There are two approaches to finding professional book reviews written by professional book reviewers. It is best you avoid just google searching as you may not be able to distinguish a professional versus an amateur reviewer. Remember, anyone can publish on the Internet.
1. Search the library’s special database for book reviews, Book Review Digest Plus
a. Search only the name of the novel! Everything in this library resource = book reviews.
2. Find a well-known newspaper Use the same search strategy I gave you in the first handout:
TITLE OF NOVEL (try using quote marks so they are searched as a phrase) and REVIEW, e.g. “TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD” and REVIEW
3. Newspapers you can easily access include:
i. The New York Times (create an account for unlimited access provided to City Tech)
ii. Wall Street Journal Digital Sign-up with your CUNY email address for a complimentary one year pass to access the web and app versions of this newspaper.
iii. The Guardian
iv. The Washington Post
4. The best thing about using the library is that you can easily get your MLA citation from Book Review Digest Plus
a. After clicking through a result, look for the toolbar on the right (see below). I recommend also emailing the article to yourself. Don’t forget to select MLA style for your citation!
