Bookmarks Magazine Review Search

Bookmarks Magazine is a publication I would whole-hearted recommend. They bill themselves as a magazine "For Everyone Who Hasn't Read Everything." They have reviews of new books and articles about classic authors. They have many articles about genres and lots of lists of books.

The print version of Bookmarks stands out for how it handles reviews. The staff of the publication provide a summary of the author's works, summary of the plot of the specific book, and then list excerpts from any published reviews, assigning stars to each review. The staff then writes a summary of the reviews pointing out the key points made about the book. I love that they have "reinvented the wheel" in a sense. Everyone has reviews, but by providing reviews of the reviews, you get a different perspective on the included titles.

The online feature I would like to highlight here is their new, searchable review database which can be accessed directly with this link. You can search for a book (fiction or nonfiction) by any or all of the following criteria: number of stars, genre, subgenre, subject/theme. So if you or your patron wants a four-star, literary fiction, about the American Dream, you could locate a list.

This database is by no means as comprehensive as the numerous subscription based services out there, but it is a nice addition by a publication trying to carve a niche out for itself. Personally, I find they are getting better all the time.