How to Review a Business Book
Identify Key Terms in Business Writing When Reviewing Books
Two Parts Summary, One Part Analysis
Business book reviews should devote two-thirds of their length to summarizing the content and highlighting important concepts. The remainder of the review should focus on analyzing the value of the book. Summarizing core concepts up front is attractive to the business book review's target audience, upwardly mobile professionals and entrepreneurs. They recognize the need to read, but simply don't have the time to look at every book that hits the shelves. Summarizing key ideas enables these readers to quickly decide if the book covers a topic of interest. The analysis is helpful for those business people that are interested in the book's core concepts.
Highlight Core Concepts
Useful business book reviews will highlight two to three or more key ideas central to the book. Absent this information, a business owner or manager will often literally resort to judging a book by its cover. A reviewer can corroborate (or deny) what the marketing department claims on the cover of a business book.
- Using bulleted lists makes the key ideas stand out.
- If each idea is addressed in a distinct section of the book, make note of this fact.
- Provide a quote (properly cited) for each concept, if space allows.
Core concepts are what makes a business book, like a business itself, stand out from its peers. Readers of business book reviews want to know what another reader of the book took away from it - which may be very different from what the author intended.
Analyze the Business Book's Effectiveness
It is not always possible to test the concepts and strategies that a business book suggests. In lieu of that, a review should offer the writer's sincere opinion about the book itself. Business books can seem very much alike to the casual observer, and much of what is available is repackaging of information in unimaginative ways. Those books that provide a novel approach to an old problem, or a way to use a tried-and-true strategy to address a brand new challenge, can be more easily found with good reviewing.
It is perfectly appropriate to discuss grammar and punctuation errors as well as poorly organized ideas. Speculation about how effective the ideas would be if applied will help readers understand if the investment in time spent reading the book makes sense. However, any such opinions should be backed up with reasoning, so that the reader of the review can make a determination about whether or not he agrees.
