A Free Template to Streamline Online Book Reviews

It happens to me all the time. I read an amazing book, one that fills me with all these rich experiences and thoughts that I want to tell the world about it. But when I head over to Amazon or Goodreads to write a review, I’m like a deer in headlights. My mind goes blank, and suddenly I’m back in first grade trying to write a book report for English class.

“Me like book,” is all that comes to mind.

“This book good.”

“This book bad.”

Part of the difficulty, I’m sure, is that I am used to writing academic book reviews, which are a whole other animal. Informal, online book reviews require a lighter hand, a different vocabulary, a less formal structure–one that I didn’t spend years in graduate school learning and honing and being critiqued by professors on.

So I regress to paleolithic first-grade book speak.

In fact, this was partly why I set my ambitious 220-for-2020 reading goal this year. I wanted to get better not only at reading books but at reviewing them. I figured the more I read and reviewed, the better I’d become.

The first step started a few months ago. I began paying more attention to the ways my favorite book reviewers talk about books (currently my go-to’s are fellow author + book enthusiast, Susan Cushman, as well as renaissance woman Anne Bogel over at Modern Mrs. Darcy).

Next, when I listened to podcasts or read reviews online, I began keeping track of words (especially adjectives) people used to create vivid, precise descriptions of books. This helped me move beyond the “good book/bad book” rut.

Finally, I began using a 5-point format for my reviews. It’s one I developed myself so I could write compact, encapsulated reviews that also managed to give prospective readers a taste of how I experienced the book. I don’t always include something for each of the five points, and my reviews generally end up being about 3-6 sentences.

The template is still a work in progress but I’ve decided to share it for anyone who has the same struggles I do when writing book reviews. The first page outlines the 5-point book review template I use. Then there are three distinct lists of adjectives to use when describing a book favorably, neutrally, or negatively.

Download the free template on my blog Here

Happy reading–and reviewing!