Finding Book Reviews
Book reviews appear in magazines and journals near the time of the book’s publication and can be valuable aids in the study of a particular book. Book reviews may include a criticism of the book, a summary of the subject, and even a comparison with other similar books. The resources below are useful for finding book reviews.
Library Databases
Use menus or keywords to limit your search to book reviews
Academic Search Premier (EBSCOhost): Provides full text for
more than 3,430 scholarly publications. Coverage: 1975 to
present. Updated: Daily. Limit to Book Reviews in the
"Document Types" area.
See Book Reviews In
EBSCOhost (
) guide for details.
MasterFile Premier (EBSCOhost): Full-text from nearly 3,000
general reference, business, consumer health, general science,
and multi-cultural periodicals. Coverage: 1984 to present.
Updated: daily. Limit to Book Reviews in the "Document
Types" area. See
Book Reviews In EBSCOhost () guide for details.
Newspapers (ProQuest): Provides comprehensive coverage of over 500 major national and international newspapers, including: The New York Times (full text from 1999 to present), Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, with over 300 newspapers in full text. Use "More Search Options" to limit to "Article Type" of Book Reviews.
Indexes to Book Reviews
These are located in the library
Book Review Digest (Ready Reference):
1905-1999. Contains references to various reviews and quotations
or excerpts from the actual review. Emphasis is on works of
general interest, and only reviews published 18 months from
books publication are listed.
Book Review Index (Ready Reference):
1965-Present. Emphasis on popular, academic, and professional
interests. Indexes over 500 publications from the United States,
Canada, Europe and Australia.
Children’s Literature Review (Ref Z 1037 A1
C35): 1976-Present. Excerpts from reviews, criticism, and
commentary on books for children and young people.
Index to Book Reviews in the Humanities (Ready
Reference): 1960-1990. From 1960-1970, humanities included
history and social science. Beginning with 1970, social science
materials were not included.
National Library Service Cumulative Book Review
(Ready Reference): 1905-1974. Index to over one million books on
all subjects.
New York Times Index (Newspaper Indexes shelf):
1851-Present.
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
(Reference Indexes shelf): 1901-2003. Check for the book reviews
section at the back of each volume.
The Times Index (1973-2002) / Index to
the Times (1957-1972) / Official Index to the
Times (1941-1957) / Palmer’s Index to the Times
Newspaper (1790-1941) / Times Index
(1785) (Newspaper Indexes shelf). Index to the London England
newspaper, The Times and its supplements, including
The Times Literary Supplement.
Public Websites
The following web resources contain book
reviews:
Directory of Book Reviews on the Web: Published by AcqWeb.
CM: Canadian Review of
Materials: Issues biweekly electronic journal reviews of
books and electronic media for young people. Published by
Manitoba Library Association.
BookWire: Book industry’s
site featuring reviews, book awards and many library or book
related links.
H-Net: Humanities and
social sciences online.