The SSiW Welsh Book Club šŸ“– šŸ“š šŸ‘“

Then, as I find myself somewhat scatterbrained nowadays, and am poking bits of Welsh into bus or train journeys, or moments in waiting rooms, Iā€™ve found the little books I have come across most useful, especially if each page or each spread makes complete sense on its own. So here are
Welsh Words (North), Y Lolfa, Ā£4.95
Annwyl Dementia, CAA Cymru ISBN 978-1-84521-694-8, Ā£9.99
both found in (Welsh-medium)Pethe Powys, Welshpool/Y Trallwng

Welsh for Visitors by Elin Angharad Davies, www.carreg-gwalch.cymru, Ā£6.95 which starts mainly in English, but is a really nice gift, encouraging and with utterly sound advice for those keen to dare to communicate in Welsh, one of a series I found in Burway Books, Church Stretton, whose display of Welsh learnersā€™ materials when I popped in recently really heartened me, as Welsh language never used to feature much at all in the town during my intermittent contact and/or residence 1984-2005. Progress!

As for The Little Book of Friendship and Quaker Faith and Practice, the latter contains a little Welsh (Cynghorion a Holiadau - which I intend to learn by heart, as the one thing I remember clearly from the back of Welsh Words is the suggestion that in past days people would learn a text by heart, such as the Bible). Yet I am sure that there must surely be (ought to be) Welsh language versions of both texts. Iā€™ll be able to contact Quaker Bookshop, London, but wish me luck with alzheimers.org.uk - the booklet claims to be Crown copyright Public Health England and Alzheimerā€™s Society.

Re Welsh Words - I do not find it money well spent by me, really, but I am determined to make use of it. Iā€™ll reply to anyone who asks me for a more in depth review, if there is interest out there. A South version exists, too.

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I always find alun yr arth difficult to read out loud. Iā€™m not sure if it is type language or what. I like the dewin books they are much nicer than Welsh equivalent to biff and chip books.

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BrĆ¢n i bob BrĆ¢n - Rowan Coleman (Dafydd Morse)

Another book in the Stori Sydyn series. Iā€™ve read a fair few of these Stori Sydyn books as they are usually very accessable and reasonably easy to read. This one doesnā€™t disappoint either. I really enjoyed this one for its light subject matter and character candidness with quite a bit of humour thrown in.

This is the blurb from my app ā€¦ ā€œA Welsh adaptation of a light novel about a young mother trying to come to terms with unhappy past experiences which include bullying at school and abuse from the man she is now separated from, and of the attempts of her daughter and friends to find her a new partner.ā€

Beginner/intermediate level.

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Bryn y Crogwr - Bethan Gwanas

Here is another Stori Sydyn book, this time from the mighty Bethan Gwanas ā€¦ and just for the incredible price of Ā£1. This, in my opinion, is a very good book and worthy of a price tag 4 or 5 times higher.

This story is (supposedly) a horror about a tree surgeon who experiences some weird stuff going on while treating an old oak with an interesting history going back to the days of Owain Glyndŵr.

Again, Stori Sydyn = beginner/intermediate level.

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You are right about expense of this thread. Y Lolfa staff will be working flat out at this rate to meet demand!

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Since there are already so many books by Bethan Gwanas in this thread, I thought her most recent one would be a good addition too.
ā€œEfa:Cyfres y Melanaiā€ is a young-adult book, the first in a trilogy, and it deals with typical YA themes: first love, choices, family, rebellion, friendship. Also, like many other YA books it is set in the future, but not the future we would expect: in this book, people are back to living like in the Middle ages. In fact, I wouldnā€™t have even guessed the book was set in the future if we werenā€™t explicitly told so, but I expect there will be more about how the world got this way in the next books.
The main character, Efa, is a princess of a small country, and in order to become queen, she needs to kill her mother, the previous queen, in a ritual that symbolizes rejuvenation. The main plot is about Efa trying to find a solution to avoid doing that.
The premise was intriguing and you can find real historical parallels (Sultans in the Ottoman empire being forced to kill all their brothers, as a more recent one). The execution was good, too, though the scene at the end of the book was a bit gory for my taste (but Iā€™m a very sensitive person and gory for me will probably be okay for 99% of other readers), and I donā€™t like books that end with massive cliffhangers. But it was a very good read overall: well-paced and suspenseful, with a likable main character. The language will probably be okay for intermediate learners.
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Thanks for this. Eva was going to be my next book to read (after the one Iā€™ve just started) but I didnā€™t realise itā€™s the first of a trilogy. I think Iā€™ll put it off until I have all three in my hand. It sounds fascinating.

