“With more than 40,000 new books published each year in the United State, no reader, however enthusiastic, can possibly read more than a small percentage of them.” Thus begins editor Sylvia E. Kamerman’s book "Book Reviewing," ed. by Sylvia E. Kamerman, Boston, The Writer, Inc., 1978.

Now, how many books are published each year? Bowker reports a 60% rise in self-published books since 2011, five time more than in 2007. Berrett-Koehler reports that new print titles issued by U. S, publishers was 316,480 in 2010 and total books published was over three million, plus 2.7 million of “non-traditional” titles (including those self-published). http://www.bkpextranet.com/AuthorMate...

So--is reviewing books a hopeless endeavor now, or even more essential as an invaluable assist for those who love books? I believe that the more books are published the more essential it is to review the good ones. Therefore, I’m reviewing Kamerman’s book as a valuable how-to-do-it guide for people writing various types of reviews, from short descriptions to critical essays.

Book Reviewing is “A guide to writing book reviews for newspapers, magazines, radio, and television—by leading book editors, critics, and reviewers,” twenty-one experts who describe their experiences and summarize their advice. They each have a unique perspective, but they all agree on a few general guidelines. Their opinions only differ on whether or not a reviewer should read other reviews of the same book.

All agree that a reviewer should stick to a special interest in order to reliably compare the book reviewed to the author’s other titles and to similar books by other authors. Without summarizing the plot or premise in detail, the review should provide basic information about the book and its author, its content and style, and whether or not the author succeeded in fulfilling the intended goal. Quotations are useful to illustrate these points, as are comparisons with other books and authors.

Four of Kamerman’s expert reviewers deal with the special problem of reviewing children’s books. Since they are most often bought by adults (primarily by librarians in 1978) the reviewer is challenged to consider the adults' views of accuracy, issues and psychology, while focusing primarily on "literary and artistic merit." Now, with so many books sold online, that may be changing.

To put it simply—in no more than 600 words (twice that for critical essays), the reviewer should focus on what the book offers the reader. Above all, a review should be about the book reviewed, not about the reviewer.

L. E. Sissman of The Atlantic presents his advice as a list of Don’ts, making these points: Don’t review books written by friends or by enemies. Review only those books you care about, ignoring jacket copy and what other reviewers have said. Read twice a carefully chosen book in your area of expertise (making notes). Always be kind in evaluating four basic elements—the plot or premise, pace, style and characterizations. When you understand what the author set out to do, use you best judgment to explain how well the book succeeds and why.