Hi Mike,
Let's see if I can answer each of your questions.
Does it have a clean look?
Yes. Initially viewing the site, I was impressed by the amount of whitespace it has - very good thing.
I agree with the others who've said the sidebar seems out of place and breaks away from the common design. This is probably due to the thick black border to the left of the headings. Light brown and blue
can work well together, but you should be careful when adding harsh contrasts (black/white).
The fonts are cohesive and easy on the eyes, however, not all the fonts are flexible; some fonts won't resize in some browsers like IE. Those with poor eyesight may have problems reading it, but that's a usability issue. And that brings me to...
Is it easy to read?
For me, yes it is, but you should probably make the fonts flexible so users can resize the fonts easily. Right now, only a few small sections of the site can easily be changed in browsers like IE (Firefox can override and change the font for any website, but not everyone uses Firefox).
The color contrast of the font is great, no complaints there.
And most importantly, is it better to put Adsense ads within the articles or leave them on the right side like I have it now?
This will be something you'll need to figure out by testing. Each niche's readers are different and behave differently to adverts.
Personally, I find it better to include the adverts within the content on content oriented sites, but for quick blips, then leaderboards and side ads work best.
If you intend for this to be a major content site, then experiment and track your results.
From my initial view of the homepage, I would classify it as a blog because it appears to be in chronological order, has permalinks, and allows for comments.
However, viewing the individual entries, it looks more like a traditional website; the comments and date disappear.
And, hoping to provide some clarity, a blog
is just a website. It's simply a website in journal format - i.e. dated. This has been a debating going on for a little while now (i.e. what makes a blog a blog), and I believe that if you have a chronological website that has the common features of a blog, then it's a blog.
~ Teli