other poems tell of the writer’s experiences working among crews fighting bushfires in the wild. And some selections—such as the slightly eccentric, dry-humored “dead chicken-meat day”—paint a rather zany picture in which “the sign says / two skinned chickens for 6 dollars” as the speaker finds herself panting past KFC en route to work. In “The Loaded Dog,” a rustic pub sporting “Depression swaggy” photographs of “romantic gold miners / in classic beards” offers Devil’s Choice beer—with raspberries. ... (read more) Jazzy & Gritty This collection by Streitz is the first of four Bar Bibles of Poetry authored by him. In this volume, his attention falls on subjects ranging from bartenders to civil rights leaders, E.D. to selfies. Several poems deal with sex and love, from the lofty heights of romanticism to the street level of strippers and masturbation. He spends time on drunk writers hiding in their homes, dancers who should have been writers, beetles rolling balls of dung, and fathers who find themselves protective and uncomfortable. ... (read more) Beyond the Usual D’Agostino, a psychiatric and behavioral health expert, offers his personal and professional opinions about the differences between racism, prejudice, and tribalism in his book. He clearly explains in the introduction that he is neither a sociologist nor a scholar of racism, nor has he spent years researching and writing about this issue. His interest stems from his viewpoint as a mental health professional looking through the lens of psychiatric concerns with the complex of “motivations and emotionally important belief systems.” To this end, the author primarily examines the trajectory of race relations in his lifetime as he experienced the black-white racial divide, although he also cogently covers the topic historically ... (read more) Transcendent Tone Divided into three movements to mimic an actual concerto, this book’s poems create a representation of the human emotional experience that makes its complexities accessible. Poems like “Early in Morning in Bethesda” examine a relationship’s tenderest moments. “Little Box” embraces an experimental form that is both peaceful and chaotic. “Grief at Full Moon” captures where loss compounds one’s interactions with not only the physical world but also the emotional one, and the memory of a loved one becomes a haunting force that controls one’s being. In other poems, the sanctity of nature becomes a healing, cleansing entity, while “the first grace of snow” offers a turning point in the speaker’s grief cycle. Fueling the musicality inherent in these poems are the experimental structures of lines and stanzas that form a concerto unlike any other. ... (read more) Kind-Hearted Soul Young Emmeline dreams of becoming a veterinarian or a biologist in the future. She is inspired by her father, who works as a naturalist and travels all over the world. When she convinces him to let her meet up with him on an expedition to the Falkland Islands, Emmeline travels on the Maria Christina , where she becomes friends with a crew member’s son named Demetrio. Disaster strikes when the boat comes under attack and sinks, leaving Emmeline alone when she washes up in the strange land of Pletonia. But she soon makes friends with many of its inhabitants, learning it is natural for them to get reincarnated as various animals. Further, during her journey to visit its rulers, Emmeline discovers that she has personal ties to this fantastical land. However, Pletonia comes under attack by the exiled Valdrimos Pish, who unleashes creatures that kill and stop the reincarnation process. Emmeline and her new friends must work together to find solutions to the crisis. ... (read more) Transformation Fred counts on his dad when his inability to keep a job and keep his weight in check causes conflict with his mom and sister. When Fred’s dad dies and his sister (his primary income buffer) moves away, Fred and his mom are on their own until Fred’s wrestling champion girlfriend, Mary Ellen, arrives, giving Fred the boost he needs to defend himself, literally and figuratively. ... (read more) Effortless Storytelling Soling’s out-of-the-box writing style is on full display, bursting with candor in this graphic novel featuring a jolly elf with magical powers who incessantly sings “Get up and Boogie,” among other seventies hits at 4 AM, much to the dread of his sleep-deprived neighbors. The story, set in a remote area of Cuba, is pure entertainment on the surface, a peculiar concoction of a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale that encountered the sublimity of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein . Digging deeper, however, there are a number of themes that emerge and beg to be contemplated, creating an unsuspecting but fulfilling read. ... (read more) Eventful Life The world of intrigue was not anomalous in John Meier’s life. His father, Herbert, was a German immigrant whose loyalty to the fatherland led him to risk his life in providing shelter to German spies during World War II. The web that Meier would find himself ensnared in would involve reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, the Nixon administration, and the CIA. Meier met Hughes in 1956 and was offered a position with Hughes Aircraft. Meier would maintain periodic employment with the Hughes organization for over fifteen years and would become privy to Hughes’ secrets and his political influence. Hughes’ largesse towards Richard Nixon and his family had allegedly cost Nixon the 1960 Presidential election, and Meier witnessed a larger payment to Nixon that may have triggered the Watergate burglary in 1972. As Nixon’s downfall began and chaos reigned in the Hughes organization, Meier retained the secrets that many were seeking. ... (read more) Centered around the Euthanasia Law in Australia, Snow’s work is an incredibly comprehensive and multidimensional examination of what the “right to die” truly means and to whom it is applicable. From the Catholic perspective and the Arabic approach to Aristotle and Hercules references, the author is unyielding in her desire to inspire discussion at a global level. On a personal level, the author notes that she herself would have become a victim of euthanasia had it not been for her letter to the parliament. ... (read more) Deep Listening In this unique work of photography and writing, readers embark on a road trip unlike any other that spans 900 days and 93,000 miles. During the duration of this monumental trip, the author conducted 140 interviews in an effort to discover what interconnections exist between people in a world of disrupted relationships. The book follows the author’s cross-country journey after he and his wife sold their Minnesota home in order to spend their time on the road, interviewing people of various backgrounds and searching for stories of hope, healing, and resilience. The author emphasizes that one doesn't "have to drive 93,000 miles to find stories like these” because there is “wisdom and beauty all around us if we choose to see it.” ... (read more) Emotional Repair This book introduces readers to the various forms of trauma individuals encounter every day. It offers an individualized approach to understanding trauma. It asks important questions that help one understand how various forms have impacted and shaped one’s life. Readers also discover step-by-step guides for assessing and managing trauma as well as ways to reduce it. Throughout the book, a