BOOK REVIEW INSTRUCTIONS
The 4MAT
REVIEW system is a way of responding to readings, lectures, and life experiences that requires the learner to
interact with new ideas on several levels.
Please use the following format in preparing 4MAT
Book Reviews:
1. ABSTRACT. Summarize what you have read, boiling the book down into 400–600 words (no more than 2 pages). Prove
you comprehend the readings by writing a nononsense
summary. The abstract is not a commentary or listing of topics but
rather an objective summary from the reader’s viewpoint. Abstract equals “boiled down.” This section should include a
minimum of 2 footnotes* to the text being reviewed. (*in text citations if you are using APA style)
2. CONCRETE RESPONSE. Get vulnerable! In no less than 250 words and no more than 1 page, relate a personal life
experience that this book triggered in your memory. Relate your story in first person, describing action, and quoting exact
words you remember hearing or saying. In the teaching style of Jesus, this is a doityourself
parable, case study, confession.
You will remember almost nothing you have read unless you make this critical, personal connection. What video memory
began to roll? This is your chance to tell your story and make new ideas your own.
3. REFLECTION. This is the critical thinking part of the review (not critical in the sense of negative, but in the sense of
questioning). In no less than 250 words and no more than 1 page, describe what questions pop up for you in response to
what you have read. Keep a roughnote
sheet at hand as you read. Outsmart the author by asking better questions than
he/she raised in the book. Tell how the author could have made the book better or more appealing to those in your field of
service. One way to begin this section is by stating what bothered you most about the book. This is not a place to provide an
endorsement or affirmation of the book.
4. ACTION.Creating Effective teams So what are you going to do about it? In 400–600 words (no less than 1 page and no
more than 2 pages) provide 2 actions that describe what changes you are going to make in your life, ministry, and/or work as
a result of your reading. Actions should be measurable and reveal a commitment to specific time, specific people