random results

[zzz]

I a table with books information.

t1.ID
t1.bookCategory
t1.bookTitle

Currently I have a query where I pull a random book info:

SELECT *
FROM t1
ORDER BY RAND()

However now I would like to modify the query to have 3 records BUT with each book from a different category. Categories may not repeat (I have about 7 of them). How can I do that?

[zzz]

I think I got it:

SELECT 
DISTINCT (bookCategory),
bookTitle
FROM t1
GROUP BY bookCategory
ORDER BY RAND()
LIMIT 3

[dagon]

you should look at the tread at the top of the database forum on the order by rand issue.