New Year Reading Resolutions 2017

As my “to read pile” gets higher and higher on my bed side table threatening to topple and engulf me every night as I sleep, my new year resolution is to finish a book before adding any more to the jenga style tower.

‘Pure Juliet’ by Stella Gibbons has been gathering dust there for a while and as I love her bestseller, “Cold Comfort Farm”, I think ‘Pure Juliet’ will be the first to leave the tower. It’s somewhere near the bottom though so I’ll have to be careful.

I also asked some of my colleagues for their reading resolutions.

Chris

To have a crack at a couple of writers I think I don’t get on with.  These would include Don Delillo.  I’ve never got past the first couple of pages of one of his novels.  Also possibly Colm Toibin, Zadie Smith and Ali Smith.

A nice easy one would be to finish reading the entire 12 book series of Joan Aiken kids’ novels “The Wolves Chronicles” featuring the adventures of Dido Twite. I’ve got some of them at home and love them. 

The ultimate challenge would be to read one of the “great unreadable novels” - “Finnegan’s Wake”.  Previously tried and failed.

Donna

My resolution is three chapters and I’m out policy – life’s too short to read books that don’t grab you.

Emma

I have got stuck in a rut of reading only books for reading groups. I would like to try and find time to read more books for fun than work! I used to love Terry Pratchett and I haven’t read any of his for ages so maybe I will try and catch up on some of his Discworld novels.

Julian

My resolution would be to try and diversify from my usual reading subjects. I always read around subjects or themes that interest me but I know there’s a lot of good fiction out there that would broaden my horizons and introduce me to new authors.

(Julian, you could try reading this blog for suggestions of great books to get you started!)

Mark

More time reading books, less time online. This should be lots of people’s reading resolution!

Steph

My resolution would be to get back into the habit of reading a book in bed at night  –As I haven’t been sleeping well lately, this would be  a great way to relax and would help me to drift off more easily after the stresses of the day! I’ll probably start with ‘Homegoing’ by Yaa Gyasi.

What's yours?

Addunedau Darllen y Flwyddyn Newydd 2017

Wrth i fy "mhentwr darllen" fynd yn uwch ac yn uwch ar y bwrdd wrth ochr fy ngwely, a bygwth dymchwel a f'amlyncu bob nos wrth i mi gysgu, fy adduned blwyddyn newydd yw gorffen llyfr cyn ychwanegu rhagor at y fath dŵr 'Jenga'.

Mae 'Pure Juliet' gan Stella Gibbons wedi bod yn casglu llwch yno am dipyn ac am fy mod wrth fy modd â'i chlasur, "Cold Comfort Farm", rwy'n credu mai 'Pure Juliet' fydd y cyntaf i adael y tŵr. Mae'n rhywle ger y gwaelod, felly bydd yn rhaid i mi fod yn ofalus.

Rwyf hefyd wedi gofyn i rai o fy nghydweithwyr am eu haddunedau darllen.

Chris

Rhoi cynnig ar gwpl o awduron nad wyf yn dueddol o'u dewis. Byddai'r rhain yn cynnwys Don Delillo. Nid wyf erioed wedi darllen mwy na cwpl o dudalennau cyntaf yn yr un o'i nofelau. Hefyd o bosibl Colm Toibin, Zadie Smith a Ali Smith.

Un reit hawdd yw y byddai'n braf gorffen darllen y cyfan o'r gyfres o 12 llyfr o nofelau i blant gan Joan Aiken, sef '"The Wolves Chronicles" sy'n cynnwys anturiaethau Dido Twite. Mae gen i rai ohonynt gartref ac rwy'n eu caru.

Yr her fwyaf fyddai darllen un o'r "nofelau annarllenadwy mwyaf" - "Finnegan's Wake". Rwyf wedi rhoi cynnig arni ond wedi methu.

Donna

Fy adduned i yw'r polisi tair pennod a dyna hi - mae bywyd yn rhy fyr i ddarllen llyfrau nad ydynt yn cydio ynoch chi.

Emma

Rwyf wedi pylu ac yn dueddol o ddarllen llyfrau ar gyfer grwpiau darllen yn unig. Hoffwn geisio dod o hyd i amser i ddarllen mwy o lyfrau am hwyl yn hytrach nag ar gyfer gwaith! Roeddwn i'n arfer bod yn hoff iawn o Terry Pratchett ac nid wyf wedi darllen unrhyw rhai o'i lyfrau ef ers tro, felly, efallai mai ceisio dal i fyny ar rai o'i nofelau Discworld yw'r ateb i mi..

