Book 065
Originally titled "Follow
the Rabbit-Proof Fence" Doris Pilkington's Rabbit-Proof Fence is as much history of the relations between
Europeans and Aboriginals in Australia as it is a story of how three mixed race
girls (aged 8, 11 and 13) ran away from the government school they were sent to
and walked home again -- a 1600 km trek.
ICFP (It Came From Peter) -- A YouTube video about Station
X (Bletchley Park) and the efforts to break the Enigma codes. This was part one of four parts ... and did
not mention Turing at all!
The recent movie about Turing sparked a short discussion on
Facebook about the inaccuracies about Turing's life -- and a few people were
surprised to learn that the Enigma encoding machine had been built pre-WWII and
was sold it to businesses across Europe.
The German military saw its potential and decided to use it. The German military made
changes to the machine that made breaking its encoding more and more and more
difficult.
A great book on the subject is Seizing the Enigma: The Race to
Break the German U-Boats Codes, 1939–1943 by David Kahn.
Book 066
Okay, it has been
around for a few years and really did not interest me. Peter mentioned it the other day -- I don't
know where he saw the title but he mentioned it. It was available through OverDrive so I
decided to give it a whirl. Thus Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith found its way to my
computer and found itself being played.
There is a preface
where the author admits to getting a call from someone at his publisher's
office (or was it his agent??) -- anyhow, the caller says "Let me toss an
idea at you. What do you think of Pride
and Prejudice and Zombies?" Seth
says he envisions blood and guts and lots of fun. He figured the Austen fans would hate it for
the zombies and zombie fans would hate it for the Austen stuff. The main criticism he has gotten, he says, is
"not enough zombies."
I shouldn't admit it
-- since I was supposed to have read the book for a college course but did not
-- I have never read Pride and Prejudice.
And maybe that is why I did not click with this book.
Peter wanted to take
a nap and he wanted a wake up call in two hours. Seemed like the perfect reason to pause (um, more accurately -- quit) this
book and find something the right length to use as a "timer listen." Two items became those timer listens:
Not really books but
I'm numbering them anyhow. They are both
Thalia Kids' Book Club interviews.
"Book" 066
is the interview with Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson concerning their fourth
installment in their trilogy prequel to Peter Pan.
The Starcatcher's Series came about through
a short series of events but started when Dave Barry was reading Peter Pan to
his daughter, who interrupted to ask how and when Peter had met Captain
Hook. Book four of the trilogy is Peter and the Sword of Mercy.
"Book" 067
is the interview with Brian Jacques, author of the Redwall series of
books. He grew up in Liverpool during
WWII and the first time I had listened
to this interview a couple of years ago, I was surprised that I was surprised
to learn that besides London getting bombed during the blitz, Liverpool's docks
were bombarded too. Jacques says,
"The first thing kids always ask me is 'when did you decide to become an
author?' You can't answer this. But I always say, 'Ha ha! I remember the very morning I leapt out of
bed and said, 'Ha ha! Today I shall
become an author and I will auth and auth and auth and auth'." **grin**
Book 068
So after the
interview, what could I do but return to the Peter Pan prequel that I had first
listened to five or six years ago. Peter and the Starcatchers, Starcatchers
series book 1, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, answers the question where and
when did Peter first meet Captain Hook and tells us where Tinkerbell came from.
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