1. SELECT THE RIGHT BOOK.. Wherever possible, pick a book you will enjoy, one that is either well-written or covers a subject of special interest to you (either you want to know more about that subject or you have to know more about it). 

2. READ THE BOOK CRITICALLY. Take your time and read the book carefully. Just because something is in print does not mean that every word is true. Take notes as you go along.

3. MAKE AN OUTLINE OF YOUR REVIEW BEFORE YOU WRITE THE FINAL DRAFT. A journey (even on paper) goes more smoothly if you know where you want to go and how to get there. Organization and a willingness to revise (rewrite) are the keys to good writing. Never submit a first draft of a paper for a grade. Take pride in your work and polish it. That is what professional writers do.

4. A GOOD BOOK REVIEW SHOULD CONTAIN (though not necessarily in this order):

A. Complete Bibliographical Information (The book's author, title, place of publication, publisher, year of publication, and number of pages should come at the very beginning of your review at the top of the first page of your text.) See the example below:
 

Urwin, Gregory J. W. Facing Fearful Odds: The Siege of Wake Island. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997. xxiii + 727.
 

B. Information on the Scope of the Book (What is the book's subject matter -- where, what, when, or who is it about? Is it a textbook, a survey, a collection of source materials or essays, a monograph, a biography, an autobiography, etc.?)

C. An Analysis of the Author's Methods (Research and the use of such techniques as psychology, quantitative analysis, literary criticism, sociology, etc.)

D. Use of Sources (What kind of materials did the author use, and did he use them intelligently? Did he discover any new sources? Did he use all the important sources? Is his book a preliminary study or a definitive one?)

E. A Statement and Evaluation of the Book's Thesis (What the author is trying to prove and whether he is successful or not.)

F. An Evaluation of the Book (Did the author support his conclusions with ample evidence? Did you like the book? Why, or why not? What audience does the book address: scholars, ordinary readers, liberals, Republicans, Democrats, whites, blacks, Northerners, Southerners, Neo-Nazis, etc.)

G. Information on the Author's Background (Schooling, professional experience, other writings, etc. Consult Contemporary Authors and other sources in the reference section of the library. Ask a librarian to help you locate such reference works.)

H. How Other Reviewers Judged Your Book (Book Review Digest should be able to lead you to other reviews, provided your book has been in print for a year or more. American History and Life may be even more helpful.)  Do not use reviews found on Amazon.com or other on-line bookstores.  These reviews are not written by experts in their respective fields, but by ordinary readers, and ordinary readers are not always qualified to judge what they read.

Nota Bene. In evaluating your book, beware of possible bias on the part of the author. Most people harbor certain prejudices, even historians. Individuals who took part in the events they describe carry a certain amount of emotional luggage with them for the rest of their lives. As you read, ask yourself if the author is betraying any biases. If you are reading an American historian writing about World War II, ask yourself if he is being as fair in his treatment of America's enemies (Germans, Japanese, etc.) as he is of the troops who served his own country. If you are reading a memoir, ask yourself what kind of image is the author trying to project. How does he want the reader to view him, and is that image accurate? If your memoir is written by a German soldier, note how he addresses the Holocaust or the atrocities committed against POWs and civilians throughout occupied Europe. If your memoir is written by an American bomber pilot, see if he deals with the moral questions involved in bombing unarmed civilian populations. How authors handle such painful topics (if they address them at all) may tell you a lot about the character of the people you are reading. The important thing is to question and to think about the information you are ingesting.