How do I write a book review?
by © Joel B. Green, Ph.D., Dean of the School of Theology, Professor of New Testament Interpretation, Asbury Theological Seminary & Brent A. Strawn, Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies, Asbury Theological Seminary
Introduction: Staying Engaged in Your Reading
Graduate study generally involves regular reading of key books and ongoing, critical, and personally engaged interaction with that material. Given the busy-ness of our lives, during the semester, you will probably find yourself having to read at various levels—mostly "critically and personally engaged," but sometimes less so. If you need to scan some chapters rather than "drink deeply," this is to be expected; if you find yourself scanning major sections of a book, or otherwise falling behind in the reading, then yellow or red flags ought to be waved. Are you giving yourself adequate time to interact with this material, to evaluate its importance, and to integrate it into your understanding of the Christian faith and vision of the church?
Some questions to ask yourself as you read:
- What is the main thesis argued in this text? What is the overall aim of this book? What form do(es) this text’s central argument(s) take?
- What does this text assume? Are these assumptions acknowledged and/or supported?
- Do you see points of contact between this book or writer and others with which you have interacted in this course? Other books or writers you know?
- How helpful is this writer/book for your study in this course? What models for theological reflection and/or practice might arise from this material? How might this material inform the theological and/or interpretive practices you know or in which you have been involved?
- Would you encourage someone else to read this book, or part of this book? Who? Why?
Writing Book Reviews
- (1) Primary Matters. By way of exposing our students to alternative viewpoints and in order to foster critical thinking, we often assign book reviews of various lengths—from 3-4 to 5-7 pages, typed, double-spaced, using a standard, 12-point font like Times New Roman with one-inch margins (or approximately 750-1000 or 1250-1750 words in length). Check the course syllabus for specifics on length.
Reviews should develop along two avenues. First, the review should indicate a thorough knowledge of the book as a whole, read on its own terms. This part of the review might be thought of as a summary, in a sense, of the entire volume but with an eye to several important questions, including: What is the book’s fundamental aim? Central theme(s)? Presuppositions? Method(s)? Second, the review should engage the book critically and personally. Does the book accomplish its aim? Is the book understandable? Are its assumptions defensible? Is its argument cogent? How has the reading of this book shaped you? In what way, if at all, do you regard this as an important book? Whenever possible, you should situate your critique of the book within the larger discussion of the subject.
- (2) References. Usually, a book review will refer to only one book—namely, the book being reviewed. In this case, the heading for the review should include your name, followed by the relevant bibliographical information. Thus:
Jane Doe. Review of Howard Clark Kee, To Every Nation under Heaven: The Acts of the Apostles, The New Testament in Context (Harrisburg, Virginia: Trinity Press International, 1997).
As with any written assignment, book reviews should include proper referencing of direct citations. This is most easily accomplished in a book review by in-text notes. For in-text notes, the proper form to follow would be (page). Thus:
According to the author, "this commentary aims to consider the various facets of the context in which the writer and his initial readers lived and thought: the religious assumptions, the political framework and structures of power, and above all the sociocultural features of the author and the initially intended readers" (13).
Notice that quotation marks, not italics, are used to set off the citation. Notice also that the in-text reference comes after the second set of quotation marks but before the final period.
In some cases, a review will include references to other books as well. If your book review refers to books in addition to the book being reviewed, use the same heading as before, but change the form of your in-text notes and add a complete bibliography. In this case, the proper form to follow for in-text notes is (Author’s last name date, page). Thus:
According to the author, "this commentary aims to consider the various facets of the context in which the writer and his initial readers lived and thought: the religious assumptions, the political framework and structures of power, and above all the sociocultural features of the author and the initially intended readers" (Kee 1997, 13).
For the bibliography, here are two possible forms to follow.
Kee, Howard Clark. To Every Nation under Heaven: The Acts of the Apostles. The New Testament in Context. Harrisburg, Virginia: Trinity Press International, 1997.
Or
Kee, Howard Clark. 1997. To every nation under heaven: The Acts of the Apostles. The New Testament in Context. Harrisburg, Virginia: Trinity Press International.
On all questions of style, including those related to references and bibliography, see Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations., 6th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996); or John Grossman et al., eds., The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993).
Remember when writing a book review, or any other written assignment at Asbury Theological Seminary, that the Seminary has adopted a policy on inclusive language. You can find this policy in the student guidebook, available from the Office of Student Life.
- (3) A Possible Outline. Book reviews come in many forms. If you are unfamiliar with this "genre," you might want to look at a few examples in journals like Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Theology Today, or Journal of Biblical Literature. One outline (but hardly the only one) that is quite effective is the following (remember that the relative length of each section will depend on the overall length of the assignment):
- The Beginning (1 or 2 paragraphs)
- Identify the author and her book.
- Situate the book in a larger context or discussion.
- State the book’s primary contribution.
- State the book’s primary aim(s) and approach.
- The Middle—Part 1 (3-4 pages)
- Provide a brief outline of the book.
- Sketch the book’s contents, taking care to represent the substance of the book on its own terms. Give your implied reader (that is, the person who has not read this book but who wants to be introduced to it) a generous accounting of the main threads of the book’s argument.
- Be sure that you deal with the whole book—and not only your favorite part or with the material you found least or most compelling.
- The Middle—Part 2 (2-3 pages)
- Engage the book critically and personally. For possible avenues into the sort of critical reflection expected at the graduate level, see the questions outlined above, under the headings "Staying Engaged in Your Reading" and "Primary Matters."
- The End (1 paragraph)
- Write a conclusion—not to the book, but to your book review. Sum up the importance and/or liabilities of this book for your reader.
- The Beginning (1 or 2 paragraphs)
- (4) Grading. Our assumption in grading book reviews is that more is anticipated of a critical review at the graduate level than at the undergraduate. We assume that you should be able to manage communicating the substance of the book (that is, "The Middle—Part 1") with relative ease. If you introduce the book well, deal competently with the content of the book, and conclude your review appropriately, this will earn your review a grade in the "B" range. When we assign a review a grade of "B+" or higher, this is because these basics are covered and, to varying degrees, the review has impressed us with its attention to critical engagement, its independence of thought, its creativity of reflection, and the like. This usually relates to what we have called "The Middle—Part 2," but it can also relate to how well the book is positioned in the wider conversation ("The Beginning" and "The End").
Because much of vocational ministry is about communication or rhetoric, we treat seriously a number of issues related to presentation: style, format, proper spelling, proper grammatical usage, and so on. Our typical practice is to edit the first page heavily, but not to edit the whole paper.
- Presentation is factored into the grade of this and all written assignments.
- First, second, and even third drafts of written assignments are often not suitable for submission.
- We would strongly urge you to use but not to trust your spell-checker.
- There is no substitute for careful and repeated proofreading, including proofreading by a friend (if you can recruit one to help you in this way!).