It's hard to scratch that constant itch for quality new fiction books. The books I prefer are mostly of the science fiction, fantasy or mystery/thriller variety. The trouble is, the market is so flooded with lousy writing, it becomes difficult to findthe gems buried within the muck. Here's a list of the methods that have worked for me, in order of most helpful to least.
Find what your favorite bloggers read?
Don't rely on a scifi/fantasy blog/website for book recommendations. You'll be buried in recommendation cruft from the world's legion of campy scifi book lovers. Seriously, I've never found a scifi/fantasy site that has helped me find something interesting to read. They are full of teenagers rating books that have the same recycled plot giving everything a 4 or 5 star rating.
I have found a lot of bloggers will go off topic once in a while and talk about their favorite books. The best example is of Matt Cutts, the world famous Google blogger. Occasionally he uses the lazy web to look for book recommendations and due to the popularity of his blog, he gets a lot of great responses. I found one of my favorite new authors, Charlie Huston that way.
Read author's websites before you buy.
The web and by extension, Google, is the world most powerful marketing machine. Google a favorite author to see if they blog or maintain a websites. Often they will offer sample works online that give you a feeling for whether you will like their content. Check out Charlie Huston's Pulp Noir site. I particularly enjoy the Joe Pitt vampire series (FYI, I get a small commission if you buy).
Recommendations from a friend
Truly, this has to be the best method, when you can actually get a recommendation that is. The trouble is that most of my friends get around to recommending a new book once in a blue moon. There is not enough volume here to keep the river of new reads flowing.
Amazon's Listmania
Check Amazon site to see if your favorite fiction book is on anyone's listmania list. If so, perhaps that individual shares similar interests and can recommend something else. This seems to work out about 50/50 for me.
Amazon Reviews
This is the least helpful method. People are passionate about their favorite books and it is little indication whether you will share their tastes. I think that is why I've had the best luck with bloggers. A blogger shares their personality, wit and knowledge to a far deeper level than a review can, even it is a hefty one chock full of detail. I believe Amazon reviews serve better to validate a point of view prior to purchase. For example, if I get a recommendation on Book A, it never hurts to find out what the general public thinks about it on Amazon. On the other hand, going to Science Fiction -> Best Selling -> Pick a Book -> Read Reviews almost never works for me. It is almost as bad as stumbling into a Barnes and Noble without any idea what I want, except there you don't even have reviews to go on.
How do you find good reads?