Book Reviews
- General Sources for Current Reviews
- Sources for Older Reviews
- Subject-Specific Reviewing Sources and Related Guides
- World Wide Web Sites
General Sources for Current Reviews
Resources to Try First:
ProQuest (Dates of coverage vary).
Contains recent full-text of numerous magazines, journals, and newspapers. To limit your search to Book Reviews, select the "Guided Search" under Search Methods, then choose the Article Type "Book Review".
Book
Review Digest (1905-present).
Indexes reviews of English-language books. Includes brief excerpts from reviews. Access is by author, title, or subject.
Book Review Index (1965-present).
Indexes reviews in over 200 English-language journals. Includes fiction, non-fiction, and children's books. Does not include abstracts, but covers more sources than Book Review Digest.
New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books provides lengthy reviews by and about major authors, including contributions from Susan Sontag, Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, John Berryman, Robert Lowell, Adrienne Rich, and William Styron. The online archive provides the full text of articles, searchable by date, author, keyword, and other fields.
ChoiceReviews
Online (1988-present).
Provides electronic access to the text of brief reviews published in Choice magazine. The database is updated monthly.
Academic
Universe.
Dates of coverage vary depending on individual titles, majority date from the early 1990s
Full-text of newspapers and magazines. Select "News" then "Arts and Sports" to look for book, movie, and performance reviews.
Additional General Sources
Alternative Press Index (1969-1972, 1974-present).
Includes reviews in non-traditional, left-leaning publications.
Ethnic
NewsWatch.
Dates of coverage vary.
Full-text database with magazines, newspapers and other publications from ethnic, minority, or native presses. To narrow your search to reviews select "Advanced Search", and then choose the Article Type "Book Review".
NoveList
A readers' advisory service that lists over 100,000 titles, and contains 75,000 full text reviews of works of fiction. The "Find a Favorite Author" or "Find a Favorite Title" features generate recommended reading lists, along with reviews and descriptions, when they are available.
Project
Muse.
Dates of coverage vary.
Recent full-text of scholarly journals in various disciplines.
Reader's Guide to Periodical
Literature. 1900-present.
An index to articles and reviews appearing in over 200 general interest publications. Since 1976 "Book Reviews" can be found in a separate section at the end of each volume. Most reviews prior to 1976 appear in the Book Review Digest, published by the same company.
Sources for Older Reviews
TLS
Centenary Archive (Times Literary Supplement) 1902-1990
Fully indexed page images of the TLS (Times Literary Supplement) from 1902 until 1990. Identifies authors of anonymously published articles previous to 1974.
New York Review of Books
The New York Review of Books provides lengthy reviews by and about major authors, including contributions from Susan Sontag, Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, John Berryman, Robert Lowell, Adrienne Rich, and William Styron. The online archive provides the full text of articles, searchable by date, author, keyword, and other fields.
Combined Retrospective Index
Set to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals, 1886
-1974.
link to CAT Record)
Book reviews appear under the author of the book being reviewed. Covers over 400 journals in history, political science, and sociology.
Combined Retrospective Index
Set to Book Reviews in Humanities Journals, 1802-1974.
(link to CAT record)
Index by author name to reviews appearing in 157 early humanities periodicals.
American
Periodicals Series Online, 1740-1900
Full-text
of American magazines and journals that originated
between 1741 and 1900.
JSTOR.
Dates of coverage vary with coverage of some titles back to the 1800’s.
Full-text of selected scholarly journals. Coverage begins with the first issue, and excludes the most recent years.
Periodicals
Index Online
Dates coverage varies depending
on individual titles; coverage ranges from the
later 18th century to the 20thcentury Indexes
thousands of scholarly journals in the humanities
and the social sciences from their first issues
up to the 1990’s. Does not include the most
recent issues of the journals. Select book reviews
under the "search in" option.
Poole's Index to Periodical Literature, 1802-1900.
A subject index to 470 British and American periodicals. Reviews typically appear under the subject of the book. Fiction, drama, and poetry can be found by author.
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. 1900-present.
(link to CAT Record)
An index to articles and reviews appearing in over 200 general interest publications. Since 1976 "Book Reviews" can be found in a separate section at the end of each volume. Most reviews prior to 1976 appear in the Book Review Digest, published by the same company.
Social Sciences and Humanities Index, 1907-1974 (1907-1952, title is International Index to Periodicals.
Splits into separate Social Science Index, and Humanities Index in 1975).
An author/subject index to 189 scholarly English language journals. Book reviews can be found under the author and/or the subject of the book.
More Reviews
This guide does not list every source for book reviews. For specific disciplines (e.g. Psychology, Music) see the appropriate subject guide or contact the librarian or subject specialist in your area.
Related Guides
Book Reviews in the Arts and Humanities
Children's Literature Reviews, Guides, and Recommendation
Earth and Mineral Sciences: How to find Reviews
Pennsylvania Center for the Book
World Wide Web Sites
Gateway Library Online Reference Shelf:
Criticism, Reviews, and Theory.
A list of links to review sites selected by library staff.
H-Net Reviews in the Humanities and Social Sciences (1993 to present).
H-Net Reviews is an online scholarly review journal that publishes not only book reviews but also reviews of film,
software, museum exhibits, and World Wide Web sites. You can search by keyword or browse by year or review publication.
amazon.com
has
its own editorial reviews, as well as reviews from
customers and some external reviewing sources.
Created and maintained by Eric Novotny, Humanities Librarian.
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