Julian

Fy adduned i fyddai ceisio dargyfeirio o fy mhynciau darllen arferol. Rwyf bob amser yn darllen pynciau neu themâu sydd o ddiddordeb i mi, ond rwy'n gwybod bod llawer o ffuglen dda yn bodoli, a fyddai'n ehangu fy ngorwelion a fy nghyflwyno i awduron newydd.

(Julian, fe allet ti roi cynnig ar ddarllen y blog hwn i gael awgrymiadau am lyfrau gwych i dy roi ar ben y ffordd!)

Mark

Mwy o amser yn darllen llyfrau, llai o amser ar-lein. Dylai hyn fod yn adduned i lawer o bobl!

Steph
Fy adduned i fyddai dychwelyd i'r arfer o ddarllen llyfr yn y gwely yn y nos - Am nad wyf wedi bod yn cysgu'n dda yn ddiweddar, byddai hyn yn ffordd wych o ymlacio a byddai'n fy helpu i lithro i drwmgwsg yn haws ar ôl holl straen y dydd! Buaswn yn siŵr o ddechrau gyda 'Homecoming' gan Yaa Gyasi.

Beth yw eich un chi?

The Best Travel Writing in the World

Launched in 2015, the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards seek to celebrate the best travel writing and travel writers, in the world. 

There are 6 categories:

Fiction (with a sense of place)

Shortlisted books:

Madeleine Thien – Do Not Say We Have Nothing

In Canada in 1991, ten year old Marie and her mother invite a guest into their home. She is Ai-Ming, a young woman from China who has fled following the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square incident. As her relationship with Marie deepens she tells the story of her family in revolutionary China.

Yann Martel – The High Mountains of Portugal

In Lisbon in 1904, a young man named Tomas discovers an old journal. It hints at the location of an extraordinary artefact that - if it exists - would redefine history. Travelling in one of Europe's earliest automobiles, he sets out in search of this treasure. Some 35 years later, a Portuguese pathologist finds himself at the centre of a murder mystery. 50 years on, a Canadian senator takes refuge in northern Portugal, grieving the loss of his beloved wife. But he comes to his ancestral village with an unusual companion: a chimpanzee. Three stories. Three broken hearts. One exploration: what is a life without stories?

Jesse Burton - The Muse

On a hot July day in 1967, Odelle Bastien climbs the stone steps of the Skelton gallery in London, knowing that her life is about to change forever. Having struggled to find her place in the city since she arrived from Trinidad five years ago, she has been offered a job as a typist under the tutelage of the glamorous and enigmatic Marjorie Quick. But though Quick takes Odelle into her confidence, and unlocks a potential she didn't know she had, she remains a mystery - no more so than when a lost masterpiece with a secret history is delivered to the gallery. The truth about the painting lies in 1936 and a large house in rural Spain, where Olive Schloss, the daughter of a renowned art dealer, is harbouring ambitions of her own. Into this fragile paradise come an artist and revolutionary, Isaac Robles, and his half-sister Teresa, who immediately insinuate themselves into the Schloss family.

Julian Barnes – The Noise of Time

In May 1937 a man in his early thirties waits by the lift of a Leningrad apartment block. He waits all through the night, expecting to be taken away to the Big House. Any celebrity he has known in the previous decade is no use to him now. And few who are taken to the Big House ever return. So begins Julian Barnes's first novel since his Booker-winning 'The Sense of an Ending'. A story about the collision of art and power, about human compromise, human cowardice and human courage, it is the work of a true master.

Robert Seethaler – The Tobacconist

When 17-year-old Franz exchanges his home in the idyllic beauty of the Austrian lake district for the bustle of Vienna, his homesickness quickly dissolves amidst the thrum of the city. In his role as apprentice to the elderly tobacconist Otto Trsnyek, he will soon be supplying the great and good of Vienna with their newspapers and cigarettes. Among the regulars is a Professor Freud, whose predilection for cigars and occasional willingness to dispense romantic advice will forge a bond between him and young Franz.

