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Book Reviews

Getting Started

     Margaret Laurence Fahrenheit 451 Tell_tale Heart Litle Women  Beautiful Losers 

Literary criticism is the evaluation, analysis, description, or interpretation of literary works. It is usually in the form of a critical essay and is written years later after the book is published.

 

Book reviews describe and criticize a book and are usually written shortly after the book has been published.

Book reviews can be found in different resources depending on the subject.  They can be found in newspapers, magazines and academic journals.
 
A book review is usually reviewed in the year that it was published or the next year. To find book reviews, you will need the following information.
  • Author
  • Title of the book
  • Publication date of the book
Once you have this information, you will need to search the most appropriate database or print index. So first ask the following questions. Is it a current or historic work?  Is it a popular title or more scholarly? 
 
Allow about 2-3 years after the book was published, and then choose an index (or database) which covers this period.  If possible, consult several review of a book for a balanced evaluation.  But keep in mind, a lot of books never get reviewed.
 
Book reviews can be found in popular publications (daily newspapers and general magazines). These reviews usually appear soon after the book has been published.
 
Book reviews can also be found in academic publications. Because these are more detailed and evaluative in nature, they may appear months or years later.
 
After selecting the appropriate index, find citations to your review. Each citation will list the name of the publication (journal, newspaper, or magazine), volume number, date and page. Search the publication title in Omni to determine if we subscribe to the desired publication.