July Winner #1

Medha H. was first in line this month, and even bragged about it in the subject field of her email. I like that kind of enthusiasm! She also chose a very interesting book, My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell.

According to Wikipedia, Durrell hiked up and down the 1940s and '50s collecting wild animals for zoos. I can't think of a more manly career.

Medha says, "If you haven't read this book already, you simply MUST. It's hilarious and heart-warming. I've loved it since I was young and I remember wanting it to never end while I was reading it."

Now I really want to read this book. Thanks for the great pick, Medha!

May Breadline Winner #2, data centers, utility closets...

If you haven't already heard, a lad going by the name of Nathan won the second book of the May Breadline, and if you also haven't heard, it is now July. Explanation: Recently technology giant Apple opened a 500,000 square foot data center in Maiden, North Carolina, second only in computing power to Breadline Books' very own server base, located in nearby Chapel Hill in a utility closet in a freshman dormitory at UNC. Regular campus closings left Breadline Books electricity-less and with nowhere to run except straight into the wrong side of the bolt-locked cold wooden door. Dark and stuffy.

All summer.

But gratefully a new group of kids have re-inhabited the halls for yet another year. Well, I think so. No one has unlocked the door. At least there's power now.

Moving on to our second May Breadline Books winner, Nathan... or should I say Peter Parker? Pete, you're not fooling anyone with that Spider-Man Noir: Eyes Without a Face book. You might as well have worn the mask. Come on, hiding your face with a book written about yourself about how you always must hide your face? Who does that?

Anyway, if you're still reading this after all of that, you might be interested in knowing that the Breadline is open again. If you don't know how to get in the breadline, click here.

May Winner #1

Claps for Jonathan M., our first May winner. Jonathan wants to read the Cormac McCarthy novel, Blood Meridian.

"I'd been looking to get into Westerns," Jonathan said, "and Cormac McCarthy in particular for some time now. I was especially interested after seeing other readers praise it in the r/books section of Reddit (any book suggestions there tend to be literary gold).

Nathan went on to say that Breadline Books is "pretty much the best thing ever." Agreed!

I Can Has Buk?

This blog has been up for a couple of months now. Why is this the first cute kitty picture I've received?! Good work, Adam P.

And don't forget, everyone, the breadline is still open. (Notice the new sign on the left.) So send in those requests - it's a free book!

May Breadline Open

The May Breadline is now open for business, so jump in line everyone!

For all you new folk, if this picture does not explain things perfectly you might want to check out this post about Breadline Books. Hurry up now - whatever is in those huge steel bowls is going fast! 

April Drawing Winner

It's time. It has been time for a long time, too long a time, and my belated congratulations goes out to...

Adam P.

Adam chose to receive The Anthologist, by Nicholson Baker, because "it appears to be about a writer who has agreed to write the introduction to a poetry anthology but is suffering from writer's block. So instead of writing that... he writes about writing. Which is both hilarious and depressing at the same time."

Adam is also our first Breadliner to receive an ebook, so we will see how that goes. Remember, anyone from anywhere can request an ebook, but only U.S. participants are eligible to receive an actual hard copy of the book.

Aaaaaand We're Back

Okay, Breadliners, we have a lot of catching up to do. I assume you have your questions, and I have reserved political answers, so I'll be listing the questions I think are appropriate while ignoring the glaring difficult ones.

Q1) Why was Breadline Books down for so long?

A1) Simultaneous to the security breach that left the Playstation Network offline for nearly a month, Breadline Books suffered an external intrusion by the infamous hacker "ßo0kwØrM." All users' private data, including credit card information and passwords, may or may not have been stolen.

Q2) Is this true?

A2) No.

Q3) Does this mean Breadline Books is up and running again?

A3) Yes. Probably.

Q4) What about last month's winners? Did they ever send in a picture of their prized books?

A4) Why yes, yes they did. And here they are - Eileen's "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" and Kelly's "The Shadow of the Wind."

Q5) Don't think we've forgotten about last month's drawing, which, by the way, never happened. What's up with that?

A5) A new post will be up very soon regarding last month's drawing. There!

Q6) And this month's breadline?

A6) Same!

Q7) What about--

Alrighty then, if there are no more questions it looks like we're all square again for the next indefinite period of time.