Seconded! Iāve just worked my way through the first chapter of Sgŵp!, on loan from @RichardBuck, and was surprised by how much I could construe (having recently finished SSiW Level 2). Looking forward to uncovering the Big Story!
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An interesting article in English about the best Welsh language novels from the past decade https://nation.cymru/culture/the-top-10-welsh-language-novels-of-the-2010s/ I donāt think my Welsh is up to reading most of these just yet but I hope to read a few of them in the coming decade.
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That was my review 
Thanks very much for thinking it was worth sharing! I really enjoyed Sgwp, still one of my favorite books Iāve read in Welsh (granted, the list isnāt very long - around 10, I thinkā¦) Iāve been really busy this past year with life/other projects, but am definitely going to get back to reading Welsh books soon. Iām grateful for all the contributions in this thread to help me choose the next one- thanks everyone!
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Mine too. I go back and read it again for pleasure when I find that other books are just too difficult or too much like hard work.
Sue
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More than likely itās been mentioned before in this thread but, for those lucky people who live in Wales, you can get e-books and audio books in Welsh and English via the Welsh Library service across Wales using BorrowBox: https://libraries.wales/my-digital-library/borrowbox/
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Hi everyone
A few of us have decided to start an online book group. The idea is that we agree on a novel to read, and then have a monthly hangout to talk about it. Our first hangout will take place on Monday 24 February at 7pm and we will read Sgwp! by Lois Arnold.
Full details are on Welsh Speaking Practice, and everyone is welcome!. Please contact me if you have any questions at this stage.
I look forward to seeing you on 24 February!
Pob hwyl
Neil
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Among my next 6 months goals thereās reading more. Then I did a bit of shopping. 
p.s. I also received my official Cymraeg badge in the process! 
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Thatās āCysgod yn y Coedā by Lois Arnold hiding underneath, isnāt it? I think thatās a really good collection of short stories. Gwers Mewn Cariad too. Good stuff. Trwyār ffenestri? I think thatās a lot harder but really good. I havenāt read Gangsters yn y Glaw. Any comments would be very welcome. Enjoy the reading!
Sue
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I have just sent a furious postcard to Bethan Gwanas. How could she??? The offence in question is āI Botany Bayā. I was really enjoying it - itās the imagined story of a real young woman, Ann Lewis, who was transported to Australia for stealing from the draperās shop where she worked. I know the area well, and was able to walk with her round the Dolgellau streets, and home to the family farm on her Sundays off. Her arrest and imprisonment were beautifully told. And then came the end - unforgiveable! And worse, probably true!! Donāt say you havenāt been warned.
Definitely true ā¦ a very good book all the same.
Very fortunate to pick up a signed copy of I Botany Bay for 50c last week in a charity shop, plus 3 others books for Ā£1:50. So my book pile is steadily growing and Iām now utterly intrigued by your posts @gruntius @BronwenLewis. I think it may be a while before Iām ready to read this one though.
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Iām currently a quarter of the way through Dadeni by Ifan Morgan Jones (mentioned somewhere on the fforwm by @AnthonyCusack) and hugely enjoying it. I think itās a little bit of a challenge in a couple of ways - some of the (south Welsh) colloquial language is going to be very hard to find in most dictionaries (it took @johnwilliams_6 looking in Dweud eich dweud to tell me that ta pārun 'ny on the end of a sentence just meant āanywayā), but that means most of it is exactly the kind of everyday speech SSiW covers; some of the stuff in the narratorās voice is, as youād expect, quite a bit more formal; and, since one of the characters is the severed head of Bendigeidfran, there are some definite āWherefore askāst thou questions whereof thou knowest the answer?ā touches from time to time.
But itās great: Iāve just had a Welsh archaeologist and his gay Goth son being chased through the sewers of London by undead corvids, carrying the head of Bran the blessed in a black bin bag, and Iāve realised what it reminds me of. Itās basically Ben Aaronovitchās Rivers of London meets the Mabinogi, and exactly the sort of thing Iād enjoy even were it English. I suspect Iāll be checking out what else heās written once Iāve finished this!
Level is probably for pretty confident readers, I think - itās written for native-speaking adults, but itās not trying to be overly literary.
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Heās written another one called Babel. Itās a steampunk story about a character that escapes a repressive family to the big city and becomes a journalist. I havenāt read it yet, own it but not read it, because Iām finishing another at the moment. However, itās next on the list.
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Most of this is way above my current level, but I just wanted to say thanks for the thread and for all the reviews and recommendations, both of books and of where to get hold of them. Iāll be bookmarking this and coming back to it in a few monthsā time!
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Are we still set for @Beca-brownās Gwers Mewn Cariad in April @neil-pyperā¦ Just thought Iās mention that here in this threadā¦
I certainly hope that we are!
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Darn bach o bapur by Angharad Tomos.
This is one of the results of my recent spending spree on the Gwales sale. It tells the story of the Beasley family who asked for a rates bill in Welsh, and refused to pay until they got one. Their courage and determination in the ensuing struggle is amazing. The book is written, I think, for teenagers, but is accessible for learners. At first I had a bit of trouble with the switches from slightly formal narrative to colloquial speech, but I quickly got used to it. Highly recommended.
Sue
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