Book Review on Chaise LaDousa, House Signs and Collegiate Fun: Sex, Race, and Faith in a College Town

First, pick a book you’re interested in and will enjoy reading – hopefully you’ve done this already!
Second, read the book carefully. Annotating the book as you go along (highlighting, underlining, marginal notes – whatever works for you) will help you later as you write the review. I do recommend reading the book all the way through before you start writing the review.
Third, write the review! Book reviews can take many different forms, but their content should include both summary and commentary. Here are some questions to consider as you shape the summary and commentary:
Summary:
• What is the book’s main argument?
• What evidence does the author present? (Using one or two concrete examples can be very effective here, rather than trying to rehash the entire book.)
• What is the structure of the book? (Chapter-by-chapter summaries often aren’t the best use of your word count, but you should give your readers a sense of what the book contains.)
Commentary:
• What is the book’s most important contribution to existing knowledge? (In order to get at the answer to this question, ask yourself “why did editors green-light this book project when many book projects get rejected?”)
• What strikes you as noteworthy or interesting about the book?
• Was the book effective/persuasive?
• How did the book enhance your understanding of the topic at hand?
• Is there anything that could have improved the book, in your opinion?
• How does this book build upon/enter into conversation with other relevant literature?
• To what audiences would you recommend this book?
Note: you don’t necessarily have to answer all of these questions in this order to write an effective review. Look back at the examples that we read and discussed in class, or look up reviews for another book you’ve read, if you’re looking for ideas on how to structure your review.