This book is an edition that is accessible to my young high school students who are just learning to read through a critical lens. I appreciated that the examples that may have been too abstract for my students were replaced or removed. This will be a great addition to our summer reading list.

I love his other "how to read" books, and this one is a great addition to my classroom! Practicality with humor.

This book is the book that I would place in the hands of my students without hesitation. Thomas C. Foster once again provided a resource that explains the importance of reading strategies in a way that is both discerning and approachable.
When writing books about reading, it is easy for authors to fall into stale language. Many instruction manuals either patronize or scold—both approaches fail with modern students. This is a book that I will purchase for myself, my classroom, recommend to my peer and students.

I looked forward to reading How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor as I had enjoyed and have used Foster's How to Read Literature Like a Professor as part of my teaching of literature survey and seminar courses. Overall, the text is engaging, and Foster skillfully guides readers through the critical reading process. His breakdown of the types of nonfiction sources we all typically encounter is easy to drop in to; a causal reader could spend much of their time with the first seven chapters and then delve into the remaining ten as needed. In terms of a teaching text, this breakdown of close attention to the first seven chapters and focusing on the relevant chapters for one's discipline for the remainder of the course should appeal to instructors across disciplines., especially those in writing across the curriculum programs. I found the discussion of "emerging media" particularly helpful as I have been working on incorporating on more lessons regarding information literacy into my courses. My one concern is that there are portions of the text that will not age well. Some of the commentary that engages rather directly with the current moment is helpful for those navigating a landscape littered with charges of "fake news;" however, I'm not sure that in three or five years that such commentary will feel as relevant and I worry that the tone employed may chip away at the author/text's ethos.

As other reviewers have mentioned, this book is written in a conversational, breezy style and introduces readers to various genres in nonfiction writing, including the news media. As such, it is a text best suited for advanced high school students or college freshman. Both the tone and the content, however, are less suitable for most upper-level university courses.

At just thirty percent into How to Read Nonfiction Like a Professor, I knew I would be requesting that my school site purchase it for my AP English Language students. By the end, I had been completely blown away -- a feat not unsurprising considering my very high expectations going into this reading. I have been a fan of Foster's since I was first introduced to How to Read Literature Like a Professor many, many years ago. That book helped me organize my literature instruction into more digestible chunks for my high school students and helped me show them what I and other readers do when we read. This book is no different; it eases the reader in, first making sure we understand the importance of this endeavor, then exploring different types of nonfiction, and then modeling his own detailed analysis of two texts on nearly the same subject and the difference in credibility of each. Considering how many subgenres "nonfiction" contains, I didn't expect such an exhaustive study. When I realized just how much breadth was going to be packed into the book, I thought maybe the depth would suffer. I was pleasantly surprised by both counts; though the book was short enough to be read in one day (one full day of being quarantined during spring break, I should add, but just one day), I was still completely satisfied by the quantity and quality of everything he explored.

One of the things I love about reading Foster's books is that he is just as excited about literary analysis, poetry analysis, and, now, critical reading as I am, and it simply feels good to have that kind of company. It was rare that there was a book or essay I hadn't read or was not excited about remembering, and I appreciate that he provided a list of books mentioned in the text at the end of the book so that I can revisit the ones I love and read the ones that are new to me.

Meanwhile, he writes in a manner that is entertaining and accessible for students at the upper high school and beginning college levels. Much of what he points out to do while reading nonfiction is what I already teach my students to do, but it's the organization of those practices, the wonderful examples, and the lively voice that will make this book as valuable to the veteran English teacher as it is to students.

And, honestly, it's simply an important book for anyone participating in a democracy. Without critical thought and critical reading, democracy can't exist, so this book shouldn't JUST be in classrooms; it should be recommended to everyone by librarians and booksellers across the country.

One tidbit that probably will be glossed over by the majority of readers is that Foster mentions being part of a discussion group about Joyce's Finnegan's Wake in the early years of the internet. Well, when I was 14, in the early years of the internet, I was part of just such a discussion group. The web was not so populated back then, and Finnegan's Wake enthusiasts make up an even smaller group, so I think it is likely that we were part of the same group. There was one member who was particularly active and whose explanations revolutionized my ability to analyze literature. I credit his contributions with my development from a student who accepted her teacher's interpretations to one who created her own. I can't help but wonder if that member whose name I have long since forgotten was this author; if so, he had a hand in me becoming an English teacher and continues to have a hand in my professional development.