Rotten tomatoes is great for movies, is there a similar site for books?

Question

Usually for any type of movie, whether to purchase or watch in the theatres, I check out rottentomatoes.com. I was wondering is there something like that for books? I'm a big reader and I don't want to spend my time searching for good literature by hearsay from friends.

Answer 1

You may want to try some of these:
http://www.booksense.com/
http://www.booklistonline.com/
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/

What I usually do when I'm checking out a book: I go to amazon.com and read the publisher blurbs and editor reviews. Then I see what a few customer reviews have to say - and then finally, if it's available, I take advantage of the "search inside" feature. They usually give you the front and back covers, the first few pages, and the index. Although it's not the same as flipping through it in a bookstore, you can at least get a glimpse.