Book Review Resources: Getting Started

Welcome to the University of Kentucky Book Review Research Guide.

This guide lists electronic and print resources designed to help you locate book reviews. Many other electronic resources also contain references to book reviews. A complete list of databases is available. You can click the Ask Us button to contact a Reference Librarian if you need help.

Book reviews are important scholarly resources for evaluating particular works and for gaining fresh insights and new perspectives on the subject topic. Reviews often do more than just evaluate the book – they reflect on the subject itself. Book reviews are a place for scholars to affirm or disagree with certain ideas in their fields. An important part of a well-rounded education is the ability to intelligently question ideas and to develop a healthy skepticism -- just because something is published, doesn’t mean it is agreed upon by everyone. Reviews provide a forum for debating these ideas.

Reviews are often written by our greatest scholars – both well-established and up-and-coming. Scholarly reputations are often made or at least cemented in book reviews. Some reviews are themselves important contributions to the literature. (In rare cases, the review becomes more important than the book itself.)