The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing

Because I often review books for or about kids on this blog I was happy to have Mayra Calvani give me a copy of her book, The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing to review.

But, wait! Do I really dare write a review of that book? What if I don't do it right?

Okay, I'll be brave and tell you about the book anyway, because it might be helpful to a lot of people.

The book, co-written by Calvani and Anne K Edwards, begins with basic information that would be familiar to most writers, but soon moves on to explain less obvious things. Some of the topics covered are various types of reviews, legal and moral aspects of publishing them, and the influence of reviews on book purchases. There are also lists of places to get reviews published and information about using them on the internet.

Anyone interested in becoming a professional reviewer would find the sections dealing with that especially helpful, but the book is also a good resource for amateurs. (I wish some of the people who reviewed my book, The Peril of the Sinister Scientist, had read the part about not giving away endings.)

I'll keep The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing near my desk and refer to it often in the future. Anyone who writes, or would like to write book reviews will probably find this book helpful.