Eowyn Ivey – To the Bright Edge of the World

Lieutenant Colonel Allen Forrester receives the commission of a lifetime when he is charged to navigate Alaska's hitherto impassable Wolverine River, with only a small group of men. The Wolverine is the key to opening up Alaska and its rich natural resources to the outside world, but previous attempts have ended in tragedy. Forrester leaves behind his young wife, Sophie, newly pregnant with the child he had never expected to have. Adventurous in spirit, Sophie does not relish the prospect of a year in a military barracks while her husband carves a path through the wilderness. What she does not anticipate is that their year apart will demand every ounce of courage and fortitude of her that it does of her husband.

Other Categories:

• Adventure Travel Book
• Children’s Travel Book
• Illustrated Travel Book
• Food and Travel Book
• Innovation in Travel Publishing

Click on the link to view all the shortlists and vote for your favourites to be in with a chance of winning £100 worth of National Book Tokens. Voting closes at midday on Wednesday 25^th January 2017. 
Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2016

Yr Awduron Taith Gorau yn y Byd

Mae Gwobr Awduron Taith Edward Stanford a lansiwyd yn 2015 yn dathlu’r ysgrifennu taith a’r awduron taith gorau yn y byd.

Mae yn 6 chategori:                      

Ffuglen (gydag ymdeimlad o le)

Llyfrau a gyrhaeddodd y rhestr fer

Madeleine Thien – Do Not Say We Have Nothing

Yng Nghanada ym 1991, mae Marie, deg oed a'i mam yn gwahodd gwestai i mewn i'w cartref. Ai-Ming yw ei henw, menyw ifanc o Tsieina sydd wedi ffoi yn dilyn hunllef digwyddiad Sgwâr Tiananmen. Wrth i'w pherthynas â Marie ddyfnhau mae hi'n adrodd hanes ei theulu adeg y chwyldro yn Tsieina.

Yann Martel – The High Mountains of Portugal

Yn Lisbon ym 1904, mae dyn ifanc o'r enw Tomas yn darganfod hen gylchgrawn. Mae'n awgrymu lleoliad arteffact rhyfeddol, ac, os yw'n bodoli - byddai'n ailddiffinio hanes. Gan deithio mewn un o foduron cynharaf Ewrop, mae'n cychwyn ar daith i chwilio am y trysor hwn. Rhyw 35 mlynedd yn ddiweddarach, mae patholegydd o Bortiwgal yn cael ei hun yng nghanol dirgelwch llofruddiaeth. 50 mlynedd yn ddiweddarach, mae Seneddwr yng Nghanada yn cymryd lloches yng ngogledd Portiwgal, yn galaru ar ôl colli ei wraig annwyl. Ond mae'n dod i'w bentref teuluol gyda chydymaith anarferol: tsimpansî. Tair stori. Tair calon wedi torri. Un archwiliad: beth yw bywyd heb straeon?

Jesse Burton - The Muse

Ar ddiwrnod poeth yng Ngorffennaf 1967, mae Odelle Bastien yn dringo grisiau cerrig oriel Skelton yn Llundain, gan wybod bod ei bywyd ar fin newid am byth. Ar ôl ei chael yn anodd dod o hyd i'w lle yn y ddinas ers iddi gyrraedd o Drinidad bum mlynedd yn ôl, mae hi wedi cael cynnig swydd fel teipydd dan diwtoriaeth Marjorie Quick, y ddynes gyfareddol ac enigmatig. Ond er bod Quick yn ymddiried yn Odelle, ac yn datgloi potensial nad oedd yn ymwybodol ohono, mae hi'n parhau i fod yn ddirgelwch - dim mwy felly na phan fydd campwaith col â hanes cudd yn cael ei gyflwyno i'r oriel. Mae'r gwir am y darlun yn gorwedd ym 1936 a thŷ mawr yn Sbaen wledig, lle mae Olive Schloss, merch deliwr celf enwog, yn meithrin ei huchelgeisiau ei hun. I mewn i'r baradwys fregus hon daw arlunydd a chwyldröwr, Isaac Robles, a'i hanner chwaer Teresa, sy'n sleifio i mewn i'r teulu Schloss.

