Explain Book Review Questions For the Discerning Reader

All of us have been asked what we thought of a book after someone has learned that we read it. All of us have been asked to answer some basic book review questions.

What was the book about? Did you like it? What did you learn? Was the reading hard or easy? Do you think I should read it? Do you think you would read other books by this author? These are questions anyone might ask of us and they are questions we should be able to answer easily if we have read the book inquisitively, with detailed book review questions anticipated before we read the book.

Having your questions in mind before you read the book will help you recognize the answer when you come across it in your reading. These questions help you determine if the book is satisfactory or unsatisfactory while you're reading it. It tells you what you expect to get out of the book, what values you want to find in the book, and how the book will be meaningful to you.

Before you read the book, think about the subject. What do you already know about it? What don't you know? What would you like to know? How will the information you get from the book extend your knowledge, your understanding, your perceptions of the subject in the world? Ask yourself what your attitude is towards the subject. Does it give you pleasure, concern, or pain? Do you expect the book to heighten your feelings about the subject? Does the subject demand objectivity, or should it move your passions? Do you expect the book to be discursive or poetic, argumentative or artistic? The questions asked before the reading will be answered as you read the book. After the reading, you will ask a more general set of book review questions, and your answers to those questions will be based on the answers to the detailed questions you first posed before you started the reading.