<p>How much do you acutally need to summarize the book, especially if its a fairly common one?</p>
<p>Don’t spend an insanely long time focusing on straight plot, but write as if the person reading your essay has not read the book you will be talking about. Try to keep it as concise as possible though, so you don’t waste word space. The important thing is what the essay will say about you, so be sure to make the main focus how the book relates to you or what it means in your life.</p>