Should I describe a book I've read in the past or present tense?

I am trying to think what kind of book I might describe using the past tense.

Certainly the plays of Shakespeare, which are still currently performed, albeit written 400 years ago are usually described in the present tense. I even looked at some reviews of Thomas More's Utopia, published in the early 16th century. And those were mostly, but not all, in the present tense.

I don't think you will ever go wrong by sticking to the present tense, when describing fiction.

However when it comes to history, it is a different matter. If one were describing, for example a biography of Queen Elizabeth I, I believe one would use the past tense. The Armada arrived off the south-west coast and was spotted from the look-out at St Michael's Mount.... I have also heard people tell stories from the bible in the past tense. And that is probably because they regarded it as factual history.