How to Write a Good Book Review

First, a HUGE thank you to each awesome person who commented on Monday's post. Your comments gave me a lot to think about and have informed a large portion of this post. Today I'm following up on the idea of how to give a good book review. I've come up with 3 things to remember any time you review a book.

• First, remember to be objective. Sometimes it can be difficult to discern the difference between a book that is poorly written and a book that simply doesn't suit your fancy. Although you may not have personally enjoyed it there are probably a lot of other readers who will think it's amazing. Make sure to identify personal opinions as such and distinguish between them and objective criticism (or praise). A review is more helpful if you have good reasons for your feedback.

• Remember the Golden Rule. There is a person behind every book and author you review. You can be honest about a book's flaws, but also make sure to point out things that were done well. Choose to be respectful of the hard work that has gone into writing the book and gentle about how you handle criticism. Basically, treat the author whose book you are reviewing as you would like to be treated. 

• Remember your audience. As a writer you probably tend to notice and be overly critical of writing mistakes that the average reader will overlook. Think about the books you loved growing up. If you read them now you will probably notice that they have some flaws, but it didn't hinder your enjoyment of them at the time (for a fun blog post on that click here).

What are your thoughts? Are there additional things we should remember to do when writing a book review*?

*rhyming intentional =)