1. Position the author, say who she/he is and what the book represents in relation to her/his work.

2. Situate the book and judge it from the perspective of a long literary tradition.

3. Give reasoned arguments, with examples, so that the reader can understand and evaluate.

4. Inform, educate and entertain.

5. Little synopsis and plot.

6. Be informative about the style, the meaning and the symbolic weight of the book.

7. Say what the author thinks about the theme of the book.

8. Say what the critic thinks about what the author of the book says about the theme of the book.

9. Neither bludgeon nor drool, a considered decision and a measured foundation are more convincing than an outburst.

10. Ban the adjectives of advertising, it’s the reader who should decide.

[From Winston Manrique Sabogal’s piece on the state of literary criticism in El Pais / via Melville House]