Julian Barnes – The Noise of Time

Ym Mai 1937, mae dyn yn ei dridegau cynnar yn aros ger lifft mewn bloc o fflatiau yn Leningrad. Mae'n aros drwy'r nos, gan ddisgwyl y bydd yn cael ei gludo i ffwrdd i'r Tŷ Mawr. Nid yw unrhyw enwogion y mae wedi'u hadnabod yn y degawd blaenorol o ddefnydd iddo nawr. Ac ychydig iawn sy'n cael eu cludo i'r Tŷ'r Mawr sy'n dychwelyd. Felly, dyma ddechrau nofel gyntaf Julian Barnes ers 'The Sense of an Ending' a enillodd wobr Booker. Stori am wrthdrawiad rhwng celf a phŵer, am gyfaddawd dynol, llwfrdra dynol a dewrder dynol; mae'n gampwaith, meistr yn ei faes.

Robert Seethaler – The Tobacconist

Pan fydd Franz, 17eg oed yn cyfnewid ei gartref ardal odidog y llynnoedd yn Awstria am brysurdeb Fienna, mae ei hiraeth prysur ddiflanni yng nghanol prysurdeb y ddinas. Yn ei rôl fel prentis i'r gwerthwr tybaco oedrannus Otto Trsnyek, cyn hir fe fydd yn gwerthu papurau newydd a sigaréts i'r da a'r cyfiawn yn Fienna. Ymhlith y cwsmeriaid rheolaidd mae'r Athro Freud, y mae ei hoffter o sigarau a'r parodrwydd achlysurol i gynnig cyngor ar ramant yn meithrin agosrwydd rhyngddo ef a'r Franz ifanc.

Eowyn Ivey – To the Bright Edge of the World

Mae Is-gyrnol Allen Forrester yn derbyn comisiwn unigryw pan fydd yn cael y cyfrifoldeb o lywio Afon Wolverine yn Alaska, na lwyddwyd gan unrhyw un hyd yn hyn, a hynny gyda grŵp bach o ddynion yn unig. Y Wolverine yw'r allwedd i agor y drws i Alaska a'i adnoddau naturiol cyfoethog i'r byd y tu allan, ond mae ymdrechion blaenorol wedi arwain at drasiedi. Mae Forrester yn gadael ei wraig ifanc, Sophie, sy'n feichiog gyda'r plentyn nad oedd erioed wedi disgwyl ei gael. Anturus ei hysbryd, nid yw Sophie yn croesawu'r syniad o dreulio blwyddyn mewn barics milwrol tra bod ei gwr mynd ati i ddilyn llwybr trwy'r anialwch. Yr hyn nad yw'n ei rhagweld yw y bydd eu blwyddyn ar wahân yn galw cymaint ar ei dewrder a'i chryfder hithau, cymaint felly â'i gŵr

Dyma’r categorïau eraill

• ·         Llyfr Teithio Antur
• ·         Llyfr Teithio i Blant
• ·         Llyfr Teithio Darluniadol
• ·         Llyfr Bwyd a Theithio
• ·         Cyhoeddi Arloesi wrth Deithio

Cliciwch ar y cyswllt i weld y rhestr fer a phleidleisio am eich ffefrynnau er mwyn cael cyfle i ennill gwerth £100 o Dalebau Llyfrau Cenedlaethol. Mae’r pleidleisio’n cau canol dydd ar ddydd Mercher 25 Ionawr 2017. 
Gwobrau Awduron Taith Edward Stanford 2016

Costa Book Awards 2016

The winners of the category awards are

1^st Novel

Francis Spufford, Golden Hill

One rainy evening in November, a handsome young stranger fresh off the boat pitches up at a counting-house door in Golden Hill Street: this is Mr Smith, amiable, charming, yet strangely determined to keep suspicion simmering. For in his pocket, he has what seems to be an order for a thousand pounds, a huge amount, and he won't explain why, or where he comes from, or what he can be planning to do in the colonies that requires so much money. Should the New York merchants trust him? Should they risk their credit and refuse to pay? Should they befriend him, seduce him, arrest him- maybe even kill him?

Novel

Sebastian Barry, Days Without End

Having signed up for the US army in the 1850s, aged barely 17, Thomas McNulty and his brother-in-arms, John Cole, go on to fight in the Indian wars and, ultimately, the Civil War. Orphans of terrible hardships themselves, they find these days to be vivid and alive, despite the horrors they both see and are complicit in.

