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Book Reviews

Book reviews are important resources for your research because they help you to:

  • Evaluate a book for purchase or reading.
  • Survey the reactions to a book at the time of publication.
  • Provide summaries of a book's contents.

Book reviews found in popular publications (daily newspapers, or magazines like The New Yorker or The Atlantic Monthly) usually are written with the expectation that readers are looking chiefly for a recommendation about whether the book is worth reading or not. These reviews usually appear soon after the book has been published. On the other hand, book reviews in academic publications are written with the expectation that many readers will have already read the book, and are looking for a detailed evaluation of its merits and flaws. These reviews can appear several years after the book's publication.

Librarian for Book Reviews

Please ask at the 1st floor Reference Desk for assistance.

Related Subject Guides

Research Assistance

Internet Links

Multidisciplinary Indexes

  • Book Review Digest Plus. 1983-date.
    Book Review Digest Retrospective. 1905-1982.
    URL: http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
    Retrieves book summaries, bibliographic data, full-text reviews, review excerpts, or basic citations of fiction, nonfiction, children's books, reference works in the humanities, social sciences, and general sciences. Both databases can be search simultaneously within the WilsonOmni database. Search for the book's author, title, and/or subject as "All-Smart Search." Then under "Document Type," select "Book Review."
  • Book Review Index. 1965-date.
    Bobst Ref1 Z1219.B78
    Six issues per year and annual cumulation. Author/title access to reviews. There is a cumulation for the years 1969-1979.
  • ProQuest. 1986-date.
    URL: http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
    In the "Basic Search," simply search for the word "review" and the author, title, and/or subject of the book.
  • Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe. 1980-date.
    URL: http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
    Select "Guided News Search." Under "News category," select "Arts & Sports News." Then under "News source," select "Book, movie, music, & play reviews." For "Search terms," enter the book's title, author, and/or subject. (Note that you can search for reviews in a specific newspaper or journal - e.g. The New York Times - by entering the name in the last search box, "Search this publication title(s).")
  • The New York Times Book Reviews
    • The New York Times. 1851-date.
      URL: http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
      Select both "ProQuest Newspapers New York Times" and "ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times." In the "Basic Search," simply search for the word "review" and the author, title, and/or subject of the book.
    • The New York Times Book Review Index. 1896-1970.
      Bobst Ref1 Z1219.N7
      Indexes only the Book Review section, from 1896-1970, by author, title and subject.
  • The Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature
  • The Times Literary Supplement
  • Index to Black Periodicals
  • Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals. 1886-1974.
    Bobst Ref1 Z1035.A1C6x
    Author/title access. Indexes journals in history, political science, and sociology.

