What is a book review?
A review analyzes and critically evaluates a book to persuade the reader that the writer’s view of the text is correct.
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Parts of a book review- An introduction which identifies the book to be reviewed.
- A short summary of the book (usually no more than one third of the total length).
- A critical analysis, that is, the writer’s view of the value/worth of aspects of the book mentioned in the summary and supported by argument and evidence.
Journal / magazine starters
Browse or search in some of the following journals / magazine for book reviews.
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Australian Book Review'... one of Australia's leading cultural magazines ... [publishing] ... reviews, essays, commentaries and new creative writing' - Publisher website
Other sources
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Australia and New Zealand newsstream"ANZ Newsstream provides the very latest local, regional and national news."
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NewsBank NewspapersInclude national and international titles.
Getting started
The Library Catalogue is a useful starting point for searching for book reviews.
Book reviews are not searched by default. To see them:![Include Book Reviews in your results [Image: UniSA Library]](https://lgimages.s3.amazonaws.com/data/imagemanager/35255/bookreviews.jpg "Colourful books [Image: Horia Varlan 2008, Thick encyclopedias with colorful hardcovers, https://www.flickr.com/photos/horiavarlan/4268896936/, CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en, source: flickr]")
- enter your search term
- click the Additional Resources tab in the Refine Search
options on the left to extend your search - also try using the phrase "book review" in your search
Title / author search:
- "The Chocolate War" Cormier with Book Reviews selected from the Refine options
- "The Arrival" "Shaun Tan" with Book Reviews selected from the Refine options
Topic search: "science fiction" children then limit to Book Reviews and Reviews
Databases for finding book reviews
Here are a few databases that may be good starters for finding book reviews.
TIP: Use the phrase "book review" in your search or see if you can limit by content type within certain databases.
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A+ EducationAustralian-focussed indexing and full text database that provides access to journal articles on all aspects of education. Includes monographs, research reports, theses, book reviews and conference papers.
