Book Review Guidelines

• Summarize the content of the book in your own words, in about 3-4 typed pages. Tell enough about the content of the book that someone who has not read it could follow the main points and lines of argument and the evidence provided. Make sure this section is in your own words.
• Analyze and evaluate the book in an additional 2-3 pages. Your analysis should include:
  • A summary of how the book ties into the knowledge you have gained in this course. Tell how it compliments, supplements, or contrasts to the course material;
  • Your assessment of how effectively the content of the book is presented;
  • Your recommendation about who should read the book;
  • Why it should remain on the book list for this course, or why it should be removed.
• Your review should be carefully written. I recommend that you work through two full drafts before final version. Consider all of the following points:
  • Make sure you use well-constructed paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting sentences.
  • Be careful about transitions from paragraph to paragraph.
  • All of your sentences must be grammatically correct.
  • Pay special attention to agreement between subjects, verbs, and objects.
  • Watch out for appropriate use of prepositions.
  • Include apostrophes everywhere they are appropriate. Check and recheck your spelling.
  • PROOFREAD!

• Finally, keep in mind that I have read all of these books thoroughly, most of them more than once.

(Psy 190 Book List)