What’s the difference between a book report and a book review?
While those two things may sound the same, they are actually very, very different. A book report is a type of writing usually performed within the confines of academe, with the pointed goal of examining a book objectively. A review, on the other hand, is a highly-opinionated treatment of the same material, often filtered against the author’s personal values and agenda.
Many book reports requested in the classroom cover a specific type of analysis of the book. This will depend a lot on what the professor is looking for. Some teachers, for instance, will require you to expound on the material’s prominent themes, analyze the arguments and their corresponding proof, defend the author’s position and numerous other things, all of them specifically geared towards looking at the book in a particular way.
In contrast, book reviews are usually geared towards answering one question: “Should I read this book?” While they may also be asked for in class, most book reviews are actually produced outside school, with the intention of educating readers about the merits of a particular written work. Some writers will use various elements found in book reports to write reviews, such as analyzing the thesis or challenging the author’s claims. However, these are all only done within the context of summarizing a book’s contents in a highly-opinionated way, instead of being an objective treatment.
With that said, they do have some similarities, largely because of the fact that they both require you to actually read the book and filter it against some criteria. Additionally, you’ll need to use a good writing software in both cases, especially if you want your report or review to be clearly written.
Tags: book reports, book reviews
