61) The Welsh Language - A History by Janet Davis
As you'd expect, a short but fairly comprehensive history of the history of the Welsh language.
It was pretty dry in places, with lots of figures and stats, but other parts were quite readable and informative.
As a learner myself (proudly nearing fluency), I was most interested in the chapters covering the Second World War to the present, as it covered how Welsh language learning and Welsh medium education was delivered in the 1970s and 1980s, when I was at school myself.
I enjoyed the maps and other illustrations.
Interesting in places, far too dry in others, but a decent enough read.
62) At Home- A history of Private Life by Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson is one of my favourite authors, and while I wouldn't say this was in my top five (those places are reserved for Notes from a Small Island, Notes from a Big Country, The Lost Continent, A short History of Nearly Everything and The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid), it certainly didn't disappoint.
This time, Bryson takes us through the history of the private house, room by room, and how it evolved from the earliest dwellings found since the Romans left Britain, into the homes we are familiar with today. All with the usual Bryson sidetracks into historical anecdotes, interesting statistics and did-you-knows?
My favourite was the story of how rats were managing to steal whole eggs from the kitchen counter without breaking them. No one could figure out how on earth they were managing it, so someone kept watch and saw a rat lying on his back, holding an egg on his stomach with his four legs, while his accomplice rat drags him back to the rat nest by his tail. Who would have thought it?
Comfort reading for me, but very enjoyable.