A slightly strange request but I am absolutely desperate to find a copy of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina to read (in English!).
Would anyone have any suggestions for any bookstores which might stock a book like this in English around Basel (or Zurich if necessary) for not too steep prices? Or alternatively if anyone knows of a library with an English section or would be willing to lend me their copy of the book that would be even better.
bookdepository.co.uk is your best bet unless you need asap maybe check Bider & Tanner ?? I have the book but in audiobook in my PC so unfortunately cannot share with you
you can try Bücher Brocki, secondhand books, in Basel in the Güterstrasse. They have some shelves with English books. You will have to browse, or you can ask the nice lady who works there. Apart from that, I am sure I have seen small English bookshops in the town. I think in the little streets around the Marktplatz, but perhaps someone else can enlighten you on that. But of course, there is Amazon and there are public libraries.
(The things you learn thanks to google doodles...)
Rosemary, if the other posters' suggestions won't work for you I have a copy you could borrow.
But it's my beloved Everyman edition, so you'd probably need to pledge your first born as collateral.
Seriously, though - you can get the inexpensive Wordsworth paperback edition (ca £2-3) from most of the online retailers suggested above, likely for less than the cost of Swiss postage.