Check out The New York Journal of Books where Joseph Mackin delivers a treatise on the book review.
What is the purpose of the book review anyway? Do they serve to introduce the general public to another addition to “the sum of all books present in the shared human consciousness”? Or are the reviews so far removed from the books that inspired them that they instead must be written as sociological critiques? What did John Updike think about it? Find out, dear reader. Find out.