multitude of definitions are given that help one understand trauma and its emotional and psychological effects. Blended into the scientific analysis of trauma is a cultural analysis that examines the historical role of trauma in American society, especially after the September 11th terrorist attacks, which made counselors and psychologists realize they lacked the training and equipment to treat widespread trauma in America. ... (read more) Cohesion & Conflict Readers enter this tale on the cusp of deep change in Montauk as the traditional fisherman’s life is in jeopardy, and many residents contemplate the hard choices they must make to create balanced new lives. Clancy, a New Yorker who once enjoyed Montauk during his family-deprived childhood, revisits the peninsula. He rediscovers Otto, the man who mentored him in a program for disadvantaged orphans. This places Clancy in conflict with Theresa, Otto’s estranged daughter, who resented the boy during her childhood. She feels doubly betrayed in adulthood by her father after he cheated on and divorced her mother. Unfortunately, Otto is ill and soon passes away, leaving his legacy to Clancy because Theresa refuses to reconcile with her father or to receive any property. Clancy must balance sorting out Otto’s wishes and gaining Theresa’s trust while navigating Montauk’s social order and the community’s challenges with climate, housing, and open space. ... (read more) Snoodles Return The whimsical, rhyming world of Normal Noodle, Sally Stroodle, and their children— Ricky Rockadoodle and Briana Brainy Broodle—returns with another adventure full of silliness, absurdity, and intergalactic interference. Picking up after the events of the first book in the series, Grumpy Grimy Groodleman is upset over how the Snoodle vehicles have completely driven out the need for his business selling Groodlemobiles. When Evil Kidoodle comes from the planet Zoodle to Earth to meet with Grumpy Grimy Groodleman, he brings a plan to trick Ricky and Briana into eating some modified cake that will sap their intelligence. Seeing an opportunity to get back at the family that ruined his business and an opportunity to bring the Groodlemobile back to prominence, Grumpy Grimy wastes no time in agreeing to help out this evil alien invader. ... (read more) Author, actor, and world traveler Darling offers a dynamic chronicle depicting his years walking thousands of miles in his native New Zealand and across the globe, sharing his understanding of the biblical Gospel of Mark. The choice to do so began in 2000, as he emerged from an astral dream with the words “Do Mark” resonating through his spirit. Taking this as an order, his diligent study and dramatizing of Mark’s words became his innovative template. And there was another call for Darling, who was then in his mid-fifties: he was to walk from venue to venue. His first foray was forty-two kilometers, while the second was an astounding nine-hundred and fifty. One episode illustrates the success of his inner calling: on the second visit to a prison in Ohio, Darling met a prisoner who had observed his presentation on the first occasion during a raging snowstorm. The man avowed to Darling that, “You saved my life,” declaring that he had seen “a light” despite the darkened skies outside. ... (read more) Deep History In any pedagogical program, educators are trained to promote inquiry, to encourage their students to probe deeper, and to ask who, what, where, when, and why. Momon’s work exhibits the same instructional tendencies as it challenges preconceived notions using a background in STEM, specifically math and science, alongside extensive research. At its core, though, this is the work of an inquisitive mind, an intensely curious individual who is unyielding in his intent to help both himself and his readers navigate through the labyrinth of human history to ultimately uncover hidden truths. ... (read more) Bad for Good An expert computer hacker, Sydney has been stealing from several employers for close to three decades, amassing over twenty million dollars. Nearing fifty, Sydney has decided to change direction. She starts a private investigator business and hires two young and highly talented siblings she knows about through a previous acquaintance. After coming clean about her criminal activity and having masked it so well over the years that no one wants the negative publicity that would come from admitting they were duped, Sydney avoids any charges and keeps the money. Interestingly, she is hired by an attorney she once worked for and robbed to work for a client needing someone who can find lost things, many of these things being criminals of some sort. The catch is the company, We Remember, is hiring these individuals, fixing their records and damages due, and paying Sydney extremely well for the work. Sydney and her two associates are well-suited to the tasks at hand and are having great success. However, Sydney and the attorney are both suspicious of the company. Sydney gives the business to her associates, and she and the attorney begin looking deeper into We Remember. ... (read more) Everlasting Soul Stories harbor the potential to stand the test of time, carrying over from generation to generation. In Harry’s work, themes of scripture are transposed onto a fictional canvas that gives audiences a unique vantage point of many biblical elements, with a particular emphasis on the end times. The Lord’s sacrifices for mankind, despite the darkest of sins committed unto him, are brought into the light through this narrative. More importantly, the work is about restoring peace, balance, and love, shattering the subverted agendas of humans who wear the guise of peacekeepers while only looking out for themselves. ... (read more) Benjamin Simon is a twelve-year-old high school freshman on the autism spectrum who lives with his parents in Boston. He is a mathematics prodigy with an encyclopedic knowledge of dinosaurs. Unfortunately, his diminutive size, lack of social skills, and tendency to spout random dinosaur facts make it difficult for Benjamin to form friendships. He is frequently the victim of bullying. When stressed and overstimulated, Benjamin has meltdowns that include biting, pacing, and arm flapping, which only exacerbate his peers’ ridicule. When he receives an invitation from a classmate to play video games after school, Benjamin is cautiously optimistic that he may finally be making new friends. Instead, he suddenly finds himself a suspect in a murder investigation. Thrust into the custody of the Department of Youth Services, Benjamin maintains his innocence while navigating a system fraught with gangs, violence, subpar education, and jaded officials. ... (read more) Compelling Drama Set against the backdrop of the turbulent late 1960s, two twenty-two-year-old queer men find their lives publicly scrutinized by judge and jury in Chicago’s judicial system. Colin Doyle, the gay son and grandson of two of the CPD’s toughest and most corrupt cops, is indicted on a capital murder charge after his wealthy older patron, Oliver Bradford, dies of a heart attack while the pair have consensual sex. The death may not have been notable had Bradford’s angry nephew been included in his will, but Oliver had given Colin joint ownership of his property and his extensive financial fortune despite the relationship with his young personal secretary not being a conventional love affair. In a youthful, foolish decision, Colin moves Tyler