Mladinska knjiga bookstore

Mladinska knjiga is a famous chain of bookstores in Slovenia. You can find its shops not only in big shopping center, but also in smaller towns. And the stores always seem full of people. I have recently been to one of those bookstores because I was looking for a birthday gift for my two sisters and I have decided to share my experience there with you. The Mladinska knjiga store that I was in, is situated in the Qlandia shopping centre in the city of Nova Gorica.

How to get there?

Qlandia Nova Gorica is a newer shopping centre, and it is situated in the industrial zone of Nova Gorica. It is fairly easy to get there. Regardless on the direction you are coming from, you have to follow the signs for the industrial zone when in Nova Gorica. You have to look for white signs that say 'Industrijska cona' and there is a factory chimney drawn on it.

Qlandia is visible from far away and just before it, there is a roundabout, where you have to take the 'Industrijska cona' exit.

Qlandia has a lot of parking spots, but it can still happen on weekends and holidays, that you will have to wait for a parking space. Parking spots are divided in two parts – the ordinary ones and the underground ones. If you choose to park underground, you can go up to the store levels with an escalator.

Once you are inside the shopping centre, it is easy to find Mladinska Knjiga. It is situated between the New Yorker and Bags and More stores, and opposite Hervis. Just look for the bright blue sign with white letters, saying 'Mladinska knjiga'. As you can see on the picture below, it is impossible not to easily find this place:

What can you find inside?

Well, since this is a bookstore, it mostly sells books. But wait, there is much, much more! But let's start with books anyway. There are obviously different kinds of books, which are divided by genre. On the table right after the entrance, you can find the newly arrived books. Here, I usually look for ideas what I am going to borrow when I go to the library.

Next part are the novels, where psychological thrillers dominate most of the time. Other than that, you can also find a lot of fantasy genre books there, and some historical novels. But it really depends on the day, because they are constantly changing the books. In these days, one whole part of the Mladinska knjiga bookstore was occupied with the Fifty Shades books. Eww. I can proudly say that my biggest archievement in 2015 is reading a Fifty shades trilogy without throwing up. I hated it, but I just had to read it to see what is so special about it. And the answer is… Nothing!

One of my favourite parts there is definitely the part with cooking books. Here, you will not find boring cooking books. Their appearance is so inviting that you just have to look inside. Some examples are: dishes with nutella (the book is shaped like a nutella jar), cooking for him, cooking for her, cocktails (shape of a mojito glass), meat for vegetarians (yes, that is the exact address) and some other ones. There is too many of them to list all.

Also, Mladinska knjiga does not only sell Slovenian books. If you look closely, you will also see some English books, and (although rarely) books in Italian language.

When I was in Mladinska knjiga, a very special book has caught my attention. Its name is Wreck this journal, and it is a sort of a funny colouring book for adults. Each page tells you what you should do with it, such as: write something on this page and throw it in your neighbour's mailbox. I am definitely going to buy it next time!

At the back side of the Mladinska knjiga bookstore, you can find stuff for school, such as suitcases, bags and notebooks, birthday gifts and souvenirs. The part with birthday gifts is definitely my favourite one. Here, you can find funny fridge magnets, passport cases, hillarious signs and other stuff. They also sell world globes, which is rare nowadays, and some of them are not ordinary. For example, there is one that shows the stereotypes of every country (although not all of them are visible because they are too small, but it is still funny).

You will probably notice that the books in Mladinska knjiga are not wrapped. This means you can read them. The staff there is even encouraging you to do so. First time, I was very surprised when this happened to me. We have probably all met that annoying seller that told us to get out because we were trying to read a part of the book, which is not allowed in most of the places. When you are at the back side, you will notice a wooden table and four comfortable looking chairs around it. This is where you can read books, and, what is even more awesome, you can even order a coffee! It is true that there is not much choice, but the coffee is good, and it only costs one Euro.

The time you can spend there, reading a book, is not limited, which is awesome. Also, you do not have to pay anything. In fact, you can read the whole book there if you wish. Imagine that you have already finished with shopping, and you are waiting for your friend who is not done yet. What is a better place to wait for him than in a bookstore, reading the newest book, that has not arrived to the libraries yet?

From time to time, Mladinska knjiga also hosts famous slovenian writers. Well, it is true that we do not have many of them, but some of them are good. They usually present their new book, and also sign it, if you wish. This way, I have met one of my favourite slovenian writers. And I did not even know about the event. Luckily, I was in Qlandia just at the time he was there, I saw a huge line in front of the bookstore and went there to see what it is about. I had to wait in line for about an hour, but it was totally worth it. At the end, I even had a quick chat with the writer.

If you would like to buy (or even just read) a book that the Mladinska knjiga is not selling, you can order it. Typically, it will take the book about a week to arrive, and they will notify you by phone or by email, when you can pick it up.

The prices

Prices of the books in Mladinska knjiga are very low. And they can even become lower if you become a member of their loyalty programme. You have no obligations when you sign up, and they will be sending you a newsletter every month, notifying you about what is new and popular at the moment, and whick books are discounted.

The giftsare slightly more expensive (some fridge magnets cost five Euros and up), but I must admit that they are very original, so the price seems fair.

Opening hours

The opening times of the Mladinska knjiga are the same as the opening times of the Qlandia shopping centre, meaning that it is open daily from nine o' clock in the morning to nine o' clock in the evening.

Conclusion

This place is like a small library, but much better! The only thing that is missing, is the book exchange. This is just my idea, but wouldn't it be nice to socialize with fellow readers and exchange the books you have at home, and nobody is reading, for newer ones?

But anyway, if you happen to be anywhere near Nova Gorica, I would strongly recommend you to visit the Mladinska knjiga bookstore. Even if you do not like shopping centers, this place really is something special for people who love books.