I read this book because it is half set in Venas Di Cadore, a small town nestled in the Dolomites where I recently stayed on the way to a hike. Also because I like ice cream.

The story is interesting, and reflective. I enjoyed the variety of themes throughout, the poetry, the history, the introspection and of course the ice cream making. the author managed to cram a lot of distinct subejcts into the book.

While the descriptions generally rung true, it didn’t quite feel like the author had really lived in the Dolomites (maybe I’m wrong about this, I havent checked). It was fairly scant on the speicific details about the area.

What it did not miss out, on the other hand, was speicifc details about the women in the book. It seemed like half the book was either describing the protagonists lovers, or comparing other things to a lover. Some say having “women” as your only metaphore is lazy writing, but who am I to judge.

The poetry was my faviourite thing about this book. The author loves poetry and sprinkles references to and excerpts of various poems throughout along with interesting stories about the poets themselves. I feel like I learned a lot about it, though I’m not sure how much will stick.

Overall, I’d say this book is worth reading if you run an ice cream palor in Rotterdamn, and otherwise, not really (though I’m glad I read it).