Book Reviews and Book Reports

Book reviews and book reports can be found on the syllabus of almost every class. The simple reason is that books themselves are to be found in every class, regardless of discipline. In many cases, a professor assigns a book report or review for one or more books as a way to augment the textbook. There are so many things to learn in any given field, and there is no possible way that any given textbook can cover them all. Thus, again, every class in every field can have its book report or review because books exist in every discipline imaginable. Another reason why professors assign book reports and book reviews is the belief that reading and writing about what one has read is an integral part of any scholarly pursuit.

Regardless of the reason for their assignment, it is important for students to understand what these different papers are, and what they are not. The book report is essentially the “forerunner” of the book review. If you think of a book report as a detailed summary of the book and its elements, the review is an analysis of the book. In other words, the book review goes much deeper than the book report.

This is not to say that the book report is useless. On the contrary; the ability to read and then write a synopsis of a given book is not only important in itself, but also indicative of a mind trained to remember information which has been deemed worthy of remembrance. But it is to say that book reports can only go so far.

In the book review, the student has the chance to give his or her opinion, give analytical reasons why the author did or did not present this or that perspective, this or that piece of information, and otherwise delve deeply into the book. The student can critique not only the author's stance, but also his or her writing style, general approach to the topic, and other topics.

The only difficulty with both book reports and book reviews is the amount of reading that must be done in order to create them. Because the book review is more in-depth than the report, the reading is not only lengthy in itself, but it must be done with a more critical eye, a deeper thought-process, that takes yet more time and energy. When you consider that full-time students have four or five classes, each of which might ask for at least one, and often several, book reviews or reports, you begin to get a sense of the vast amount of time involved.

This is why many students seek help with these projects. We are here to provide just such help.