Research Guides: Literary Genres: Form: Novels

Book Reviews and Literary Criticism

Book reviews are critiques of the work written contemporaneously with the publication of the book being reviewed; they are a good way to assess the original reception of the work under consideration. Literary criticism, on the other hand, continues long after the original publication.

Databases and Indexes

Book Review Digest Plus This link opens in a new window
Book Review Digest Plus is a library tool that brings together book reviews on a wide range of topics, from a variety of sources.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to older issues of seminal scholarly journals.
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
The index for literature. Search MLA to find literary criticism, book reviews, and just about anything relating to communication.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to all journals published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, including recent publications.
ProQuest One Literature This link opens in a new window
Literary criticism, authors' biographies, reference resources with citations. PQ1L provides useful information for researching literature. Includes the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL), which has scholarly book reviews.
Readers' Guide Retrospective This link opens in a new window
Beginning in 1890, the Reader’s Guide is one of the most comprehensive places to locate articles from popular periodicals. The database extends through 1982.

Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Humanities Journals 1802-1974
Ten volumes of book reviews.

Primary Sources

New York Times Book Review (NYTBR)
From 1901-1986 and 1995-2010 the NYTBR is on microfilm as a section of the Sunday issue of the New York Times.
From 1987-1994, the NYTBR is on it's own microfilm reels, separate from the Sunday Times.
New York Review of Books
Predicated on the premise "the discussion of important books was itself an indispensable literary activity," The New York Review of Books has established itself, in Esquire‘s words, as “the premier literary-intellectual magazine in the English language.”
http://www.nybooks.com/about
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v.1(1963)-v.15(1970) is part of the print periodical collection in Fondren Library.
v.16(1971)- are available on microform, except for the most recent issues.
The most recent issues are retained only until the microform arrives.
Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive
"Since 1902, the TLS has scrutinized, applauded and dissected the work of leading writers and thinkers, offering comprehensive coverage of the most important publications, in every subject, in several languages, as well as reviewing current theatre, cinema, music, and exhibitions."

Year's Work in English Studies
Each volume includes a detailed overview from Old English to contemporary critical works for a given year, and contains critical notices for some 1100 books; extensive coverage of English Language, American Literature, New Literatures in English and English Literature; coverage of specialist periodicals; comprehensive indexing by critic, author, and subject; plus bibliographical endnotes for each chapter.

Background & Reference Information

Encyclopedia of the Novel
Offers authoritative accounts of the history, terminology, genre and theory of the novel.
Facts on File Companion to the American Novel
Examines the great American novel in all of its diversity. Traces the history of the novel in the United States. Includes: author biographies and bibliographies; synopses and analyses of major novels; and extended essays on major subjects, such as the African-American novel and mystery and detective novels.