Biography

Keggie Carew, Dadland: a journey into uncharted territory

Keggie Carew grew up in the gravitational field of an unorthodox father who lived on his wits and dazzling charm. As his memory begins to fail, she embarks on a quest to unravel his story and get to know who her father really was. Tom Carew was a left-handed stutterer, a maverick and a law unto himself. As a member of the Jedburghs, an elite SOE unit, he was parachuted behind enemy lines to raise resistance in France, then Burma, in the Second World War. But his wartime exploits are only the start of it, and Keggie soon finds herself in a far more astonishing and consuming place than she had bargained for. 'Dadland' is a manhunt. Keggie takes us on a spellbinding journey, in peace and war, into surprising and shady corners of history, her rackety English childhood, the poignant breakdown of her family, the corridors of dementia and beyond.

Poetry

Alice Oswald, Falling Awake

Alice Oswald's poems are always vivid and distinct, alert and deeply, physically, engaged in the natural world. Mutability - a sense that all matter is unstable in the face of mortality - is at the heart of this collection and each poem is involved in that drama: the held tension that is embodied life, and life's losing struggle with the gravity of nature.

Children’s Book

Brian Conaghan, The Bombs That Brought Us Together

Fourteen-year-old Charlie Law has lived in Little Town, on the border with Old Country, all his life. He knows the rules: no going out after dark; no drinking; no litter; no fighting. You don't want to get on the wrong side of the people who run Little Town. When he meets Pavel Duda, a refugee from Old Country, the rules start to get broken. Then the bombs come, and the soldiers from Old Country, and Little Town changes for ever. Sometimes, to keep the people you love safe, you have to do bad things. As Little Town's rules crumble, Charlie is sucked into a dangerous game. There's a gun, and a bad man, and his closest friend, and his dearest enemy. Charlie Law wants to keep everyone happy, even if it kills him. And maybe it will!

All the category winners are available for loan or reservation from Torfaen Libraries. Torfaen Libraries Catalogue

The overall winner of the Costa Book of the Year will be announced 31 January 2017

Gwobrau Llyfrau Costa 2016

Enillwyr y gwobrau categori yw

Nofel 1^af 

Francis Spufford, Golden Hill

Un noson lawiog nyn Nhachwedd, daw dyn dieithr golygus sydd newydd gyrraedd ar gwch, i ddrws ystafell gyfrifon yn Golden Hill Street: dyma Mr Smith, hoffus, swynol, ond eto’n benderfynol o gadw pobl i amau.  Yn ei boced, mae ganddo rywbeth sy’n ymddangos fel archeb am fil o bunnoedd, swm anferth, a dyw e ddim un fodlon esbonio pam, na dweud o ble y daw, na beth y mae’n bwriadu gwneud yn y trefedigaethau sy’n galw am gymaint o arian. A ddylai masnachwyr Efrog Newydd ymddiried ynddo?  A ddylen nhw beryglu eu credyd a gwrthod talu?  A ddylen nhw ddod yn gyfeillion ag ef, eu hudo, ei arestio - efallai ei ladd hyd yn oed?

Nofel

Sebastian Barry, Days Without End

Ar ôl ymuno â byddin yr Unol Daleithiau yn yr 1850au, yn brin 17 oed, aiff Thomas McNulty a’i frawd yn y ffydd, John Cole, ymlaen i ymladd yn rhyfeloedd yr Indiaid ac, yn y pen draw, y Rhyfel Cartref.  A hwythau’n amddifad ac wedi profi cyni eu hunain, mae’r dyddiau yma yn fyw ac yn llachar iddyn nhw, er gwaethaf yr erchyllterau y maen nhw’n gweld ac yn rhan ohonynt.

Bywgraffiad

Keggie Carew, Dadland: a journey into uncharted territory

Tyfodd Keggie Carew i fyny o gwmpas tad anarferol a oedd yn byw ar ei grebwyll a’i gyfaredd.  Wrth i’w gof ballu, mae hi’n dechrau ar daith i olrhain stori ei thad ac i ddeall pwy oedd ei thad mewn gwirionedd. Roedd Tom Carew yn llaw chwith, ag atal dweud arno, ac yn rebel. Fel aelod o’r Jedburghs, uned elît yn yr Adran Weithredol Arbennig, fe’i gollyngwyd ar barasiwt y tu ôl i linellau’r gelyn er mwyn hybu’r gwrthsafiad y Ffrainc ac yna Burma, yn ystod yr ail Ryfel Byd.  Ond dim ond megis y dechrau yw ei waith yn y rhyfel ac mae Keggie cyn hir yn cael ei hun mewn lle tipyn mwy syfrdanol ac ysol nag yr oedd wedi disgwyl. Helfa yw 'Dadland'. Mae  Keggie yn mynd â ni ar daith ledrithiol, mewn heddwch a rhyfel, i gorneli annisgwyl a thywyll hanes, ei phlentyndod yn Lloegr, chwalfa’i theulu, i goridorau dementia a thu hwnt.

