Moving Your Books

I have been reading a crazy number of books in the last couple of weeks. Something must be wrong with me. It is like moving to Switzerland has encouraged me to want to swallow hundreds of pages of text at a time.

While I do like to read, the last couple of weeks has been nothing like my normal reading pace. That got me to thinking what did I do before about English books, where did I get them and how did I survive?

A lot of people take the obvious route of buying then from big box online stores like Amazon.com or the book depository site out of the U.K. but what if you are local and you like the challenge of the hunt. Here are some options.

1.) Check a library

Some local libraries stock English language books. I was actually surprised at the number of English language books in the Baden public library. It isn't a huge number, but if I was really in need of something to read I am quite certain I could find something.

2.) Find a Brokenstubi

A lot of the second hand stores will have a lonely single box of books written in 'Fremdsprache.' Dig around enough and next to somebodies Abbreviated History of Europe college text that they thought would be useful on their work abroad adventure you might find a novel or two you might want to read. It is a fun hunt if you like that kind of thing.

3.) Find some Friends

I have found a really good way to find books is to find friends that read and swap books with them. In particular I have some colleagues at work that are avid readers. We have started a 'library' at work. Essential if you finish a book and want to share we have a dedicated shelf at work where you can leave it for the next person. We don't track check-ins and check-outs but with a critical mass of contributors we have a pretty sizable collection to select from.

4.) Look for Books While You Travel

When traveling Europe it is not uncommon to wander across an 'English' bookstore in major European cities. While they are rarely on my list of must see sites in Warsaw for example, I would not pass up an opportunity to browse the titles if I spotted a store.

5.) Import them

The most obvious place to get English books is to bring them from an English speaking country. I have started a new trend of buying second hand books in the U.S. Enormous quantities of them. And then testing the baggage limits of international flights. All the airlines say 50 pounds for international flights so if I haven't reached the limit when I am traveling back to Switzerland I got to my pile of books and pile on the weight until I hit the limit.


Happy reading to all of you.