How to Write a Book Review

You’ve just turned the last page of a life-altering novel. Part of you is grateful for the sleep you’ll be able to get now instead of pulling another all-nighter. But the other part of you grieves. You will miss the characters you just closed the book on. They understand the deepest places of your own journey and in some ways have felt like friends.

If you were anything like me, you wanted to throw on a robe, grab an overnight bag and hop on the next plane to wherever the author might live. You felt compelled to tell her that you literally gave her book a standing ovation in the middle of your living room while ignoring the strange looks from family members. But after thinking it through, the whole idea felt a little ... well, insane. So how could you honor all of the hard work and artistry that went into a project of this magnitude? How could you give the author the accolades she’s due?

You can write a book review.

Yes, you. The Internet has made it really easy to assert your opinion about a score of different things with likes, pokes, Emojis and even reviews.

I’ve listed a few questions below to help you get started.

     What was the story about?

Who was the main character?
What kind of problems did she encounter?
Were you able to relate to any of the characters in the story?
Have you ever felt some of the ways the characters did?
Did you like the book?
What was your favorite part?
Would you recommend this book?

The two websites I’d like to recommend posting your review to are: www.goodreads.com and www.amazon.com.

A review is a wonderful way to show appreciation to an author. After all, showing up on somebody’s doorstep looking frazzled and holding a copy of her latest release probably won’t provide you with the best response anyway. Writing a book review is really the way to go.

Have you read anything worth mentioning lately? I have a gift for the first person to share a book review on one or both of the websites listed above. Please be sure and let me know if you’ve done so. I will be posting book reviews to this blog every now and then to keep the conversation going.

By the way, thanks for putting that book down long enough to participate in today's post.

Happy reading!