Barddoniaeth

Alice Oswald, Falling Awake

Mae cerddi Alice Oswald bob amser yn fyw ac yn wahanol, yn effro ac yn ddwfn yn y byd naturiol. Mae cyfnewidioldeb – y synnwyr bod pob dim yn ansefydlog yng ngwyneb meidroldeb – wrth gallon y casgliad hwn ac mae pob cerdd yn rhan o’r ddrama: y tensiwn sy’n ymgorffori bywyd, a cholli brwydr bywyd â natur.

Llyfr Plant

Brian Conaghan, The Bombs That Brought Us Together

Yn bedair ar ddeg mae Charlie Law wedi byw yn Little Town, ar y ffin gydag Old Country, gydol ei oes.  Mae’n gwybod y rheolau: dim mynd allan ar ôl iddi dywyllu; dim yfed; dim sbwriel; dim ymladd.  Dwyt ti ddim am bechu’r bobl sy’n rhedeg Little Town. Pan fo’n cwrdd â Pavel Duda, ffoadur o Old Country, mae’r rheolau’n dechrau cael eu torri.  Yn daw’r bomiau, a milwyr o Old Country, ac mae Little Town yn newid am byth.  Ambell waith, er mwyn cadw’r bobl yr ydych chi’n eu caru’n ddiogel, rhaid i chi wneud pethau drwg.  Wrth i reolau Little Town ddadfeilio, caiff Charlie ei dynnu i gêm beryglus.  Mae gwn, dyn drwg, ei ffrind gorau a’i hoff elyn.  Mae Charlie Law am gadw pawb yn hapus, hyd yn oedd od bydd hynny’n ei ladd.  And efallai mai hynny a ddigwydd

Mae’r enillwyr categori i gyd ar gael i’w benthyg neu i’ rhoi i gadw gan Lyfrgelloedd Torfaen. Catalog Llyfrgelloedd Torfaen

Cyhoeddir enillydd Llyfr Costa’r Flwyddyn ar 31 Ionawr 2017

Desert Island Books 3

It’s my turn this month, so here are my 6 books and why I've chosen them.

The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier 

My favourite book from childhood for that nostalgic, feel good factor. Although the book deals with a gritty subject there’s also plenty of humour.

The night the Nazis come to take their mother away, three children escape in a terrifying scramble across the rooftops. Alone in the chaos of Warsaw, they have to learn to survive on their own.

Jennings’ Diary, Anthony Buckeridge

Another blast from the past. As a child it used to make me laugh out loud, and I’m sure it would still lift my flagging spirits.

Set in a preparatory school in the 1950’s it follows the hilarious escapades of Jennings and his side kick, Darbishire.

Lady of Hay, Barbara Erskine

One of the best time slip books I have ever read, to indulge my love of history and the supernatural.

Jo Clifford, successful journalist, is all set to debunk the idea of past-life regression in her next magazine series. But when she herself submits to a simple hypnotic session, she suddenly finds herself reliving the experiences of Matilda, Lady of Hay, and wife of a baron at the time of King John.

The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald

Set during the roaring twenties, I just love the glamour of that era, the story follows aspiring writer Nick Carraway as he moves to New York and becomes intrigued by his neighbour Jay Gatsby’s lavish lifestyle and mysterious past.

When I’m on my desert island dressed in a grass skirt, scary thought, I can read about the flappers of that time and picture myself there, partying.

War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy

I have never read this book but I adored the recent TV adaptation and it would certainly give me plenty to read while I wait for a rescue boat.

Tolstoy's beguiling masterpiece entwines love, death and determinism with Russia's war with Napoleon and its effects on those swept up by the terror it brings. The lives of Pierre, Prince Andrei and Natasha are changed forever as conflict rages throughout the early 19th century.