Voight, his brand-new lover, into the home the day after Oliver’s death, making the older man’s demise look more sordid and suspicious and an intentional homicide. ... (read more) Provocative The intrigue of ancient Rome’s political landscape never fails to provide fascinating characters and interesting narratives. This novel, centered on the chaotic reign of Septimus Severus and his sons, is no exception. Caracalla and Geta came of age when Rome had acquired many distant lands. It was stretched thin, struggling to maintain control. When the emperor died, he left the two young boys as co-regents under the Domna’s purview. They inherit an unstable empire steeped in complex challenges to resolve. First on Caracalla’s list is to eliminate his enemies. This includes his brother. ... (read more) Broad Appeal The world that we live in has steadily progressed to a society that is beginning to understand and appreciate the various shapes and styles that people embody, creating more and more equal opportunities in business and professional culture. Though there are still many barriers to break down and more gaps to narrow, the most important step that can be taken is to find the support and the courage not to hide one’s personal identity in one’s work life. It is not a simple thing to ask, and there are those who will close doors based on their own prejudices, but this book aims to empower its readers to identify the unique qualities and perspectives they have to offer and prepare them to honestly present that realized self in a way that will improve their own mental health while making their organization more well-rounded and capable. ... (read more) Wealth & Greed In another rendition of satire and candid humor, Soling’s graphic novel has created a world where neighboring lands envy the Land of Plenty. Fitting to their name, these bordering lands are called the Land of Death, The Land of Pestilence, and the Land of Scarcely Anything at All Other than Misery and Depression. In this work, these lands are essentially the principal characters. They seek to dethrone the Land of Plenty and bring it to its knees. ... (read more) World in a Day Time offers the same potential and opportunity for everyone. While we may be alive and on this Earth for different lengths, we each experience the same twenty-four-hour cycle of the planet’s rotation. What changes is what we do with that time and what our outlook toward each rising of the sun may be. This collection of poems and prayers serves as a devotional that is focused on taking a moment at the beginning and at the end of each day to welcome in that potential, celebrate the opportunity, and let go of any disappointments or hurts incurred before beginning the next one. By reading along, absorbing the words, and even repeating them aloud, readers will be adjusting their mindsets toward a full appreciation of the temporary yet limitless nature of what can happen in a single day. ... (read more) Funny & Brave This poignant, personal book guides readers through the ins and outs of midlife dating after losing one’s soulmate. The book opens with an openly honest foreword about how Meehan met her husband, his cancer diagnosis, and the brave steps the author took to begin finding love again after the tragic loss of her spouse. As readers progress from chapter to chapter, they discover stories of intimidated men who scorn a woman who orders her own coffee, the strangeness of navigating dating apps, and the taboos that are broken when men decide a photo of themselves in a speedo is the best introduction. ... (read more) Mind & Soul Medical advancements and technology continue to grow and evolve, giving doctors more tools to diagnose and treat sickness and patients more ways to monitor their own health and make healthier choices. Care must also be given to conditions that are caused not by bacteria or viruses but by a lack of healthy love in a person’s life, leading to cycles of abuse, addiction, and dysfunction in relationships with others and the self. Combining the scientific expertise of a medical practitioner with faith-based methodology, this book blends science and the spiritual to find reliable, consistent causes and treatments for social ills that anyone can access without costly hospital visits or medical insurance. By fostering a more personal and full relationship with God, those who are suffering from these afflictions can find peace and happiness and break endless cycles of harm and hardship. ... (read more) Eldwyn was quite unlike one’s typical fire-breathing, knight-battling dragon. He was instead entirely laid-back, snacking on cheese doodles, puffing on weed, and blurting out random, occasionally profound philosophical statements. Other evil dragons spent their time kidnapping princesses, while the protagonist simply “hung out,” smoking. Fellow dragon Dendryl abducts Princess Summerbliss, while Britsyl invades and runs off with Princess Cellulite. When they celebrate their conquests at the local Ye Olde Dragon Bar and Grille, Eldwyn just watches it all “glassy-eyed” and says that he digs it. ... (read more) Consequences In this colorful yet dark and twisted book, readers meet Boris the Dog, a furry friend who is ready for a big adventure. After Boris decides that he has had enough of his home life and wants to see the big city, he develops and executes a heinous and demented plan that will help him escape his owners. After Boris devours his owners’ child, he proceeds on a dark path of even more recklessness. His actions influence others to pursue dark and angry paths, and soon, unbelievable chaos unfolds. Nonetheless, Boris manages to reach the city, where the amount of buildings and people surprise him. However, the traffic and the large population are not the only surprises in store for him after he crosses into the city’s limits. ... (read more) Cipherinf Strategies At the root of all things in the cosmos is the word. The power of language, when observed astutely and from the right lens, is exponential and harbors the ability to reign in everything from religion and philosophy to mathematics and sociology. Through a combination of personal experiences and meticulous research, Johnson provides tools to observe how language is a universal connector that can decipher life’s greatest complexities. ... (read more) Intentional Poems The beauty and toughness of the Taíno culture are valiantly portrayed with equal parts force and grace, creating an energetic field made more vibrant through imagery. The sanctity and adulation with which Rodriguez regards his roots, especially the caciques—the tribal chieftains—shine through loud and clear, carrying a determined resilience to continue “caressing these roots fatigued by a half millennium.” ... (read more) Driven Narrative By 2041, the world’s oligarchs have reinstated white supremacy and chattel slavery in a caste-based society. The dystopian system rolls smoothly along for the vile oligarchs until the rebellious Citizen Cassandra IX, a patrician with an AI implant, questions the social order a century later. After her conviction and sentencing for insurrection in 2126 due to her sharing old black market books and revolutionary ideas such as those found in Joseph Conrad’s novel, Heart of Darkness , she is convicted and sent to prison. But after serving eighteen months, she is diverted to Mars on the spaceship Jefferson Davis . Earth is nearly unlivable, and the formerly stable colonies on Mars are going