September Winner #1

After a week of waiting for the most anticipated response in the history of Breadline Books, we finally have our answer. Friends of Chris S. urged him to choose Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, and Chris said, "Okay."

Remember, everybody, the breadline is still open! Email me your book requests and you'll have a shot at a brand new Yamaha Electric Drum Kit! A lot better chance of it being a book, though.

September Winner #2

Yes, that's right: number TWO. Number ONE has yet to claim his/her free book, so consider this your ultimatum, number ONE. You have five days. You know who you are!

So, Katie, who was second in the breadline this month, chose Pulitzer Prize winner Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter.

I think it's called... Crazy Stairs.

Katie says:

The reason I chose this book is because of the way it discusses how many different systems have common links between them and the author explains this by highlighting the surprising shared themes in the work and lives of logician Kurt Gödel, artist M. C. Escher, and composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

The book also covers topics such as human and artificial intelligence, computers, mathematics, and recursion; all things that I find interesting.

It seems like a pretty heavy book, but I've read that Hofstadter finds ways to make it funny and easy to follow. I think I will appreciate the way he brings Science, Art, and Music together to explain topics covered in all three and I think anyone who has an interest in Science, Art, or Music should consider looking into this book, as well.

September Breadline Open

The September breadline is now open, everyone! The books are waiting!

Black Friday is in September, right?

As always, for anyone new to Breadline Books there are guidelines here and frequently asked questions right here. And here is a picture of a guy dressed as Bert from Bert and Ernie.

Good luck!

August Winner UPDATE

Thankfully, Sarah made it back home to her "apartment in the middle of the hood," as she put it, and swiftly replied with a personal and awesome story about her meeting Jonathan Safran Foer. I'm just going to copy and paste Sarah's comments verbatim because I think it is that cool. Here's her story:

Jonathan Safran Foer is one of my favorite authors of all time. I read Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close in high school and they immediately became two of my most-loved books. When I was 16, I went to a reading/Q&A/book signing of his in Manhattan and was blown away by how insightful and gracious he was, as an author and human being. I wanted to wait to read Eating Animals because I was afraid that reading it would convince me to become a vegetarian, and it was a decision I wanted to make on my own. I've read the first few pages and it's not a guilt-fueled pro-veggie diatribe (thank god), but JSF's writing carries a lot of weight with me. I've been a vegetarian for a year now and I am so excited to finally read this!

Sarah endangering Jonathan Safran Foer.

And for fun, attached is a photo of me at 16 (more than 5 years ago) positively out of my mind with happiness meeting JSF. The staff at the bookstore told me I couldn't take a picture with him, but he heard me at the front of the line pleading with one of the employees and asked what the problem was. He told them they were being ridiculous and of course we could take a photo, that I should come around behind the desk. The employee said that wasn't allowed, for his safety, and he was like, are you crazy? You think this little girl is putting me in danger? Fine, we'll just lean over the table and make it work. I was completely gushing over his books and he signed them with such appreciative, heartfelt notes. They're my most prized physical possessions now.