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Classic Books

CYMRU AM BYTH – 9 Books On the Country of Wales

January 18, 2019 by Host Leave a Comment

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(This post contains affiliate links. Full info here)

 

CYMRU AM BYTH – 9 Books on the Country of Wales

If you aren’t hype for the incredible, incomparably bizarre and badass-since-before-the-onset-of-human-history country of Wales already, then sign on and buckle up because Cymru is d o p e.

“The Land of Literature and Song” is something we’d just kind of made up this week and carried around in our hearts during book selection, but the loving label is—of course—completely unoriginal in the extreme: hopefully the proud and fearless people of Wales would enjoy our well-intentioned ignorance and would be down for being celebrated in those categories (we kind of wish this was a rugby blog, not going to lie, but alas.)

Three regular-person-friendly histories, two cookbooks (omg there are exactly zero Welsh recipes that aren’t fucking heaven), three classic bar-setting works of fiction, and one modern novel (spoiler alert: queer protagonist yesssss #heroine #boss)

((strong recommendation: check out Pride Cymru at https://www.pridecymru.co.uk/ and https://twitter.com/PrideCymru #lit #goals))

 

Gadewch i ni fynd!

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A History of Wales by John Davies

What’s so monster about this broad BROAD survey of Welsh history is two fold: that the author, historian John Davies, was a Welshman himself and a gifted teacher directly commissioned to write this comprehensive history AND that the original work was in Welsh and only translated into English later. This history book is the real deal and a perfect place to start a unit study.

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A Concise History of Wales by Geraint H. Jenkins

Clearly the work of a history professor (in the best way, make no mistake) Professor Jenkins covers a huge amount of territory (pun intended) in a small amount of pages. A Concise History is a great fit for ambitious travelers seeking a good overview to better understand and appreciate Cymru and also a great fit for more casual readers.

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The Welsh Kings: Warriors, Warlords and Princes by Kari Maund

There’s nothing we could say about this excellent piece of historical work that packs the punch of this summary: “This work revives the memory of the native leaders of the country from a time before the title ‘Prince of Wales’ became an honorary trinket in the gift of a foreign ruler. These men are restored to their rightful place amongst the past rulers of the island of Britain.” Maund has built a stellar history, it’s DA IAWN

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The Welsh Cake Cookbook by Gilli Davies and Huw Jones

We grew up eating potato cakes and salmon cakes so you can imagine the ecstasy of finding this joyful book FILLED with every variation of Welsh Cakes known to man. Lavender? Hazelnut? Yes please!

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A Taste of Wales by Annette Yates

The enourmously talented Annette Yates pulled together a beautiful survey of classic Welsh recipes, and there’s something delicious for everyone to enjoy. Ms. Yates, we discovered, is also a craftsman of fine jewelry! Rude to be so talented. Hmph. (Annette Yates Jewellery <3 <3 <3)

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The Journey Through Wales and The Description of Wales by Gerald of Wales

Gerald of Wales did NOT come to play—he wrote 17 books in Latin in his long life and this one is so special because it’s a time capsule of real Welsh folk living real lives in the Medieval period so influenced by their legacies. Also a hell of an OG travel guide.

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How Green Was My Valley by Richard Llewellyn

How Green Was My Valley is magnificent. Before reading it, we had never, ever ever ever heard a negative word said, only dozens and dozens of glowing, raving reviews. Moving, honest, humbling. On and on. And every lover is completely right and then some. You’ll hold this story close to you for the rest of your days.

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The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas: The Original Edition

The one. The only. You don’t need to hear it from us. Hear him in this collection compiled by the man himself.

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Poppy Jenkins by Clare Ashton

Author Clare Ashton is a heroin herself, bringing to mind wandering-wondering-multi-field greats like Hedy Lamarr (full first name Hedwig) and Bea Arthur (if you didn’t know Bea Arthur was a Marine, Google it. BAMF.) Lesbian Romance borne out in Wales penned by a Welsh lesbian? YES PLEASE. See also: After Mrs. Hamilton and Pennance.

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The world has been gifted with so many people who have dedicated their lives to exploring, preserving, and sharing the incredible history and talents of Wales and the Welsh. We are beyond grateful and hope you’ll use some of these books as a resource to start your own exploration!

 

Rhannu, rhannu! Share, share!

  •  Do you have a favorite story, song, experience, or book about Wales?
  •  Do you want to visit one day?
  •  Also! There’s an incredible welsh language magazine published monthly called Barn that is so great! Check it out, especially if you’re interested in or working on language learning. https://barn.cymru/

 

 

Filed Under: Book Lists, Classic Books, LGBTQ, To Be Read, Uncategorized Tagged With: Classic Novels, Cymru, LGBTQ, Wales

4 Classic Books You Might Have Missed

March 20, 2018 by Host Leave a Comment

(This post contains affiliate links. Full info here)

 

 

4 Classic Books You Might Have Missed

 

We want every post on I Read Therefore to be like a mixtape.

(On cassette, because we’re old and romantic.)

Fiction, non-fiction, old, new, famous, very much not famous.

This post is a little more old + famous: the books herein were all published between 1926 and 2006.

(2006 is Julia Child’s autobiography and covers decades and decades, including the eras of the other three books.)

And we’re off to the races:

 

My Life In France by Julia Child

This is an absolutely gorgeous book. If you like cooking, if you like travel, if you like icons, or if you like exactly none of those things, you will enjoy this book. It is a time capsule. Not a slice-of-life but a feast. Fitting.

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Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

There’s so much going on with this thin little book, but if you happened to have missed reading it until later in life (like we did!) the main thing you need to know is that it is HYSTERICAL. You’ll find yourself remembering the smallest little details out of the blue–and the smallest little details are why generations keep reading this pocket rocket classic and many more generations will worship it, too.

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How to Develop Self-Confidence & Influence People by Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie

It is not your fault if you’ve gotten this far in life without being introduced to the self-help book brilliance that is Dale Carnegie’s body of work, but it is the fault of every teacher, leader, colleague, older family member, authority figure…fine, that’s overstated. But once you read this or Carnegie’s other books, you will be shoving them into the hands of everyone you love. Practical and actionable helpful information abound. You can read one page a day and feel stronger, smarter, more capable and competent. Those are some heavy and holy words and we mean it.

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Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence

Real talk: this is a hard read. It is in turns claustrophobic, and sweeping. Heavy with every form of abuse, when the occasional laugh comes around you only get a sour half-smirk of pleasure and relief out of it. But here’s why you should soldier through: every single one of these horrible characters has so much to teach us. Good, bad, and ugly (mostly bad tbh) we can see ourselves and be grateful for who we aren’t and humbled by how much work we have to do to be our best selves. It’s a 50/50 split between male and female characters and all get equal opportunity to have their guts laid bare. Worth the emotional and mental labor.

 

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That’s our list for the day! Four classic books you might have missed, but might be interested in.

We appreciate each and every one of you!

 

 

Filed Under: Book Lists, Classic Books, To Be Read

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