A book report is a summary of a book you have read. You often write a book report because it is a compulsory school assignment. In your exam year, you often have to explain your book reports orally in an examination. The book reports you write during your time at school, therefore, serve as your personal summary of the book: they ensure that you are able to recall the main points of the book at a later date. But how do you write a book report? Our step-by-step plan will help you a lot, but always keep an eye on the specific requirements given by your school.

How to write a book report?

Before you start writing a book report, it is important that you have actually read the book. You also need to understand the meaning of the story. The steps below will tell you more about how to make a book report.

Writing a book report: Step-by-step

You will be able to write a great book report if you follow the following steps:

1. Author of the book;

2. Title of the book;

3. Genre;

4. Characters;

5. Narrative perspective;

6. Time and space;

7. Title statement;

8. Give your own opinion about the book;

9. Specific school requirements;

10. Tips.

Would you like an explanation per step? Then read how to write a book report below! If you have trouble reading a book, it may be helpful to use the Salami technique. In the Salami technique, you divide the book into several separate parts.

Author of the book

Start your summary with the author of the book. You can describe the author by age, place of residence, and other books written.

Title of the book

Next, write down the title of the book. After all, your teacher needs to know which book you are discussing in your book report.

Genre

Describe the genre of the book. There are several genres, such as biography, novel, poetry, or thrillers. You can often find out the genre by the genre label on the book or by researching the book online.

Characters

Next, it is time to describe the characters of the book. You can distinguish the characters into main and secondary characters. When writing your book report, you focus mainly on describing the main characters.

Narrative perspective

In this step, you describe the perspective in which the story takes place. There are three possibilities:

• Omniscient narrator → a narrator outside the story. This perspective is mostly used in holy books or classic novels such as those by Charles Dickens.
• The first-person narrator → the story is told using the 'I-person'. This person is often the main character.
• The third-person narrator → this perspective is applied when the story is written in the third person. It is the most commonly used perspective in books.

Time and space

When and where does the story take place? When summarising your book, name the times and places in which the story takes place. To create a good overview, you can make a timeline that follows the main characters.

Title statement

In this step, you explain where the title of the book comes from. The title of the book might be straightforward and easy to explain, but it could also have multiple meanings.

Give your own opinion about the book

This is the part of the book report wherein you can let go of your knowledge about the book and give your personal opinion. Describe for example what expectations you had of the book and how it has touched you.

Specific school requirements

In addition to the steps mentioned above, it is important to take your school's specific requirements on the book report into account. For example, consider the correct grammar or formatting of your book report. You can always ask your teacher what the specific requirements of your book report are.

Tips

As a final tip, we advise you to start writing the summary of your book immediately after reading it. The book will still be fresh in your mind! Also, summarize the book per chapter. This way, you know for sure that you cover all chapters in your book report.  

Did you know that you can also sell your book reports on Stuvia? So don't wait any longer and start uploading.