dark. ... (read more) Celebration From the poet laureate of Texas comes a new collection in which ordinary objects and instances inspire insights and wisdom. For example, in the title poem, a widow, with much reason to grieve, rejoices over an ice dispenser. Similarly, a belt in “Evening Dress” is both inert and dangerous to the one watching a man dress. Meanwhile, love is a connection so integral that there is “no room for even wax” in the poem “Sincerity.” ... (read more) Crisp & Clean For the first time in her life, Bethany will be attending a school where she doesn’t need to keep secret her powers as a witch. Although the move is difficult for fifteen-year-old Bethany, getting a larger house and being among other witches and hunters (males with powers) is exciting. Bethany quickly makes a couple of friends when she arrives at her new house: two normal children and a hunter. Also, she accidentally ends up texting a boy she thought was one of her new friends, but he turns out to be someone quite different. ... (read more) Love & Suspence Nijsha grew up in a desolate desert world of unbearable cruelty where having emotions is a crime punishable by death. She escapes, crossing the Jagged Edge into Anwar—a world of beauty and danger. Trained to be a warrior since she could walk, Nijsha finds it far easier to neutralize threats than to navigate the onslaught of new emotions and social interactions in this foreign land. She soon encounters Alec, a well-trained assassin on a mission to return an ancient scroll with an important prophecy to the monks at Nevia’s Temple. When Nijsha convinces Alec to serve as her guide, they embark on an epic journey across Anwar. Much to Alec’s dismay, they acquire an ever-increasing group of traveling companions as their journey continues, and Nijsha experiences the novelty of making friends. But Nijsha possesses secrets, a complex heritage, and an ancient paranormal ability that attracts danger and makes it difficult to differentiate friend from foe. ... (read more) Intimate & Honest Author Gasner looks back on a life of turmoil, discouragement, and challenge that led her, step by often painful step, to a sense of acceptance, enhancement, and courage. Her powerful, poignant memoir begins when, at age sixteen, she was forced to confront the fact that, in many ways, her physical abilities were weakening. She had taken a fall, which was presaged by a noticeable increase of swaying and staggering; she’d begun dropping things, and her handwriting had become unsteady, almost unreadable. Testing by neurological experts indicated Friedreich’s ataxia, a form of muscular dystrophy. There was no known cure, and life expectancy, as she would learn, was no more than the mid-twenties. ... (read more) Pain & Beauty This unique memoir is heartbreakingly poignant in its careful examination of the cycles of loss and grief that ultimately define life. Grief, however, does not entirely define it. Readers also find poems influenced by pop culture, the author’s Jewish identity, and Southern Californian culture. The author also bravely shares their experiences of navigating the superficial ideal society created for women that caused so many to embark on endless dieting trends and succumb to eating disorders. Music holds a paramount role in the text, and many of the poems lend a nod to unforgettable musicians like Jerry Garcia, Peter Frampton, Roger Daltrey, and Robert Plant. ... (read more) Human Interconnectedness Masterfully written and powerfully thought-provoking, this collection offers readers an attentive look into a world reshaped by climate change. It also offers them a glimpse into the emotional and psychological legacy of women and the power of generational fortitude. Readers learn lessons from “a mixed flock of birds” who “are content to be what they are.” They also find celebrations of romance where “beauty lies” in a couple’s “own fleshy story.” Other poems celebrate friendship’s intimacy and its manifestation in something as small as a t-shirt “ripped free from a slamming / screen door of an Ohio farmhouse.” ... (read more) Fascinating This fictionalized true crime story explores two murders in New England in the mid-1800s. The first murder is perpetrated against a popular schoolteacher in Vermont and later tied to the murder of a seventeen-year-old girl attending Pembroke Academy in Pembroke, New Hampshire. Both murders are exceedingly brutal, with the victims being raped and mutilated in a similar manner. Each is believed to have been accosted from behind in surprise attacks, and details of the murders reveal just how similar the two atrocities were in execution. ... (read more) Dance Story An artist of many talents from a young age, nineteen-year-old Marcia Weary opened her own school of dance in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1955. With an equal investment from her sister, the two bought a barn to serve as the school with the adjacent home to be used both as home and office. Heavily influenced by George Balanchine, often referred to as the father of modern ballet, Marcia would work tirelessly to grow children interested in learning to dance into real dancers. After twenty years of running the school as a small family business, the school was renamed in 1976 as the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and incorporated as a non-profit. Several people were instrumental in the success of the CPYB, including three men who originally started as fathers of students: Andre Drosselmeyer, Ken Laws, and Bob Gregor. Along the way, the school was supported by many others, including famous choreographers and costume makers. The school would eventually expand and partner with local colleges as well as being granted permission to perform exclusive dances choreographed by George Balanchine. Dancers from the school would work and dance all over the world, and many working, professional dancers were trained by Marcia Weary and the CPYB. ... (read more) Rare Advice Author and attorney Engel assumes an unusual and challenging yet much-needed task: to demonstrate, through his experience as a divorce attorney, the ways in which a determined woman might pursue and secure a future of genuine love and security after the trauma of legal separation and the inherent complications of divorce. In his long career, Engel became acquainted with and legally represented divorcing clients, the majority of whom were women, as they faced marital disentanglement, which can include hidden or overt rage, loss of financial support, unfaithfulness, unfulfilled ambitions, and in many instances, a sense of the inability ever to achieve a successful new relationship. Women often believe they can rely solely on their intuition, which can be a powerful motivator. But if it is not, Engel asserts, underpinned by pragmatic considerations and a truly open mind devoid of discouragements that follow divorce, it will not be a sufficient guide to new and better pathways. ... (read more) Veteran nurse Lexi Burns is content with her life in the small town of Atherton, Missouri. She has a rewarding career, great co-workers, and a comfortable relationship with her long-term boyfriend, Scott. She also has Zelda Allen, the most amazing lifelong best friend anyone could ever hope for. Lexi’s tastes are simple—a good book, great food, a cold beer, and the occasional girls’ night out. But when she works a Code Blue on a teenage girl named Buffy Stephens, who dies of gruesome injuries following