That could sound rude, so in the interests of forum etiquette, I should clarify that that was just a joke. I don’t even have a short attention sp…
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Not much when you think that the author gets 10-12% of the sale price. Also worth remembering that they get 8.2p every time you take their book out of the library. So, rather than borrowing a book from a mate I’ll always try to get to the library.
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Someone made the good point that small independent book shops are not likely to have been included in the survey, and that’s where a lot of Welsh language books will be sold, as well as in the small shops which sell all sorts of other Welsh goods, e.g. Na-Nôg in Caernarfon and many others, which aren’t classified as book shops at all, so I suspect/hope the real figures may be quite a bit more healthy than suggested by the published figures. 
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I hope so!
It’s surprising how many words one can pick up, over time (in my case, mainly passive knowledge, I must admit)
I think we’re all the same but passive turns into active with time and usage of course.
And here’s a twitter thread about it …
https://twitter.com/JasmineDonahaye/status/1011891640364077057?s=19.
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A couple of people asked me over the summer how my 3-week read fest was going, so I thought I’d post a confession… er, I mean update.
The 3 weeks were available because I cancelled a course I was going to do and, as I half suspected, once I made a 3-week hole in my diary, it started to fill. A day to drive my daughter to the airport, a couple of days to visit my mum, then there was the experimental Eisteddfod in Caerdydd to experience, and I couldn’t resist having my grandson to stay for a week… the upshot is, I didn’t set aside more than a couple of full days to actually sit and read.
But oddly, it worked out better that way. I did a fair bit of reading. I’ve read the whole of Blasu, occasional news articles, I’m halfway through Llyfr Glas Nebo, and I even sat down and worked through Gruffudd Eifion Owen’s chair-winning awdl, which isn’t something I would ever have attempted before - though I admit that was more because he chose Hal Robson Kanu as a ffugenw than anything else (and because I liked his face). And all that reading was without blocking out three weeks to sit in a hammock.
Both Aran and Catrin, in their infinite (and somewhat annoying) wisdom have said things that stuck with me. I can’t remember the exact words, but they were both something along the lines of ‘chill out’, and they introduced the astonishing idea that speaking Welsh is something to be enjoyed rather than a stick to beat yourself with. I know, that sounds ridiculous, but SSiW has always been radical in its approach so I decided to trust them and go with it.
So I haven’t stormed through a whole list of books, but I have really, really enjoyed my summer, have talked a lot of Welsh, listened to Radio Cymru, spent the whole of my 50th birthday in Welsh without even realising that was what I was doing until halfway through, and I’ve done some reading as a bonus. Reading is getting easier all the time and I feel as though Welsh and I have gone through some sort of relationship counselling: we relate to each other a lot more healthily than we did before and instead of constantly asking where our relationship is heading, we’re just having fun.
I’ve also been true to form and have been much better at buying (and receiving presents) than I have reading, so I have waiting for me O! Tyn y Gorchudd, Llestri’r Dylluan, Un Nos Ola Leuad, and Chwalfa - and I’m not going to set myself any timescale for reading them or set aside any protected reading time, or challenge myself at all. I’m just going to enjoy them as and when I want to. Oh, and yes, my next audiobook will be in Welsh, though there isn’t a lot of inspiring choice on Audible.
A million thanks again for all of your book suggestions, and please, if you read something you really enjoy, I’d be very grateful if you’d post it here so that I can enjoy it too.
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Oh, yes, guilty as charged… 
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That’s a pretty impressive progress report!
A couple of suggestions here:
Rhannu ambarél by Sonia Edwards (last year’s Eisteddfod Medal Ryddiaith winner)
Tra Bo Dau by Ifor ap Glyn
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Diolch, John! Two more for the Christmas list…
Just finished it. 
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Silly question, but what’s “Nebo”? Or is it a name? Is this Nebo’s Blue Book?
…I think that’s a positive response. I’m trying not to look too hard at the emojis in case they give something away!
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It’s a tiny village to the south of Caernarfon.
Very.
Not a silly question. It’s a place. To quote @gruntius fom another thread:
So, ‘the blue book of Nebo’, as in famous historical records like The Red Book of Hergest or The Black Book of Caerfyrddin/Camarthen.
I know this only because it explains on the second page of the book.
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And the White Book of Llareggub?
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The most important historical text of all
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When we went for the weekend in Bethesda I bought a copy of Un Nos Ola Leuad, and someone had left a copy of Chwalfa lying around, which I read the first few pages of, and think I’m going to have to buy – so, Snap! (Also, and off-topic: I know signs of aging vary with ethnicity but, even so, are you quite sure you don’t have the picture of Dorian Gray in your attic or something!? 
)
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