I don't know anything about design and even less about programming, but I want to start a book review website and I don't know which CMS is appropriate. I need a front page table of contents just like a paper mag would use and then pages for individual reviews, a blog, and several other updateable (if that's a word...) pages for recurring columns. I like the setup of Bookslut.com (trying to insert link here) but I have no idea what they use - all attempts at reverse engineering have failed. Any suggestions?

I think they're using Movable Type.

 

There's a reference to cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi at the end of the souce code which would be in line with Moveable Type.

WordPress, though it was meant for blogging, can be used for that purpose. Sounds like a fit to me.

 

You might be able to get a custom coder for Joomla! if you can't find a pre-existing extension (component, module).