LibGuides: Literary Criticism: How to Find It: Book Reviews

Book Reviews vs. Literary Criticism

Book Reviews vs. Literary Criticism

Book reviews are generally evaluative whereas criticism is an exploration of the ideas in a work. In other words, a book review is meant to tell you if a book is good or bad, and whether you should read it (or buy it) or not. Criticism is more of a serious analysis of some aspect of a work, whether the work be good or bad. Reviews of literary works are usually not written by scholars, while criticism is almost always written by scholars.

One of the simplest ways of distinguishing book reviews from literary criticism is the time of publication of the review/critical article compared to the original publication date of the book. Book reviews tend to be written around the time the book was published, while literary criticism will be published in later years.

Online Sources for Reviews of Newer Books

Academic Search Elite (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
Offers full text for more than 2,000 serials, including more than 1,500 peer-reviewed titles. This multi-disciplinary database covers virtually every area of academic study. More than 100 journals have PDF images back to 1985.
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Central is the largest single periodical resource available, bringing together complete databases across all major subject areas, including thousands of full-text newspapers from around the world.

Tips

For reviews of newer (or older) books in a particular discipline, also try searching the most comprehensive journal database(s) for that discipline.

Click this link to learn which are the most comprehensive databases for many disciplines.

Newspapers can be great sources of book reviews from the present time and from the past.

Click this link to see a research guide connecting you to newspaper collections.

Sources for Reviews of Older Books

New York Times,1851 - 2007 -- (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
The New York Times (1851-2007) offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue.
Nineteenth-Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Provides an as-it-happened window on events, culture, and daily life in 19th-century America that is of interest to both professional and general researchers. With 1.8 million pages available, the collection features publications of all kinds, from the political party newspapers at the beginning of the 19th century to the mammoth dailies that shaped the nation at the century's end. Major newspapers stand alongside those published by African Americans, Native Americans, women’s rights groups, labor groups, and the Confederacy. Titles selected by leading scholars of the 19th-century American press, and headnotes have been included for the individual titles.
Periodicals Archive Online This link opens in a new window
An archive with backfiles of scholarly periodicals in the arts, humanities and social sciences that provides access to the searchable full text of hundreds of titles. The database spans more than two centuries of content, 37 key subject areas, and multiple languages.
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature Retrospective: 1890-1982 This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing of over 3 million articles from more than 550 leading magazines, including full coverage of the original print volumes of Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature. This important resource offers a wide range of researchers access to information about history, culture and seminal developments across nearly a century.

Poole's Index to Periodical Literature
This is a print multi-volume set. It is the premiere index to nineteenth century periodicals.

Edgar Allan Poe

Useful Links

Library Links

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English/Literature Databases

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