Writing Book Reviews as Writing Practice

"Book reviews are an underappreciated art form in academic writing. Read them. Write them. Pay no heed to anyone who insists that book reviews--whether published or  electronic-- 'don't count' as scholarly contributions. Anything that makes you a more astute writer/editor contributes immeasurably to your ability."


from p. 108, Writing up Qualitative Research by Harry F. Wolcott

Note: I found out the hard way that book reviews are not easy to write. I've been writing them regularly since 2004 and they are still challenging. Summarize, but not too much. Contextualize, but don't rewrite the book.  Critique, but don't bludgeon.

Practice. Practice. Practice.