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.