I’m in a bookstore at least once a week. Usually, I even buy something (even if it’s not for me), sometimes I can resist. But right now, I’m a little shocked because of what they have to offer right now.

Walking into the German section of my favourite store (favourite because close to home, rather cheap, huge, big English and Fantasy-SciFi section and a cinema and coffee shop nearby. The only thing that could be better would be if the coffee shop was a Starbucks), I stumble upon huge piles of “Rhett Butler’s People“. I haven’t read it, but frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. The concept alone makes me shudder.
After a risky escape, I find a little safety behind the next pile until I realise it mostly consists of books I either already have (in English, since at least 6 months), am not interested in or T.C. Boyle’s “The Inner Circle“, which in itself is not bad but it has been published 3 years ago in English, the hardcover version was published 2 years ago and the paperback a few months ago – from hardcover to paperback over 1 and a half years? What happened?
Disappointed I make my retreat – to the safety of English books. Or so I thought. After considering to buy another Christopher Moore novel just because it sounds so hilarious (I still haven’t read Lamb – The Gospel According to Biff), I discovered a monstrosity which makes Rhett seem a perfectly sane book: Lost in Austen: Create Your Own Jane Austen Adventure No, that’s not a typo. Basically, you are Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice) and you have to get Darcy to marry you. You can get points (which you should keep track of on a sheet of paper) for being witty, getting richer and I don’t know what. And of course you get to make some decisions which make you go to another page.
The last time I read a book like this was when I was twelve or so and it was a Knickerbocker Gang novel. And then I was already bored.
Honestly, suddenly Jasper Fforde‘s “First Among Sequels” doesn’t seem so fantastical anymore.