idreambooks offers credible recommendations for book lovers

idreambooks.com launched this week in an effort to help people read less rubbish. The site aggregates literary reviews from publications like the NYTimes and Washington Post and recommends books that were given a positive rating by 70% of critics.

Plenty of book review sites out there collect user reviews and base recommendations off that criteria. idreambooks sticks solely to the professionals, so only books with critical endorsement are promoted. The recommendation engine is based on a principal similar to RottenTomatoes or Metacritic. By sticking to editorial reviews, the quality of the recommendations is higher.

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For example, while Fifty Shades of Grey may have 5 stars and rave reviews from hormonally charged teenage girls and repressed housewives, it received a 30% approval rating on idreambooks. The site links to the original reviews and also suggests other books in the same genre.

The site was founded in March 2012 and has three full-time employees. It faces competition from other sites like goodreads.com, Amazon reviews, and Shelfari.