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It is fascinating, Iā€™m really looking forward to the sequel - according to my calculations, it should be out this November or December.
And thank you for all the wonderful reviews here - after reading this thread Iā€™ve decided to add ā€œHi yw fy ffrindā€ to my list (something that I probably should have done earlier, since, as I can understand, itā€™s one of the most popular books in modern Welsh). Iā€™ve also been looking at ā€œI Botany Bayā€, since I like historical fiction.
Right now Iā€™m reading ā€œY Nantā€ by Bet Jones, which has been a nice detective story so far, but Iā€™ll wait till I finish the book to write a proper review.

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I Botany Bay - Bethan Gwanas

Seeing as @seren mentioned it ā€¦ This is a really interesting concept that BG pulled off excellently. It tells the story of a real Welsh girl by the name of Ann Lewis with a lot of poetic license thrown in. Basically the history records show who she was and where she was at certain stages of her life and Bethan Gwanas has filled in the gaps to create a wonderful, exciting life story for this girl. I canā€™t go into more detail incase you are the only person who doesnā€™t know how this ends.

This book is aimed at an adult, first language audience so you can take from that what you will. It is, however, worth the effort even if you have to read it in your right hand with a dictionary permantly in your left.

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New detective novel by new Aberystwyth author. I havenā€™t found a translation of the announcement but you may be able to gather that it is a detective novel in the Scandi-noir tradition adding to Aberā€™s reputation as a hot-bed of crime - but we all knew that anyway.
Title: Ar Drywydd Llofrudd / ā€œOn the Ride of an Assassin ??ā€
Author:: Alun Davies

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I should probably be starting of with books for learners and the like, but like the first book I ever read as an adult (as opposed to being forced to read mice and men over and over in class at school), Iā€™ll probably try the deep end. Are there any fantasy writers that I can look up? I am a fan of Robert Jordan, Bran Sanderson, Robin Hobb, and of course Tolkien. Anything like that yn Cymraeg?

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Would tips on where to find/buy books be appropriate here?

On-line and also in Wales (maybe in UK too?) for the times we decide to take a trip there. :wink:

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Amazon UK certainly sell some of them. The Bethan Gwanas and Lois Arnold books, among others, are on Amazon. Thereā€™s also Gomer https://www.gomer.co.uk/ and Y Lolfa https://www.ylolfa.com/en.

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Gwales.com, the on-line bookshop of the Welsh Books Council, should be able to provide pretty much every Welsh book in print (and for every purchase theyā€™ll make a contribution to a Welsh bookshop which you can nominate :slight_smile:)
Also if you ever happen to be in Caernarfon, Palas Print is excellent

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Have to agree with approval of Lois Arnold books. I have ā€˜e-ffindiauā€™ and ā€˜ffenestriā€™ and am enjoying both. She shows real understanding of the effort needed by Welsh learners to read Welsh. Iā€™m an enthusiastic SSIW 6 month learner and fully appreciate the emphasis in that marvellous course on spoken Welsh, but wanted to be able to read as well. L.A. is perfect for me.

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Bethan Gwanas has just put this picture up on twitter ā€¦

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Oh, thatā€™s fantastic news! Iā€™ve been waiting for it for almost 10 months!

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I donā€™t know the release date but the cover is ready. :grin:

Excellent - this looks really intriguing! :slight_smile:

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Remember that this will be, as it says on the back cover, ā€œyr ail yn nhrioleg y Melanaiā€ (the second of the Melanai trilogy) with ā€œEfaā€ being the first.

(Link to @serenā€™s review of Efa ā€¦ The SSiW Welsh Book Club šŸ“– šŸ“š šŸ‘“ )

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