How to write a book report

One day, you are sitting your class peacefully after completing an assignment and submitting it. You have scored well, so, you are quite relaxed. Suddenly, the teacher comes to the class. He has something to say. All students could tell it from the expressions of the teacher. They are anxiously waiting for the teacher to spit out his words. After a while, the teacher breaks off the suspense and asks everyone to write a book report. This terminology is new for everyone in the class. The teacher feels the difficulty of the students and asks them to first read a book and then write about it in the short form. Then, he goes out. Everyone is disturbed. They don’t know anything about the book report nor do they have any experience in this field. So, you are quite devastated and want to write a good book report.

What is a book report?

Usually, a book report is a form of writing composition or a presentation about a book and all its relative aspects. These aspects can be the summary of the book, the details of characters and themes. It can also be about the story and the main plot of the book. In the schools and colleges, book reports are usually written by students on a particular book suggested by the teacher. In universities, you are asked to choose a book of your own and then, write a book report on it.

Main Points of a book report:

Writing a Good Book Report

Writing a book report works on a specific rule, “Before you write, read!” If you want to write a good book report, you will have to read a good book. There are some rules and tips which you can follow while writing a book report

Choice of the book

In universities, there is no need to choose a specific book. You can choose any book of your liking. There is no burden on you of topics to read a book. While choosing a book, you must keep in mind that you are going to read a whole book, so, you should pick out the book which interests you the most. You must choose a book which you read the whole. Because you are going to write a book report, you must know how to read a book. You can choose a book which goes on with your subject, a book which you have read before, a book which seems to capture your interest or a book which you can read the whole. You must keep in mind that you are reading for fun, not for the work. If you have chosen a book, you must read it with a pen and paper with you. It will be useful for you as you can write down the page numbers and some points with you up handed. The choice of the book is the foremost priority while writing a book report. If there is a book which you don’t find interesting in the middle of it, it will be a waste of your time and also your efforts. But, if there is a book which you can read the whole and then put all your efforts into it, it will be quite good for you.

Create a Book Report Outline

An outline is always important as it will help you to keep your thoughts in a particular way. Before starting to write a book, you must know that you are going to write a book report, so, there must be some smoothness in your work. It will not only help you to keep the reader of your book report in a place but also help your readers to understand the whole book without even reading it. Many people ought to learn everything about the book before reading it. Your book report will be helpful to them. And, if your book report is helpful to others, the more good score it will get. So, you can actually, create a book report outline to keep a focus on every point. A good book report outline can be created as follows:

• Introduction
• Summary of the book
• Book Details: Characters
• Book Details: Plot
• Evaluation and Conclusion

You can keep some papers with you to keep a note of every point. You can name each page as the outline sketch. You can read a single part, for example; beginning of the story and then write it in your paper as an introduction. In this way, you can write other things also and then keep a track of them to write the whole book report.

The Introduction

It is very common for all the book reports to begin with an introduction. An introduction mainly contains basic information about the book. It contains the following parts:

• The title of the book
• Name of the author
• Genre
• Publication information (Publisher, Number of Pages, The year of the publication)

The paragraph of the introduction is also mainly important as it will be the first one to attract the interest of your reader. You can attract the readers by mentioning and adding some unusual facts or circumstances about the reader or book which was first unknown to the readers. You can also add some worthy to note the distinctions of the reader. If the book has won any prize, you can also add it in your introduction. You can also add some other information such as: “Was the book bestselling book? Was the author a well-known person?” Book reports are often considered as some personal matters. So, you can add the reasons for your choice of this book. In short, you can add anything unless it defines the writer, book, and emotions related to this book.

What the book is about?

After the introductory paragraphs about the book, you can choose at least 3 more paragraphs that can define the theme of the book. You can add; what the book is about? What is the main purpose of the author for writing this book? What circumstances are there in the book? What is the lesson of the book? This is how you can show your reader that you have read the book completely and understood it all together. You can use the following tips:

• Summary: This is the second paragraph after the introductory paragraph. You can add some relative points of the book in this paragraph. You can write an overview of the story. You can write about the main points of the book. You can add the locations in which the story took place. You can also add the time duration of the story. You can add the names of the story and the plot is essential. You can also add about the atmosphere in which the story took place and the tone of the writing. You can add the fact that whether this book is kind of creepy or a heart lightning story.

• Character Details: In this paragraph, you can write about all the characters which were present in the book. First, you can add their names and their role in the book. You must not forget to keep a sequence according to their role; for example, write about the main characters first, the supporting characters second, and the cameo which made an appearance at the last. You can add their importance in the book and what is the reason for their appearance. You can also tell the hurdles and the problems the characters are facing and what ways are they embracing to smash these hurdles and solve their problems. You can also add some simple details about what the dress character usually likes to wear and what is his/her facials. You can tell your readers about the positive characteristics that your character possesses.

• Plot Details: Plot Details do not mean to write a summary of the poem once again. It is a short paragraph that focuses on the events which took place. You can write the events in the sequence about the book. You can discuss the headlines of the book and how the story developed over time. You can also discuss some of your emotions about the book and if you were asked to change something, what would be that thing. You will need to explain your ideas and thoughts on the book. You can tell your readers about the reasons for the book plot to be convincing, unrealistic, and fictional.

Book Reports on Non-Fiction Books

If you are writing about some non-fiction books; such as biographies, autobiographies, or some historical factors, you have to follow another sequence of writing a book report. In this case, you will have to focus on the main body of your book report on the description of the subject of the book. You will also have to add about the author’s point of view on the subject. Writing a book report on biography is easy as it will just include some important points about the subject and the contributions to the subject. You can present the thoughts of the writer by using the headings of your book report. You can also add in the arguments presented by the author.

Personal Appraisal and Conclusion

Writing the last paragraph is quite interesting as it is the paragraph of your thoughts. You can add some personal emotions, thoughts, ideas, and experiences in this paragraph. In this paragraph, you are going to add about your critic points on the book. You are going to express your ideas about reading the book and the mind evolution after reading the book. You can add about the thoughts which you had before reading and the thoughts which came to your mind after reading the book. You can write about the strengths and weaknesses of the book. You can also write about if the book had to hold your interest completely while reading it; if there was an effect on your heart or mind after reading the book; did the book motivated you or gave you a light feeling of life. You can add about any of your thoughts. But, you must not forget to keep a balance between your thoughts and your words. You must try to support your statements by giving some examples from the same book.
Writing a book report is an interesting work as it does not require you to give your time to research about a particular topic. Rather, it allows us to keep some good books with us to read them and provide us with entertainment. If you are going to write a book report on a biography of a person, it is obvious that you are going to teach more about a person who made contributions and changes to this world. If you are going to write a book report on a fictional book, then it means that you are going to be entertained while reading and writing.
According to Ann McCallum, William Strong, and Tina Thoburn; “A book report is a way for you to let others know about a book you have read. A good book report will help others decide whether they want to read a book or not.”