It's Still Got That New Blog Smell....

One of the many books stashes in the house.

Does the world really need another blogger? Probably not, but I'm starting this one due to circumstances beyond my control.  For years now I've been posting book reviews on Goodreads and achieved a modest amount of success there.  I thought I'd happily keep doing that until the day came when I was killed by a stack of books toppling onto me as I threaded my way through the stacks in the house to get a sandwich and a beer.  (At least that's how the fortune teller told me I'd die.)

However, Goodreads has now been bought by a rather large corporation, and while I don't necessarily consider this the Amazon-pocalypse that some do, I also don't think that companies spend a billion dollars to buy something if they don't plan on making some changes.  Since I was not included in what the new business plans of what those changes might be, I'm starting the blog as a safety net in case the worst happens.

But if I'm going to go to the trouble to start a blog, I'll try to think of ways to spice it up a bit and stretch myself a bit more than I normally would at Goodreads.

What kind of books will I review?  Crime novels are my favorites including hard-boiled noir and modern thrillers.  I've got a special place in my heart for private detective novels and characters like Matt Scudder, Spenser, Elvis Cole, Phillip Marlowe and many, many more.  I'm also a comic nerd so you can expect to see superhero collections and various other graphic novels on here.  I like some sci-fi, but you probably won't get a lot of fantasy reviews.  When the mood strikes, I may also pick up some serious modern Lit-A-Chur.

Why should you care what I think about a book? Or anything else for that matter?  No particular reason.  I'm just another blogger out here shouting on my own particular digital street corner.  I've read a lot of books and plan to read many more, and I've spent more time than a normal individual should thinking about what makes a story work..  I've posted hundreds of reviews on Goodreads and picked up a few friends and followers along the way so I'd like to think I'm doing something right.

Or I'm just completely full of shit.  Oh, that reminds me. There will be profanity on this blog.  So if you're easily by that sort of thing, best click away now before it gets worse.

Who am I other than an amateur book reviewer?  I'm a married 43 year old corporate cube farmer to pay for the books and buy food for the small herd of cats that the wife and I have somehow accumulated.  We live in Overland Park KS which is a suburb of Kansas City, but one thing you should know about me right up front is that I hate The Wizard of Oz.  Seriously.  If you were thinking posting a comment that was something like "I guess you're not in Kansas anymore!" or "Where's Toto?", you should back away from your keyboard now before this gets ugly.  It's the first day.  Who wants all that drama?

I will also offer this standard disclaimer about my reviews:

Warning -  If you decide to read something because of a review I wrote, then you should take into account that I'm an uneducated hillbilly living in the wilds of Kansas, and that I'm half-deranged from all the improperly distilled corn liquor I drink. So consider the source, and I'll accept absolutely NO responsibility if you hate it.

I think that covers the basics.  We'll make the rest up as we go.

Kemper