Quick links The Campaign for Concordia
Concordia University logo
Library hours
Ask a librarian
A-Z
Concordia.ca   /   Library   /   Find   /   Book reviews

How to find book reviews

Overview

A book review is an evaluative and/or descriptive analysis published shortly after a book's publication. Book reviews vary in length from a paragraph to a few pages and provide an overall evaluation of a book's strengths and weaknesses. Books may be reviewed in popular magazines, newspapers and/or scholarly journals.

To find book reviews, you need the author's name, the title of the book as well as the original date of publication (the date when the book was first published). Keep in mind that reviews in scholarly journals may not appear until two or three years after the book was published.

Please note that book reviews are different from critical analyses of a classic book or of a work's impact on a field.

Back to top

Recent book reviews

Online databases provide the best access for most recent (post-1980s) book reviews. In many cases, the full text will be available in electronic format. Choosing a database depends on the subject of the book and its date of publication. Select a database using the Database Finder.

The following is a selective list of databases containing book reviews:

Search tips

In the search box, type the most distinctive keywords in the author and title, combined with "AND", for example: atwood AND survival

Depending on which database you use, you may be able to limit your search to book reviews. If the database has limit options, see if you can limit your search by "document type" and choose "reviews" or "book reviews." If the database does not have search limits settings, trying adding "AND review" to your search terms, for example: atwood AND survival AND review.

Back to top

Older book reviews

For older (pre-1980s) book reviews, print indexes such as book review indexes and periodical indexes are particularly useful.

Book review indexes are specialized tools that help locate book reviews published in journals or magazines. Look alphabetically under the author or title. Choosing an index depends on the type of book and the date of publication. Cumulative retrospective book review indexes cover a certain time period in one publication. Look under the author or title.

Other more general indexes help you locate articles of all types in journals, magazines or newspapers. Book reviews are usually located in a separate section at the end of the index under a heading called "Book Reviews". If not, they can be found alphabetically under the letter "B" amongst the rest of the text.

Reviews in popular and scholarly sources

Book review indexes

Book Review Digest
Z 1219 C96
Webster Library Reference: 1905-2010

Book Review Index
Z 1035 A1B6
Webster Library Reference: 1965-2007

General indexes

Canadian Periodical Index
AI 3 C2
Webster and Vanier Library reference: 1963-1980

Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
AI 3 R48
Vanier Library Reference: v.1 (1900/1904)-v.64 (2004)

Reviews in scholarly sources

Book review indexes

An Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities
Z 1035 A1I63
Webster Library Reference: v.2 (1961)-v.4 (1963), v.6 (1965)-v.31 (1990)

Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals 1886-1974
Z 1035 A1C64
Webster Library Reference

General indexes

Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective
Online

JSTOR
Online
Searches can be limited to reviews

For more information, ask a librarian.

Back to top
Back to top arrow up, go to top of page