The Book Review: Top Reviewers Share How It’s Done

Jane Ciabattari, Lydia Kiesling, Paul Laity, John McMurtrie, Ismail Muhammad

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What makes for a good book review? How about a good book reviewer, for that matter? How are books chosen for review, and reviewers chosen for a particular book? How should a “bad” book be panned—or is it better to just not review it at all? This panel of esteemed reviewers takes us inside the process: Lydia Kiesling, editor of the literary website The Millions; Paul Laity, non-fiction reviewer at The Guardian; John McMurtrie, books editor at the San Francisco Chronicle; Ismail Muhammad, reviewer for The Millions and contributor to Slate and the Paris Review; and Jane Ciabattari, reviewer for the BBC, and current vice president (and former president) of the National Book Critics Circle.