Book review

A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit.

A book review may be a primary source, an opinion piece, a summary review, or a scholarly view. Books can be reviewed for printed periodicals, magazines, and newspapers, as school work, or for book websites on the Internet. A book review's length may vary from a single paragraph to a substantial essay. Such a review may evaluate the book based on personal taste. Reviewers may use the occasion of a book review for an extended essay that can be closely or loosely related to the subject of the book, or to promulgate their ideas on the topic of a fiction or non-fiction work.

Some journals are devoted to book reviews, and reviews are indexed in databases such as the Book Review Index and Kirkus Reviews; but many more book reviews can be found in newspaper and scholarly databases such as Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, and dscipline-specific databases.

History
Photios I of Constantinople has been called "the inventor of the book review" for his work, Bibliotheca.

Academic reviews
Academic reviews are both a form of academic service and a contribution to the academic literature. They are frequently published as a section or part of academic journals. They help the profession understand what has been happening in their profession, and work on the emerging intellectual challenges of their field. However, not all academics are incentivized to take on the work required in a book review, because they are often not rewarded for that work. Book reviews can be used to predict which monographs are likely to have subsequent citations.

Newspaper and magazine reviews
Newspaper reviews became prominent in the 18h century, as a form of reader responses.

In academic criticism, popular book reviews in newspapers and magazine reviews are often used to evaluate the relative audience and impact of books during a period.