Typical questions

• • I want to read reviews of my supervisor's latest book.

• • I need to see examples of academic book review essays.

Starting points

• • Although most students are familiar with user created comments on websites, they may be unaware of more ‘academic resources’ available in peer reviewed journals and specialist review publications.

• • Book reviews may take a long time to appear. Usually the best starting point for recently published items are newspapers or specialist review publications.

• • Find out as much information about the book as you can as this will help in tracing reviews. When was it published? What is its subject area?

• • Many journal indexes also include book reviews. Often you can restrict your search by resource type to retrieve these. It is worth trying several databases as they may index different journal titles. Recommended databases are in the journal Articles chapter.

• • Tracing reviews of books published in the 19th century can be difficult. Try consulting larger reference libraries. Many have web sites with literature research guides.

Recommended resources

Choice Reviews (Subscription) [Specialist]

www.choice360.org

Designed as a tool for librarians. Affiliated to the Association of College & : Research Libraries. Contains reviews of over 200,000 college level books and reference sources from the mid-l990s onwards. All subject areas.

H-Net Reviews

networks. h-net. org/ reviews

Online scholarly service which forms part of the wider H-Net Commons Network supported by Michigan State University. Free access to a searchable database of reviews published since 1993.

LSE Review of Books

blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks

Based at the London School of Economics, publishes daily reviews of social science books.

London Review of Books (Subscription)

www.lrb.co.uk

Established in 1979. Has the reputation for publishing longer critical essays. Website has an online archive with some free access to podcasts of events and articles.

New York Review of Books (Subscription)

www.nybooks.com

Renowned fortnightly journal published since 1963. Some free access to reviews.

Times Literary Supplement (Subscription)

www. the-tls.co. uk

Renowned literary weekly established in 1902. Reviews books and artistic events. Some free blogs, podcasts and articles accessible from the website.