a vicious attack, Lexi is compelled to uncover the truth. When local authorities prove incompetent and cave under political pressure, Lexi and Zelda launch their own investigation into Buffy’s death. Soon the aspiring sleuths find themselves risking their careers as they come under fire from the police. While they uncover more and more clues, they are drawn deeper and deeper into a spiraling vortex of danger where the truth may cost them everything—including their lives. ... (read more) Award-winning author Baltazzi has constructed an energizing treatise focused on the search for and acquisition of the experience of happiness, extracting it from what may sometimes seem like an impossibly complex morass of personal and societal restraints through her well-considered methodology. Based on her background as a noted television producer and director with the long-running and highly successful series Survivor , and drawing from perceptions of a multitude of realms—spiritual, social, and practical—she postulates eight core values needed for the process of attaining happiness: faith, love, health, gratitude, forgiveness, peace, detachment, and abundance. Each of these qualities, referred to collectively as “Happiness Essentials,” is explored using certain terms derived from the author’s background in cinematography. ... (read more) Strange Harmony In this fever dream of a novella, the protagonist takes a special interest in a prostitute who he is determined to help and protect. Other characters include Richard, an addict and the prostitute’s sometimes pimp, and Carpenter Wells, a violent man driven by impulse and hunger. This takes place in a city and country consumed by chaos. There are bombings, fires, a general malaise, and madness. The narrator uses vivid language and has a philosophical bent as he tells the story. He is an interesting man, describing himself as “I am not a violent man, but when it is called for it should be quick and to the point, what I think of as an efficient kindness, a concise use of language.” ... (read more) Crisp Storytelling Tiffany has big dreams. With her parents’ gift of a bus ticket to Los Angeles, Tiffany is taking the first step to becoming a prostitute. On the way, she meets a helpful older man who stresses the importance of following her dreams and not letting life get in the way. He tells her he always dreamed of becoming a serial killer, but marriage and children got in the way. When she arrives, she immediately sets out to find a pimp. However, she runs into a film agent instead. She doesn’t want to do something as sleazy as being an actress but takes his card, nonetheless. ... (read more) A young squirrel named Wembley is lucky enough to make his home inside of a magnificent, huge oak tree. However, he lacks any humility about his fortune and often boasts to all of the other forest animals about the fact that his tree is the largest in all of Cayuga. This, of course, makes the other animals feel sad. When two “burly lumberjacks” arrive on the scene one day, they take notice of Wembley’s giant oak tree and begin to discuss its impressive nature. It must’ve taken “over three hundred years for nature to produce such a wondrous specimen,” they remark. They decide, as lumberjacks will do, to chop the tree down. First, though, they share a snack of crumpets and hot tea. ... (read more) International Intrigue This novel focuses on protagonist Leeha Ritsagin, a young woman caught up in political intrigue after being mistakenly given a top-secret document called “Guiding Light.” In this alternative nation of Cadona, it seems that a right-wing religious group called the Soldiers of God, a militant arm of the True Church of God, has listed one hundred women for “justice executions.” “Guiding Light” lists these women and also describes a new all-powerful weapon called Toxic Sphere. Kidnapped and taken to a secret base in a mountainside, government agents for the Freedom Party, the political party aligned with the right-wing zealots, subject Leeha first with a truth serum drug called Mind One and then subject her to weeks of more traditional torture. The rightist government shoots down a passenger airliner with an army captain who knows about Toxic Sphere and blames it on another nation. ... (read more) Undying Devotion This is historical fiction at its best. Newhouse describes Polish ghetto life circa the early 1940s. The book is accurate, fast-paced, and riveting. It reads like a mystery novel, making the horrors of the Lodz Ghetto easier to read and learn about. The story describes starvation, freezing temperatures, poor healthcare, and a hierarchy amongst the Jewish inhabitants/prisoners. ... (read more) Loss & Recovery This passionate, heartfelt memoir is a tribute to the love shared by mother and daughter amidst the insular beauty of Whidbey Island. Ronhaar writes of receiving a level of unconditional love that many readers will envy: “I honestly do not ever recall a time where Mom wasn’t anything but understanding, delightful, encouraging, attentive, overjoyed, or genuinely proud of me.” Despite receiving unconditional love, Ronhaar was no angel, and she balances her glowing narrative with explorations of her childish faults and incidents that foreshadowed her more serious negative behavior after the sudden loss of her mother. ... (read more) Vivid Imagery Caroline (CiCi) Marcum grew up in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, a fishing village on Cape Cod. She graduated high school, attended college, became a teacher, and married. But a tragic accident forever changed the course of CiCi’s life, and she fled to Chicago. Six years later, Caroline finds herself back in Wellfleet carrying for her ailing mother. Lonely and grieving, she reconnects with fellow Cape native Ridley Neal, a fourth-generation fisherman who inherited his father’s sea farm. While Rid is sympathetic to Caroline’s plight, he is embroiled in a legal battle to save his livelihood and cannot provide the emotional support CiCi so desperately needs. ... (read more) Twisted Tale In this twisted tale, a bomb follows a young boy home and causes chaos for the boy and his family. Readers also meet the boy’s eccentric neighbors, the Greenspans, who live a hermit-like life and threaten all who dare to tread on their lawn. Even though the boy’s parents emphasize to him that keeping a bomb requires a lot of responsibility, the boy insists that the bomb remains with the family—for about one day. Then, the boy realizes just how much attention owning a bomb requires. Soon, the boy and his family decide to give the bomb to the Greenspans, resulting in an explosive change of pace and lifestyle for everyone. ... (read more) Cross-Country Fast & funny. This satirical dystopian novel takes place In the year 2053 when most people have forgone smartphones and computers for nanobots that live in their bloodstreams. Users experience the world with augmented reality (AR) programs that allow them to change their appearance, sit in on conference calls half a world away, or brush away pop-up ads like flies. AR usually only affects one’s vision until mild-mannered programming genius Spiro finds a way to influence users’ sense of smell. Spiro presents his idea to his company, but soon, what seems like a silly suggestion spirals into chaos involving the military, the CDC, conspiracy theorists, and scheming whistle-blowers. ... (read more) Page-Turner Written in the voice of Martin (Marty), this book