I didn’t go to Slovenia with the intention of buying a book, but I don’t think anyone is surprised that I have! Especially since books are a huge deal in Slovenia – one thing I remember from the free walking tour is that the figure in the square is not a general but a poet (Preseren), showing the importance of literature to the Slovenes.

Slovenology describes itself as “part memoir, part essay collection, part travel writing, and part guidebook”, which is a lot of things for one book to cover. Personally, I found it more to be of a personal essay collection, as Charney tells us about his wedding, mushrooming with his mother-in-law, the guy who makes amazing sausage, and all sorts of interesting facts about the history and culture of Slovenia.

This was a fascinating collection of essays and I learnt quite a bit about Slovenia! I really liked reading about specific parts of their culture, like their film industry (apparently, no one expects films to breakeven because of the small market), skiing, and the Kranjska sausage (now a Protection Region Indicator product). Some essays, like his experience with Kopi Luwak, aren’t related to Slovenia, but they are fun to read.

For me, the guidebook part was really at the end. The last section of the book contains a recommended itinerary for a three, five, and seven day trip to Slovenia. I also thought the second last section, which was on food, would be useful to someone visiting Slovenia and wants to try the local specialities – although I have to say I was surprised that Donat water, which Nastia talked about a bit, did not appear cause it is so ubiquitous!

Overall, this was a really fun and light read that helped me to understand Slovenia a bit better. I can definitely see myself reading this again for fun or to prepare for another trip to Slovenia!