Cross Stitch, Diana Gabaldon

(Republished as “Outlander”)

Another wonderful time slip book with the ultimate romantic hero, Jamie Fraser. Just the thing to warm up the cold nights, hmm I must remember to take a torch and plenty of batteries!

1946, and Claire Randall goes to the Scottish Highlands with her husband Frank. It’s a second honeymoon, a chance to learn how the war has changed them and revive their marriage. But one afternoon, Claire walks through a circle of standing stones and vanishes into 1743. Marooned amid danger, passion and violence her only chance of safety lies with Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scottish warrior and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men in two very different times.

Llyfrau ar Ynys Bell 3

Fy nhro i yw hi'r mis yma, felly dyma fy 6 llyfr a’r rhesymau dros eu dewis.

The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier 

Fy hoff lyfr o’m mhlentyndod ar gyfer teimlad hiraethus ac i deimlo’n dda. Er bod y llyfr yn delio â phwnc anodd mae yna ddigon o hiwmor.

Pan ddaw’r Natsïaid i gymryd eu mam i ffwrdd, mae tri o blant yn dianc dros ben y toeau.  Ar eu pennau eu hunain yn anrhefn Warsaw, rhaid iddynt nhw ddysgu byw ar eu pennau eu hunain.

Jennings’ Diary, Anthony Buckeridge

Un arall o’r gorffennol pell.  Fel plentyn parai i fi chwerthin yn uchel ac rwy’n siŵr y byddai o hyd yn codi calon.

Mewn ysgol breswyl yn y pumdegau mae’n dilyn hynt a helynt Jennings a’i gyfaill, Darbishire.

Lady of Hay, Barbara Erskine

Un o’r llyfrau slip amser gorau i mi darllen erioed, er mwyn bodloni fy niddordeb mewn hanes a’r goruwchnaturiol.

Mae Jo Clifford, newyddiadurwraig lwyddiannus, yn barod i danseilio’r syniad o adlithirad i fywyd cynt yn ei chyfres cylchgrawn nesaf.  Ond pan aiff i sesiwn hypnoteiddio, mae’n dechrau ail-fyw profiadau Matilda, Boneddiges Hay, a gwraig barwn yng nghyfnod y Brenin Siôn.

The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald

Wedi ei osod yn y dau-ddegau, rwy’n dwlu ar gyfaredd y cyfnod, mae’r stori’n dilyn awdur, Nick Carraway wrth iddo symud i Efrog Newydd a chael ei swyno gan bywyd moethus ei gymydog Jay Gatsby a’i orffennol dirgel.

Pan fyddaf ar fy ynys bell mewn sgert wair, gallaf ddarllen am ‘flappers’ yr oes a dychmygu fy hun yno, mewn parti.

War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy

Dydw i erioed wedi darllen y llyfr yma ond roeddwn i wrth fy modd gyda’r addasiad ar deledu yn ddiweddar a bydd yn sicr o roi digon i fi ddarllen wrth ddisgwyl y llong i’m hachub.

Mae campwaith Tolstoy yn plethu serch, marwolaeth a phenderfyniaeth gyda rhyfel Rwsia gyda Napoleon a’i effeithiau ar y rheiny sy’n cael ei hysgubo gan y braw a ddaw yn ei sgil. Mae bywydau Pierre, y Tywysog Andrei a Natasha yn newid am byth yng ngwrthdaro’r 19eg ganrif cynnar.

Cross Stitch, Diana Gabaldon (Ail-gyhoeddwyd fel “Outlander”)

Llyfr adlithriad arall gyda’r arwr rhamantaidd pennaf, Jamie Fraser. Yr union beth i gynhesu ar noson oer, rhaid i fi gofio mynd â fflachlamp a digon o fatris!

Yn 1946, aiff Claire Randall i ucheldiroedd yr Alban gyda’i gŵr Frank. Mae’n ail fis mêl ac yn gyfle i ddysgu sut y mae’r rhyfel wedi eu newid ac i achub eu priodas. Ond un prynhawn, mae Claire yn cerdded trwy gylch o gerrig safadwy ac yn diflannu i 1743.  Wedi ei hynysu ac mewn perygl, serch a thrais mae ei hunig gyfle  yn nwylo Jamie Fraser, rhyfelwr ifanc, dewr Albanaidd ac mae Claire yn cael ei thynnu gan ddau ddyn gwahanol mewn dau gyfnod gwahanol.