Humanities Indexes

Science Indexes

Social Science Indexes

  • Social Sciences Citation Index. 1956-date.
    URL: http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
    Select a "General Search." Under "Topic," search for author, title, and/or subject of the book; under "Restrict search by languages and document types," select "Book Review" as the document type.
  • Social Sciences Abstracts. 1982-date.
    URL: http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
    To find reviews of books related to the social sciences, search for the author, title, and/or subject as "All-Smart Search," then under "Document Type" select "Book review," and select "Social Science (SS)" as Subject Area.
  • Social Sciences Index. 1974-1982.
    Bobst Ref1 AI3.S63n
    Four issues per year and annual cumulation. Reviews are listed in the back of each issue.
  • Book Review Index to Social Science Periodicals. 1964-1974.
    Bobst Z1035.A1B63x (four-volume set)
    Covers the ten-year period before the Social Sciences Index listed reviews.
  • Business Abstracts (via WilsonOmni). 1982-date.
    URL: http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
    To find reviews of books related to business, search for the author, title, and/or subject as "All-Smart Search," then under "Document Type" select "Book review," and select "Business (BUS)" as Subject Area.
  • Business Periodicals Index. 1958-1982.
    Bobst Ref6 Z7164.C81 B983
    Eleven issues per year and annual cumulation. Book review section at back of each issue, from 1975/1976 volume forward).
  • Education Full Text. 1983-date.
    Education Index Retrospective. 1929-1983.
    URL: http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
    To find reviews of books related to education, search for the author, title, and/or subject as "All-Smart Search," then under "Document Type" select "Book review," and select "Education (EDU)" as Subject Area.
    Bobst Ref1 Z5813.E23 1929-1981.
    Ten issues per year and annual cumulation. Book review section at back of each volume, from v.26 (1975-1976) forward; previously listed under heading "Book Reviews," 1929-1961 and 1969-1975.
  • ERIC (via CSA or Silverplatter). 1966-date.
    URL: http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
    CSA version: To find reviews of books related to education, do an "Advanced Search." Type "review" in the search field "Publication Type (PT=)," and then the author, title, and/or subject of the book in the search field "Keywords (KW=)."
    Silverplatter version: To search for reviews of books about education, first select "Change" in the limit box and under "Document Type," select "Book-Review" and click "OK." Then do a search for the book's author, title, and/or subject.
  • Physical Education Index. 1970-date.
    URL: http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
    To search for reviews of books about Dance, Health, Physical Therapy, Recreation, Sports, and Sports Medicine, do an "Advanced Search." Type "review" in the search field "Publication Type (PT=)," and then the author, title, and/or subject of the book in the search field "Keywords (KW=)."
  • Sociological Abstracts. 1962-date.
    URL: http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html
    To find reviews of books related to sociology, do an "Advanced Search." Type "review" in the search field "Publication Type (PT=)," and then the author, title, and/or subject of the book in the search field "Keywords (KW=)."
    Bobst Ref1 HM1.S67 1952-1963.
    Six issues per year and annual index.

Reviews of Older Literary Works

To find reviews of a book by an established author, you might start by checking BobCat for a bibliography devoted to that author. To do this, do a subject keyword search in BobCat for the name of the author you are interested in, combined with the word "bibliography." For example:

Subject Heading  edith wharton AND bibliography

In the event that there is not a bibliography available, then the following indexes of reviews may help.

  • Forster, Antonia. Index to Book Reviews in England, 1749-1774 [and] 1775-1800.
    Bobst Ref1 Z1035.A1 F67 1990 [and] Bobst Ref1 Z1035.A1 F675 1997
  • Ward, William S. Literary Reviews in British Periodicals, 1789-1797 [and] 1798-1820 [and] 1821-1826: A Bibliography.
    Bobst Ref1 Z2013.W36
  • Early American Periodicals Index to 1850.
    Bobst Microform MP3 (microprint)
    Case D, in box 6, lists reviews from American periodicals through 1850.
  • Literary Writings in America: A Bibliography.
    Bobst Ref1 Z1225.L58 (eight-volume set)
    Lists writings by and about 19th and early 20th century American writers, including reviews of their books.
  • Eichelberger, Clayton L. A Guide to Critical Reviews of United States Fiction, 1870-1910.
    Bobst Ref1 Z1225.E35 (two-volume set)
  • Sadler, Marion. Comprehensive Index to English-Language Little Magazines, 1890-1970, Series One.
    Bobst Ref1 Z6944.L5 S23 (eight-volume set)
    Lists stories and poems by famous and obscure writers, and reviews of their books. Covers 100 American and English literary magazines.

General Guides to the Reviewing Process

  • Walford, A.J., ed. Reviews and Reviewing: A Guide. 1986
    Bobst Ref1 PN98.B7 R5 1986
    The chapter on "The Art of Reviewing" is both a how-to for reviewers and a guide to critically analyzing book reviews.
  • Lindholm-Romantschuk, Ylva. Scholarly book reviewing in the social sciences and humanities. 1998
    Bobst H61.8 L56 1998

For more guides, try a Subject Heading (LCSH) search in BobCat for "Book reviewing."

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