I generally read reviews--and I also like Amazon's recommendations. Other sites use the technique too.
Here's a couple of review sites that I've mentioned before. This first one really breaks down a book into the why and why not:
http://redadept.wordpress.com/
Then there's Books on the Knob:
http://booksontheknob.blogspot.com/
and one of my favorite reviewers because she reviews a bit of everything:
http://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com/ (She's a librarian.)
Maria