These are excerpts from the author’s book “Deep,” which contains eight of his small books published in the form of Wisdom Literature covering different aspects of life: Facing troublemakers, dealing with pain, personal financial issues, gastronomy, reading, criticizing, inspiring, and feeling always good to go.

Series 5: Reading

How Do You Review a Book?

• Your review of any book should reflect your opinion about whether the book achieved its purpose, not about whether you liked the book or not.

• No review can cover everything that can be said about the book. The important thing is to present the idea of the book in general and then show the most important of what you see as done well and what could have been better.

• Getting rid of prejudices helps you to write an objective review that benefits the reader and does not detract from the book’s value.

• Not only negative prejudices, but also the excessive bias toward the book may not make the review convincing to the reader and cause the opposite results than what you want. Calmness and prudence are essential in all cases.

• If for whatever reason you cannot get rid of your prejudices concerning the book, at least try to present objectively what makes you insist on those judgments.

• Using a number of stars to rate the book is not necessary. But if you must, make sure that your rating reflects as accurately as possible what you detailed in the review so as not to confuse the reader.

• Previous opinions and reviews affect you in some way and their influence cannot be completely eliminated. Do not worry about that. Rather, try to benefit from it as material that enriches your review with more comments.

• It is important that you read the book carefully to provide a valuable review. But if you felt eager to comment on a book after quickly scrolling through it, do not forget to highlight that in your comment. And most important, mention what prompted you to scroll quickly through the book and what drew your attention to the general or detailed notes on some points in the book.

• It is not the main purpose of reviews to direct people to read the book or not to read it. But it is okay to suggest the type of people who would most likely enjoy and benefit from reading the book.

• No matter how busy or hurried you are, don’t miss an opportunity to write a comment on what you have read, even if it is just one line or two carefully chosen words. This is the right of the book and its readers of you, and it is your duty toward yourself as a serious reader.