The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards

The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards
Kristopher Jansma
Publisher: Viking  (March 2013)
ISBN: 978-0-67-002600-5

Available at Amazon
also available in Kindle format

So many reviews start off by saying "Whats-his-name (the main character) is in the process of dealing with [insert situation here]..." but this is a book that will not let a reviewer do that.  Because, as far as we can tell (and the reader doesn't notice it right away), the main character is nameless.   Well, not nameless exactly -- we just never know his actual name.  He gets called lots of names (some he invents) from Walker Hartright at the debutante ball, to Pinkerton in his writing class, to Timothy Wallace, when he decides to take a teaching job in Dubai using someone else's name, to Outis when he's in Sri Lanka. 

His friends have consistent names (except for the various characters called "Simon"-- interchangeable props that wander in and out of the stories); his best friend (also biggest competitor) Julian, has a full name (except when he's not being called Anton or Jeffrey Oakes), as does Evelyn (who has her own name except when she's a character in a story), but the protagonist is always fibbing about who he is.  He does not, however,  ever fib about the important matter of his being a writer, and that his first and foremost duty is to the truth, by veracity, fantasy, or flat-out lying.

The Declaration of Independents (the book)

The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics can fix what's wrong with America

by Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch
Publisher: Public Affairs (June 2011)
hardcover:  ISBN-10: 1586489380
kindle version:  ASIN: B0080K3TRI

Available at Amazon 

If you are one of those folks who yearns to turn off the TV every time a news bulletin comes on, who cringes whenever there's a political ad, who gets depressed when elected officials can't make decisions because they're mired in bipolar partisan politics, and you've come to believe politics is playing too big a role in our lives, this may be the book for you.

While there are a great many books out there these days dedicated to the advancement of liberal, or conservative, or Democratic or Republican views (which I don't review), few books that talk about policy or government do what "The Declaration of Independence" does -- focus on the great many people in this country who have declared "a pox on both their houses" and either refuse to get involved in civic life at all, join a third party, or become unaffiliated.

The authors do an excellent job of describing the current party hyper-competitiveness and how it leads to governance that can be, to put it kindly, little short of dangerous to the rights and liberties of the American people.
 

The Blue Butterfly of Climate Change

     While traveling recently I heard a report about a tiny, rare, blue butterfly found in the hills of the southwest United States.  The poor thing is about to go extinct because its habitat was growing smaller and then BOOM! A fire has possibly killed what few butterflies were left. So was this a man-made extinction? Not really. The habitat of this tiny creature has been shrinking for centuries - ever since the last big ice age (not the Little Ice Age of the 1600's) - and the Blue Butterfly has moved up in elevation to escape the rising temperatures. Then man comes along and, in his zeal to preserve the "natural" habitat,  suppresses fires until the Blue Butterfly's food supply is almost gone. You see, the butterflies depended on fires to clear overgrowth so their food supply could flourish. But now, with their numbers so low from lack of food, the fire, instead of helping, may have wiped them out. Oh, and the cause of the fire? Lightning. The interplay between natural climate change, man-made problems, and nature itself is almost impossible for man to understand, let alone balance. I just read a book by Geophysicist Terry W. Donze, "Climate Realism", that exposes how incredibly hard it is to find the true causes of climate change, the amount of change, and the actual contribution of man to that change.

I'm Nobody, But Who Knows?

I always find it is easier to write a review when I truly enjoyed, loved, lived in the story.  Five star reviews are always easier to write because the words just flow. Maybe it is because I just want everyone to share in what I have found; like winning the lottery and wanting to give so much away. Maybe the story sweeps me away; maybe the characters are so alive they become friends (and enemies); maybe the story moved me to laughter or tears; maybe I couldn't put it down, reading until late into the new morning; BUT whatever it is, it makes the book.  Today's book, I'm Nobody (the Lost Pages) by Alex Marestaing has ALL these qualities. It is so good that I want to read it again, though I just finished it!