In this blog post, Central Asian Survey Book Review Editor, Philipp Lottholz discusses the importance of academic book reviews and shares his top tips on how to write a compelling and critical book review.
Why write a book review?
Reviewing another person’s work is something that others will really value and may lead to a collegial relationship. It can certainly spark an exchange of ideas and even lead to a long-term collaboration.
Reviews can be especially useful for PhD candidates and early career researchers who want to expand their publishing record. You have the unique opportunity to hone your writing skills and test out a smaller format, which is an excellent learning opportunity for those who lack the time to publish a complete journal article. You also receive a free copy of a book (either a print or ebook) in your field! But writing a book takes a lot of time, as anyone who has done one knows. It could take years for first-time writers – so here’s a list of tips to help you in the process.
How do I know if a journal publishes book reviews?
There are a number of ways to check if a journal publishes book reviews. A journal’s aims and scope should usually outline the types of content it considers, so would list book reviews as an article type that it publishes. You can also browse previous issues, or check the Editorial Board to see if a Book Review Editor.
What are the top tips to write a compelling review?
Tip 1: Choose a book in (or close to) your research field
Firstly, the book that you choose should probably be close to your own PhD or research or whatever you might be working on right now. This might sound obvious, but it is easier to review if it’s conceptually close to your own work. It might be beneficial to chose a book that broadens your perspective of your field, such as a work that is in a different country/region, or one that takes a compelling or unique interdisciplinary or methodological approach – but whatever you pick, it should always be within the bounds of what you are comfortable reviewing.
Tip 2: Be an attentive reader
The key thing is attentive reading. A key aspect of this is timing, for example setting aside time to read at least one or a couple of chapters at once. Some may want to read the entire book in one go but splitting it up allows for more processing and reflection time. You should also find your own way of marking key passages or points in the book. This will save you time when writing the review or in later work. Working with an ebook can be useful, where you can annotate with bookmarks, notes, highlight and excerpt text.
Tip 3: Include the essential book review elements
When writing your review, you should always include several key components. These usually include the general structure, the research approach, the main arguments as well as the contribution that the book makes to current literature. It is most practical and helpful to communicate these in a paragraph upfront. Further detailed discussion of arguments and analyses in the body of a book should not wander off too far from the main argument. It is also helpful to think about answering some of the following questions:
- Who would benefit from reading this book?
- How does the book compare to other books in the field?
- How does it contribute to understanding (or possibly tackling) societal, political or cultural processes and challenges in a given context?
Tip 4: Be critical in your evaluation
The most important part of your review is your evaluation of the book and bringing in your own point of view. What do you think of the book’s arguments, approach and analysis? In a review, we have to hear the voice of the reviewer. Make sure you provide your own critique, but make sure you assess the book based on the author’s intentions rather than your own. Obviously, there is a fine line between being critical and slaying the book.
Tip 5: Be concise
Remember to ruthlessly edit your work. For Central Asian Survey academic book reviews, we ask for around 800 to 1,000 words. It is challenging but possible to cover most, if not all your points, if you write in a really concise way. A book review should be an enjoyable read in its own right.
Tip 6: Read other book reviews
Finally, in case you hit a writing blockade in the process, a good way to take inspiration is to read other book reviews from the same or other journals. For reference, here are two examples of exemplary book reviews from Central Asian Survey (Edward Lemon’s review of ‘Foreign Fighters and International Peace Joining Global Jihad and Marching Back Home‘, and Kamila Kovyazina’s review of ‘Qazaqstan. Kazakhstan. قازقستان: Labyrinths of a Modern Post-colonial Discourse.’
Tip 7: Send your review to a colleague for feedback
To ensure the quality of your first draft submission consider sending your texts to an experienced colleague for feedback and support beforehand. There is also free of charge software to help you proofread your drafts, such as Grammarly.
Interested in writing a book review?
Central Asian Survey is currently looking for Reviewers for its summer 2024 book list. This list is updated quarterly, so check back regularly to see if there are any titles close to your research that you would be interested in reviewing.
Please follow the link to the online form to submit an expression of interest. If you would like to suggest a book for review, please contact Philipp Lottholz ( [email protected]) and Zhanibek Arynov ([email protected]) by email.
About the Author
Central Asian Survey‘s Book Review Editor Philipp Lottholz is Interim Professor at the Center for Conflict Studies, Philipps-University of Marburg and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Collaborative Research Centre/Transregio “Dynamics of Security”.
