The SIAE Reading Club began in autumn 2023, so this year we entered our third season. In the second season, from September 2024 to June 2025, we read six books. The authors’ origins and geographical settings are very diverse, while the years of publication are relatively close together. Yet despite their many differences, the books share a common thread: a longing for happiness. As the number of staff grew over the year, attendance at the SIAE reading meetings also increased.
Our discussions were calmly and wisely guided by Alenka Štrukelj.
William Paul Young, The Shack – Canadian literature, 2008
Sarita Mandanna, Tiger Hills – Indian literature, 2010
Bonnie Garnus, Lessons in Chemistry – American literature, 2022
Elif Shafak, The Island of Missing Trees – Turkish literature, 2021
Han Kang, The Vegetarian – Korean literature, 2007
Petra Julia Ujawe, Najboljše šele pride (The Best Is Yet to Come) – Slovenian literature, 2025
“A harrowing yet, at the same time, wonderful novel.”
This is how the writer Roman Rozina reviewed The Shack by the Canadian author William P. Young on the Dobre knjige (Good Books) portal.
Don’t ever discount the wonder of your tears. They can be healing waters and a stream of joy. Sometimes they are the best words the heart can speak.
Does the shack even exist? Is Mack’s encounter with Papa (God in a female form) real? Is it only a vision, as Mack’s loved ones believe? We did not find answers to these questions, but we did find ourselves drawn into a deeply personal conversation about our own relationship with faith and God. Priceless.
A person has to fight for happiness
The substantial novel Tiger Hills tells a story of a love that was never meant to be, of promises that cannot be kept and of experiences that cannot be spoken of. It is also a story of hope – without it, life has no meaning.
Love is breath, that is true, but also what follows when the breaths run out, when only silence remains. Love is water that longs for the sea. It is a tree that needs roots as long as it reaches towards the sky.
The story touched us in many different ways. An epic tale such as this does not leave the reader indifferent.
I once heard that only a demanding book truly gives you something … I feel much the same about films. I like it when something grips me, gives me no peace for a fortnight and gnaws at me until it spits me out changed.
“The librarian is the most important educator in school.
What she doesn’t know, she can find out. This is not an opinion; it’s a fact. Do not share this fact with Mrs Mudford,” advises the heroine of the novel Lessons in Chemistry, Elizabeth Zott, to her daughter.
All of us at the meeting agreed we would not have chosen to read this book, as the title put us off. Yet what Nevenka Kocijančič wrote in her blog that Friday is true: “There really are lessons in the book, but they are lessons from life, not from chemistry.”
Nature works on a higher intellectual plane. We can learn more, we can go further, but to accomplish this, we must throw open the doors. Too many brilliant minds are kept from scientific research thanks to ignorant biases like gender and race. It infuriates me, and it should infuriate you.
The story could be deeply entertaining – were it not, at heart, tragic and were it not highlighting injustices that still persist fifty years on. It is not only about feminism, but also about our attitude towards those who are different, the question of honesty and the need to pretend. Are we not witnesses to this every single day? The heroine resisted because, deep down, she believed it was the right thing to do. In this, she is, in fact, quite similar to the heroine of Tiger Hills. Did she succeed? You can decide for yourselves.
The Island of Missing Trees
The title is, at first glance, mysterious – yet highly revealing. We humans, are like islands, each of us fighting our own battles. And yet, like trees, we are also deeply and intimately connected. In this profound, intricate and remarkably far-reaching novel, the author explores love, decisions, pain and relationships between people, plants, animals, human beings and nature.
The human mind was the strangest place, both home and exile. How could it hold on to something as elusive and intangible as a scent when it was capable of erasing concrete chunks of the past, block by block?
The story reveals many layers of life, breaks taboos, promotes tolerance and understanding – and more besides. Attendance at the meeting was somewhat smaller this time due to illness and other commitments, but the reflections were heartfelt.
I am glad the club is growing in numbers. Even if we are not all present every time, reading brings us together. Alongside The Shack, I was particularly fond of The Island of Missing Trees. Its multi-layered and profound content is also exceptionally well written and translated.
If it had not been on the list …
The beginning of the novel The Vegetarian struck us as unusual. We are thrown straight into the story – the narrator cuts directly to the heart of it, leaving us barely time to catch our breath – and only then does the background gradually unfold.
Before my wife turned vegetarian, I’d always thought of her as completely unremarkable in every way. To be frank, the first time I met her, I wasn’t even attracted to her. … However, if there wasn’t any special attraction, nor did any particular drawbacks present themselves, and therefore there was no reason for the two of us not to get married.
From chapter to chapter, the story grows increasingly unusual. The narrators shift as well, though the reader barely notices. The most frequent comment from readers was that they might not have made it to the end had they not been discussing the book in the club. Despite its modest length, there was plenty of material for reflection, and many questions remained unanswered.
The Best Is Yet to Come
After reading books from around the world, the honour of the final title went to the young Slovenian author Petra Julia Ujawe. Her literary debut was published this year in the Razmerja (Relationships) series by Cankarjeva založba. The publisher launched this project following a successful workshop on writing the romance novel.
I roll the cup between my hands; the tea in it has long since grown cold. I am putting off drinking it, because then I will have to go back to bed, where I will stare at the ceiling and think. About nothing. About anything. About him.
We were particularly struck by the heroine’s attitude to personal growth and lifelong learning. The book discussion was an excellent way to step into the holidays – we met on the last day of the school year.
Collaboration and exchange
I’m genuinely inspired by our shared spirit of reading and lending books to one another. This reading club really is a brilliant idea.
Looking back at the six books we’ve read, I realise we’ve travelled the whole world – East and West, through some twentieth-century history, relationships between people and nature, and a full spectrum of emotions. And all of it quite unintentionally. I recommend all the titles – each book has enriched me in its own way.
We began this season in September with the novel September. The writer Ana Schnabl received the Kresnik Prize for it – Slovenia’s award for the best novel of the previous year. Once again, we found ourselves discussing a heroine in search of happiness. Are we not all?
Ana Peklenik (ana.peklenik@acs.si), SIAE