I just finished Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. What I’m about to say might make some of my friends think less of me, but here it goes. I was underwhelmed.

Sigh.

Almost ALL of my smart, sexy, funny friends love this book. I loved the Handmaid’s Tale, so was expecting this one to knock my socks off. I had been saving it for a special time and I was really ready for something that was going to blow me away. Maybe high expectations were my problem?

I must say, I didn’t find it slow or uninteresting. I looked forward to reading it every day. But I was ok with putting it down also. I kept waiting for the back story to unfold. Maybe I wasn’t taking it in slowly enough. I also have to say that the ending did spark my interest in the next book. But I don’t think I will read the rest of the trilogy, yet, anyway.

So I finished the book. I am heading to Berlin this weekend and wanted something with a little history to read before then. I picked a book and went on Amazon to download it. Now, here comes my problem. This book isn’t available on Kindle.

The book is available as a paperback on amazon.de, but only in German. If I want the paperback in English, unbelievable international shipping rates apply.

What’s a girl to do?

I Googled the book as an ebook or pdf. That came up with multiple options, but none of the websites actually seemed reliable.

I also searched for libraries/English bookstores in Frankfurt and have a couple of options. Unfortunately, I won’t get back to the city from work early enough to make it while they are still open, but I plan on checking out the library on my next free weekend. I am holding on to hope that they can order English copies of books for me.

Finally, I went to the closest English library I know: my bookshelf. No better time than the present to tackle some of those books I’ve been moving all across the globe.

I landed on Alice Hoffman’s Here on Earth. I think I picked it up for free somewhere. I know it will be much easier than my iPad to take to work every day, so that’s a plus.

The next time you can effortlessly and easily get a book you want, think of how lucky you are!

Next issue to tackle: How to watch New Girl episodes (I was shot down by Hulu today too).