Welcome to Kurt's Blog: An Experiment in Progress

During calendar year 2013 I read over 200 books (unemployment provides the time for such feats).  Around the time I was finishing book 166, or 168, someone said to me "you should have started a blog."  I replied, "I'm not sure anyone would want to read it."  I'm still not sure, but I'm still not employed full-time, so here goes nothing.  Here you will find discussions and reviews of books I read, music I listen to, movies and TV series I watch, and other related "cultural ephemera" as the title says.

As to the main part of the title, when I say I read books, I mean actual paper, cardboard and cloth books (although 2-3 of the 200 were ebooks).  I do not own an ereader or tablet, and I get the majority of my reading material from or through the Cincinnati Public Library.  If there were a "frequent reader" program, I probably would have earned a trip to Mount Everest by now.  

What do I read?  Well, a bit of just about everything....

• Science Fiction
• Fantasy
• Historical Fiction
• Mysteries
• History
• Cultural Studies
• Memoirs/Biographies
• Comic Books/Graphic Novels
• Books about food and drink

I'm always open to suggestions, so give me recommendations.  And, if you're a writer looking for someone to read a work-in-progress, I've done that as well (and I'm a good proofreader if you need a bit of that as well).  Opinions here are mine, and mine alone.  Feel free to agree or disagree as you will.  Debate and discussion are welcome.  Thanks for reading!