If there are serious questions about the source information cited in the book, the reviewer may want to look at other books on the same subject matter to see if the author is dealing fairly with the information. The reviewer should also find other book reviews published on this book to see if his or her conclusions are in keeping with those of others who have reviewed the book. The reviewer should consider how the book fits into its subject area. For example, if the book portrays itself as focusing on the modern philosophical debate on religious language but instead spends most of its time tracing the history of religious language, then the review would be fair in pointing out this deficiency. Other areas of evaluation focus on the biases and presuppositions of the author.
Every author comes to a subject with specific presuppositions.
The reviewer should know these presuppositions and determine if they hamper a fair treatment of the subject matter. Finally, the reviewer should address the integrity of the conclusions. The best resource for evaluating a book is the reviewer s own opinion. Do not be afraid to rate the book as long as you can support your position. In addition to your own opinion, however, you should consult other book reviews, book review indexes and digests.