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September 25, 2008

Happy 500th book giveaway

LibertySorry to all those who had problems visiting Read Street today -- the software that runs our blogs went haywire for several hours. But we have a book giveaway to cheer you up.

We're nearing our 500th comment on Read Street, and to mark that milestone, we're giving away five new releases.

You know the rules: comment away, and numbers 500, 501, 502, 503 and 504 get to choose from: Liberty by Garrison Keillor, The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory, The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan, Blood River by Tim Butcher, Two Brothers: One North, One South by David H. Jones, and Pecking Order by Omar Tyree.

A caveat: If you comment on this post, include a sentence about the funniest book you ever read; we'll use them in a future post. And be sure to include your email address so we can get back to the winners.

Posted by Dave Rosenthal at 6:18 PM | | Comments (5)
        

Comments

Ok, I wasn't going to comment (since I've won a book before) but you've got 3 books on there that I've been waiting to read! The Toss of a Lemon is at the top of the list, then The Other Queen, followed by Two Brothers.

As for the funniest book, that's a tough one. I don't usually read humor but I did enjoy (some parts of) David Sedaris's Me Talk Pretty One Day.

First time poster here. I was trying to think, and I do not believe I have ever read something I would call a "funny" book. A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson is witty, but not what I would call funny. Most of his writing is that way. Very enjoyable if you've never read him.

-- This from Dave: We need email addresses to get back to all the winners, so please post again and list your email in the form. (It won't appear on the blog.) Thanks

This is my first comment - I love the blog, but haven't commented before.

The funniest books I have read are probably some of the previous Garrison Keillor books (I love his writing) and my wife laughs out loud at Janet Evanovich's books.

I was sure that I've read Liberty but it turns that I read Pontoon and Homegrown Democrat in close succession. Based on those two, I'd recommend the new Keillor.

All of Carl Hiaasen's books, while serious in their message about the evils of over-building and disregard for the environment on everyday life in the state of Florida are just hysterical. (Exploiters, bullies and mean-people-in-general are all buffoons) Is Rob Hiaasen, brother of the above, still at the Sun or was he caught in The Great Departure?

I think that they funniest book I ever read was A Confederacy of Dunces, just in terms of making me laugh out loud the most. No, Dave, I'm not trying to suck up. I promise.

I remember laughing a lot at Catch-22 the first time I read it, but since then it hasn't held the same appeal.

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About the blogger
Dave Rosenthal came to The Baltimore Sun as a business reporter in 1987 and now is the Maryland Editor. He reads a wide range of books (but never as many as he'd like), usually alternating between non-fiction and fiction. Some all-time favorites: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole; Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery; and anything by Calvin Trillin or John McPhee. He belongs to a book club with a Jewish theme.
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