explores the world of a company start-up and how Marty and his partner, Bo, chase money by meeting with venture capitalists to fund their business, Paladin. Things go significantly wrong with one meeting, resulting in mayhem—arson, art forgeries, theft, the Russian mob, kidnapping, broken relationships, marital issues, a strip club, police involvement, greed, and ongoing threats. Throughout the book, there are numerous twists and turns, and there is significant history regarding Russia and Germany, Hitler and WWII, the black market for art, and the search for Raphael’s missing painting, Portrait of a Young Man . And out of this chaos, what is this doing to the families of Bo and Marty, and what is happening to their business during this five-day span of chaos? ... (read more) Existential After waking with an axe stuck in his skull, Enrico gets picked up by Estaban. They stop for breakfast on the way to work, and Estaban becomes concerned about the axe. However, before much can be done, Enrico dies. Estaban calls for the check, but the waitress trips and impales him with a knife. Worried about not getting a tip, the waitress runs to tell her boss, who swings open the door, killing the waitress. These fatal accidents continue until a group of girls walking to a parochial school are crushed by a falling man. The nuns with them scold the dead girls for their sloth. Seeing all, God strikes the nuns dead before killing himself, ultimately leaving philosophers completely unsure of what to make of all that has happened. This ending leads the reader back into the story by asking them to reflect on the outcome of those involved, who it all ties to the title, and why it leaves others confused. ... (read more) Fascinating Read In this memoir, Musser reflects on a lifetime colored by his mother’s emotional and physical abuse that began when he was eight years old. Only in the writing of this memoir, in his sixth decade, does the author come to terms with the abuse he both witnessed and endured. Not only was he the victim of his mother’s mental illness, but Musser also saw his father being physically and emotionally abused by his mother during multiple unrestrained tirades in which she physically slapped his father. Musser himself was locked in a cold, outside basement where he would spend hours in the dark. Yet, this memoir delves more into the positives of his life, especially concerning the relationship between his grandfather and him. “My most important refuge would be my priceless unforgettable memories of my time spent on my Grandpa and Grandma Hoover’s farm.” Musser relates his mother’s mental illness and her abusive behavior to a tragic accident that occurred when she was five years old. His mother witnessed her mother being burned to death when the stove on which she was cooking burst into flames. He relates his mother’s illness and his own struggles with depression and anxiety to this singular tragic event. The author includes some of the information he discovered while researching mental illness and childhood trauma, which led to his being able to find peace with the years of abuse. ... (read more) Serious Humor Sniffles is an ogre with poor personal hygiene and a bad disposition, partly due to the pickaxe stuck in the back of his head. Rumors suggest that his mother placed a curse on the pickaxe so that anyone who removed the pickaxe would immediately perish. Sniffles meets another ogre even meaner than himself, likely because the new ogre, Lucky, has a pickaxe embedded in the front of his head. The two ogres commiserate about their misfortunes and the fate of the proletariat. They decide to embrace a bit of Marxism and overthrow the monarchy of the kingdom. The two quickly find other disgruntled workers, including six of the seven dwarfs, Rumpelstiltskin, the three bears, and the Big Good Wolf. The group trains hard to get into fighting shape, learn military logistics, and understand the philosophy of their movement. However, things soon begin to fall apart. Red Riding Hood’s grandmother disagrees on philosophical issues. Dopey, Tom Thumb, and Mama Bear are kicked out for not restricting all actions to the destruction of bourgeois culture. Wolf, leading the military, is in crisis as he sees the group becoming just like those he despised. Eventually, only Sniffles and Lucky are left. They are overwhelmed by a group of children who want to play ring toss. ... (read more) Blessed Women While works on faith and spirituality inundate the literary ecosystem, Ring’s work is rare in that it provides a nuanced dimension and perspective when interpreting biblical events. At a time when women were marginalized, Jesus’ love-centered approach led to numerous engaging interactions that, upon examination, paved the path for modern women to follow, thrive, and, even more so, connect with them at a deeper level. ... (read more) History Alive Even before stories were written, they were passed along from generation to generation, standing the test of time. Story is central to Romanowski’s memoir, one that delves deep into her Italian roots, how they’ve intersected and fused with American life, and the indelible impact family has had on her own life—and she on theirs. Through prose and poetry, the author meticulously and gracefully guides readers through her family genealogy, zeroing in on one particular figure, her grandfather, who unquestionably has the most profound impact on her worldview. ... (read more) Like a Song Lazlo grows up in a ramshackle house in Ontario that acquires the name “Bleak House” from a Dickens novel he discovers. Lazlo’s life is disrupted by the arrival of a thieving preacher who shows up one Saturday night to drink and play cards, bringing with him a beautiful young woman—his daughter, Lizzie. Before long, Lazlo falls under Lizzie’s spell and resolves to marry her. But the sadistic preacher—a man who boasted of wanting to poison a local pond so that all the frogs would die—learns of their budding romance and fires a gun at Lazlo, driving him away from home and on a journey that begins with a fortune teller named Mama Budda and ends in the Yukon, where he braves grizzly bears, the police, and unthinkable loss in the hopes of uncovering riches and winning the hand of Lizzie, whom he hasn’t seen in a number of years. ... (read more) Preserving the Temple Depending on one’s perspective and history of behaviors, the times and events described in the Book of Revelation can either be seen as a joyous reunion or a terrifying consequence. In both instances, it represents a point in the future that people can use as motivation for making positive changes in their lives before it arrives. This brief examination of the timeline and events described in Revelation looks into the symbology of numbers used in the Bible to help make sense of some of the more vague descriptions and also helps readers realize that acts of self-harm or careless consumption are equivalent to defiling a most important temple. Blending both scriptural analysis and personal experience, Williams offers much for the reader to reflect on and act upon before it is too late. ... (read more) Stimulating Beauty Culp, a respected plein-air painter, spent her early adult years studying art in New York. In the late 1970s, she moved to California and became captivated by the desert’s beauty. In the book’s forward, Stanley Lewis explains that the artist is able to capture the magic of stark scenery because “she is out there.” She takes all her equipment to remote sites, where she spends hours creating images. ... (read more) Across the Globe Reggie and his friend and colleague Ash Black are in Saipan to confront a terrorist plot that involves vengeful Iraqi terrorist Achmed and the Russian government. It’s also revealed that Reggie has figured out a way to set off explosives remotely by using radio waves. Meanwhile, the other members of the vigilante group are dealing with a Mexican drug cartel run by the ruthless Melania Cruz in Denver, Colorado, and a kidnapping plot in Italy that surprisingly involves a very real-life Italian politician—Marta Fascina. With several tense showdowns, not all of the operatives will make it out safely.  ... (read more) Delightful Challenge As COVID-19 begins its assault through America, the book’s narrator, a logophile and verbivore, is visited by the Masked One who “formulated out of the atmosphere” and implores him to follow and support the Diversity Officer, Basil Dekay, and “disrupt the dominant discourse.” But what is the dominant discourse? As the narrator surveilles Basil, her sexually confused husband, and her radical daughter, he expounds on the meaning and etymology of words, exchanges jokes with Portland’s elk statue, and comments on racism, queer theory, gender roles, social justice, and the Baboon President. As quarantine gives way to weeks of rioting in reaction to the murder of George Floyd, the narrator wonders if the looting and destruction in the city is indeed justice. But should he question the dominant discourse that says the anarchists are right? And what is the penalty for doing so? ... (read more) Family History Author Niedfeldt has created a lively tale concerning a Russian immigrant family battling the woes of the Great Depression as they settle into America. The narrator is fifteen-year-old Lisenka, who works hard at home, helping Papa, stepmother Taty, and several siblings. While preparing a simple supper, Lisenka hears her young brother Yurgi screaming for help. She rushes outside to find him fighting with another boy for possession of one of their family’s precious chickens. The boy trying to steal the bird protests that “we have to eat” but is called off and pulled away by a gruff, grimy man. After the two slip away, Lisenka concludes that they are homeless people and will gradually come to learn much more about those known as “hobos”—the jobless, homeless, renegade, and desperate. Lisenka’s family, by contrast, have been fortunate In their chosen residence in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, finding work, staying close, sustaining their religious faith, and maintaining basic cheer. ... (read more) Uncommon Experience Teresa Biano was devastated when her beloved father, Giacomo “Jack” Bianco, was murdered. A quick, spotty investigation closed the case with no suspect. Although she was a young girl at the time, her heart told her that something was wrong. She vowed to identify the killer and bring him to justice. ... (read more) Chose Death? The author of this challenging view of human existence explores the rationale for legally allowing people to choose their time and method of death. After many years of life, whether in sickness, health, or simple loneliness, anyone might ponder release from their earthly bindings. “A Human” postulates a “death card,” similar to current lawful stipulations that allow a person to give blood or donate an organ. As detailed here, the death permission would make it possible for even healthy individuals from whatever long-term outlook to choose the time and method of their own demise. ... (read more) Health Care Guide A registered dental assistant, the author has written a manual geared toward dental professionals, parents, and caregivers. Regulatory bodies such as the CDC, OSHA, and state dental boards establish laws and rules to ensure patient safety. The book opens with a detailed overview of the dental assistant’s duties, which contribute to practice compliance with these legal and ethical guidelines. One of the most important responsibilities is preventing the transmission of infectious diseases, and the book offers clear instructions on proper sterilization techniques. There is an in-depth discussion of dental anatomy, including teeth naming and numbering systems. ... (read more) In this fast-paced novel, readers enter a future realm where the souls of the departed are intercepted and transported to a virtual existence. Readers meet Evie, a teenage girl who enters what can only be interpreted as Hell. However, like every virtual scenario, glitches and outages occur. As the virtual system where the souls reside threatens to crash, Evie takes readers on a wild adventure to save the souls whose eternal existence is threatened. Readers meet a cast of characters whose personalities and stories will leave a lasting impression as Evie works to deliver a special message and a unique offer that will forever transform their futures. ... (read more) Psalm Study Guide Author Greer draws inspiration and erudition from the Book of Psalms in the Holy Bible, sharing with readers across a wide range of needs—physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual—a guide to fuller, more confident life planning. Through this dynamic Twelve Week Program, readers are enjoined to create a journal in column format to record personal examination of issues raised, realistic resolutions, and envisioned successes. The opening section, for example, highlights Psalm 1, which depicts a ”blessed” person as one who avoids the ways of the wicked and meditates day and night on the “Law of the Lord,” becoming strong “like a tree planted by streams of water.” Greer invites readers to create their own “Law of Health” and begin practicing its tenets. ... (read more) Grace Ann Sanchez is in legal limbo when she makes a call to the RAND Service. She has been detained by the Border Patrol and fears she will be sent back to Mexico. The RAND Service knows Grace along with her mother, Jaden Hawke. Hawke has friends in RAND and has been involved in recent adventures overseas that have involved RAND along with intelligence agencies. Jaden hasn’t seen her daughter in nearly fifteen years, as Grace’s father took her to Mexico. Jaden must rely on an old beau to help track down Grace. Jaden’s past with Stephan was steamy but also involved lies and murder. The other operatives brought in to assist are skeptical of Stephan, but time is critical the longer Grace is missing. ... (read more) Humor & Inspiration In this colorful book filled with rhymes and laughs, young readers meet Deondre and his brother, Devante. The story centers around Deondre and Devante’s pursuit of cookies for breakfast. However, their father insists that the boys cannot have cookies for their morning meal. Deondre and Devante beg and plea for chocolate chip, gingersnaps, and vanilla cream. Their father navigates the situation by offering alternatives such as cocoa and Apple Jax, but the boys continue pleading. Just when young readers and their parents think that Deondre and Devante’s father has won the morning battle, a surprise is received that will make everyone happy. ... (read more) Review Text ... (read more) First Chapter Reviews First Chapter Review archive Home  •  Book Reviews  •  Hoffer Award  •  Submit  •  FAQ  •  Connect Staff  •  Become a Reseller  •  Writers' Resources  •  Site Map Proud Member of... Connect with the US Review of Books... ‘World’s Worst Cars’ Book Redemption: Lotus Elite By Jason Torchinsky August 27, 2024 55 Comments It’s time again to have an archaic Commodore PET computer pick a random page from the 2005 book,  The World’s Worst Cars , written by Craig Cheetham, and then defend and redeem the car shown on that page, because I maintain that Mr.Cheetham has created a book not of The World’s Worst Cars, as the title claims, but rather of some of the World’s More Interesting Cars. Most of the cars in this book – perhaps all – do not deserve to be trapped in between the covers of this deceitful tome. And I’m going to redeem them, one by one. So let’s do it! We had a little break while I was at Monterey Car Week, but now we’re back! To redeem! There’s only one right way to do this, of course, and that’s to have my Commodore PET pick a random page, via a small program in BASIC that chooses a random number between 1 and 317. Let’s see what car the PET commands us to redeem today! Page 46! And what car lives on page 46? Oh wow: the Lotus Elite/Eclat. Oh, Craig. What have you done? I think this may be one of the more unfair entries we’ve seen in this book, and that’s saying something. The Lotus Elite/Eclat was a revolutionary car for Lotus when it came out in 1974. Remember, Lotuses were known for being tiny, light, nimble, two-seat little corner-carving monsters, and now here was Lotus giving everyone, seemingly out of the blue, a roomy four-seater hatchback/ almost -shooting-brake vehicle. You know all the hand-wringing articles wondering if the new Lotus Eletre electric SUV is “ really a Lotus? ” Well, the uproar was like that, just 50 years earlier. The Elite was the first “ civilized ” Lotus; you could drive and hear the radio, you could sit comfortably, with luggage and three friends, all things that would be fantasies in Lotuses that came before. Reviewers of the time appreciated this new kind of Lotus; more GT car than sports car, but much more comfortable and usable than other Lotuses. And, it still handled, drove, and rode wonderfully, thanks in part to a Colin Chapman-designed backbone chassis and lightweight fiberglass bodywork that used a new method known as Vacuum-Assisted Resin Injection (VARI). The end result was a surprisingly roomy car that only weighed 2600 pounds. The striking, wedge-like design was penned by Oliver Winterbottom I think looks like some of the best of ’70s design, and did not, as our Craig Cheetham called it, “ embodie[d] all that was gaudy and uncultured about 1970s fashion. ” Really, Craig? I mean, look at it: That’s just not ugly, I’m sorry. It’s sleek! It’s like what I imagine AMC Gremlin designer Dick Teague imagined the Gremlin would look like in his head, before cruel reality worked it over but good. The Eclat was similar (and actually used the exact same fiberglass molds from that horizontal character line down) but had a more fastback design: The interior was really remarkable, designed by Italdesign and having some of the best back seats ever seen in a production vehicle, ever: On top of that, while it looks like a hatchback sort of design, it wasn’t, not exactly; there was a glass window dividing the cargo area from the passenger compartment, to keep noise and – if you were driving with something big enough it stuck out of the hatch – exhaust fumes from getting in the cabin: That’s quite a level of refinement for  any  car, especially a Lotus! Plus, the car was surprisingly safe, incorporating steel beams into the doors even before American safety regulations demanded it, and the Elite actually won an important European safety award, the sort of thing that was usually handed out to Volvos. Now, it wasn’t the fastest car out there, with a 2.2-liter inline four making around 155 horsepower, not bad for the time, all thimngs considered. This engine also ended up in Jensen-Healeys. The book’s condemnation of the Elite mostly seems to revolve around reliability issues, especially overheating and cylinder head issues, which very likely were a thing, but we’re talking about a British car from the 1970s – is that kind of unreliability really unique to this car? Also, Cheetham notes that electrical issues could cause one of the pop-up headlights to stay up, like it’s winking, but he doesn’t note the smart detail about the Elite’s design: when a headlight motor failed, the light failed in the  up  position, so you still had the ability to use the light! That’s good thinking. I’m just going to end this with a contemporary video review of the Elite: … and a quote from a contemporary review of the car: Why aren’t Camaros like this? And Mustangs? And Monzas? How can Colin Chapman, who is supposed to be a racer and therefore know nothing about passenger-car design, produce a more efficient passenger car than General Motors or Ford? – Patrick Bedard, Car and Driver Magazine, 1975 Those words alone you’d think would be enough to keep the Elite/Eclat out of a book like this; but, as our boy Craig has shown to us before, actual reason and facts have no place when it comes to what gets flung into the fiery pit of The World’s Worst Cars. ‘World’s Worst Cars’ Book Redemption: Maserati Biturbo ‘world’s worst cars’ book redemption: toyota crown, ‘world’s worst cars’ book redemption: oldsmobile toronado. book , Eclat , Elite , Lotus , redemption , the world's worst cars , World's Worst Cars Jason Torchinsky Do I spy some AMC door handles? Similar, but no they’re an Austin part. Cars like these make me truly appreciate how far we’ve come. I know this will not be a great “take” from the comments I’ve seen, but, to my eyes, it looks like a flattened Gremlin. However well they corner, I’ve never liked Lotus dEath/Traps Elite Mega Chad vehicles. Unless I had money for track days, in which case, yup, sign me up. What they do, they do well. Passenger car-ing…is not one of those things. I loved their style at the time (as a kid) but perception in press was they were trouble and not fast enough to compensate (vs if it were Italian…) Second hand punters called Dave would “just want a nice clean Capri” regardless of the salesman’s skill as Arthur Daley finds in an episode of “Minder” The Lotus Elite?! This car is awesome and beautiful! Craig is such a “big dummy” (according to Fred Sanford) Total crackpipe! Also, you forgot to tell us to rip the page out Lacking direction on what to do with my page, I ate it At least you ate a great car and not a “worst” car…or wurst car? Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm… Reminds me of the Blondie song “You go out at night eatin’ cars You eat Cadillacs, Lincolns too Mercurys and Subaru And you don’t stop, you keep on eatin’ cars” https://youtu.be/pHCdS7O248g?si=m7pD546QJUpeHccK Recent Posts Hyundai Is Building The N74 Supercar Everyone Wanted, Here’s Hoping Dealers Don’t Screw It Up Why my girlfriend should eventually buy the overpriced and slightly annoying lexus rz, daily driving a hybrid has entirely changed how i drive. Advertisement Supported by The Book Review Podcast The podcast that takes you inside the literary world. apple podcasts | spotify | stitcher. Isabel Wilkerson Looks Back at ‘The Warmth of Other Suns’ The fifth in a series of conversations with authors appearing on our “Best Books of the 21st Century” list. Book Club: Let’s Talk About ‘My Brilliant Friend’ The first novel in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet was just voted the best book of the 21st century. We like it too. 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