Then, as I find myself somewhat scatterbrained nowadays, and am poking bits of Welsh into bus or train journeys, or moments in waiting rooms, Iāve 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. Iāll 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 Alzheimerās Society.
Re Welsh Words - I do not find it money well spent by me, really, but I am determined to make use of it. Iāll reply to anyone who asks me for a more in depth review, if there is interest out there. A South version exists, too.
I always find alun yr arth difficult to read out loud. Iām 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.
Another book in the Stori Sydyn series. Iāve read a fair few of these Stori Sydyn books as they are usually very accessable and reasonably easy to read. This one doesnāt 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¦ āA 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
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.
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.
āEfa: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 wouldnāt have even guessed the book was set in the future if we werenāt 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 Iām a very sensitive person and gory for me will probably be okay for 99% of other readers), and I donāt 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.
Thanks for this. Eva was going to be my next book to read (after the one Iāve just started) but I didnāt realise itās the first of a trilogy. I think Iāll put it off until I have all three in my hand. It sounds fascinating.
It is fascinating, Iām 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 Iāve decided to add āHi yw fy ffrindā to my list (something that I probably should have done earlier, since, as I can understand, itās one of the most popular books in modern Welsh). Iāve also been looking at āI Botany Bayā, since I like historical fiction.
Right now Iām reading āY Nantā by Bet Jones, which has been a nice detective story so far, but Iāll wait till I finish the book to write a proper review.
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 canāt go into more detail incase you are the only person who doesnāt 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.
New detective novel by new Aberystwyth author. I havenāt 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 Aberās reputation as a hot-bed of crime - but we all knew that anyway.
Title: Ar Drywydd Llofrudd / āOn the Ride of an Assassin ??ā
Author:: Alun Davies
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), Iāll 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?
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 theyāll make a contribution to a Welsh bookshop which you can nominate )
Also if you ever happen to be in Caernarfon, Palas Print is excellent
Have to agree with approval of Lois Arnold books. I have āe-ffindiauā and āffenestriā and am enjoying both. She shows real understanding of the effort needed by Welsh learners to read Welsh. Iām 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.
Remember that this will be, as it says on the back cover, āyr ail yn nhrioleg y Melanaiā (the second of the Melanai trilogy) with āEfaā being the first.
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