15 French books to progress in French – beginners
It is more enriching to read French literature and French authors than to discover them through translations. Here are 16 French books to read for intermediaries.
Literature is a way to entertain us, to cultivate ourselves, to send a message or to tell historical facts. It makes us travel through time, work our imagination and discover a civilization through lifestyles, manners or French expressions.
For those who have a visual memory, reading can allow you to memorize vocabulary as well as spelling and grammar rules.
Education has never been more entertaining!
Books to read to progress in French – CLE International Collection
Vingt mille lieues sous les mers by Jules Verne
Professor Aronnax, his friend Conseil and harpooner Ned, who were trying to capture a fantastic sea monster, find themselves prisoners of Captain Nemo, aboard his submarine the Nautilus. It was then that during their maritime voyage, a psychological and cultural struggle took place between Aronnax and Nemo.
Cinq semaines en ballon by Jules Verne
Try to cross Africa from east to west by the air on board a fragile nacelle left to all the whims of the winds. As one might expect, the five weeks it will take for Dr. Fergusson and his two companions to do so will be full of surprises and ups and downs.
Voyage au centre de la terre by Jules Verne (again)
Jules Verne is having fun. Each book is the occasion of a new bet, more insane than the previous one.
A mad scientist goes down with a teenager and a guide to the center of the Earth, then goes back one hundred at an hour, pushed by a torrent of molten lava…
La guerre des boutons by Louis Pergaud
And then you can watch the movie which is very funny (The War of Buttons by Yves Robert)
Like every year, the children of two neighbouring villages wage war, with sticks, stones and slingshots. This year under the direction of Lebrac, those of Longeverne had the idea to strip their enemies of their buttons, in order to force them to return home undressed.
La mare au diable by George Sand
(Because that’s it, it’s George Sand!) It even exists in audiobook and telefilm to watch it later.
They called it the Devil’s Pond, because its mists, in the evening, led the travelers astray. Lost in turn, Germain, Marie and Petit Pierre were forced to spend the night there. Petit Pierre, Germain’s son, was happy and confident.
Much love and a little idealism are the secrets of George Sand.
Tartarin de Tarascon by Alphonse Daudet
Tartarin, nicknamed The King of Tarascon, tells his fellow hunters about his exploits. But after a misunderstanding, the whole village thinks that Tartarin is about to go to Africa to hunt the lion. The incorrigible talker is constrained: he must try the adventure…
Train de nuit by Dominique Renaud
For her work, Tehri, a young Finn, has to do an internship in Nice. She prefers to travel by train because she doesn’t like flying. It is an opportunity for her to stop in Prague and spend some time with her father who lives there. But the train journey is less quiet than expected…
Les trois mousquetaires by Alexandre Dumas
When the young d’Artagnan went to Paris, he had only one dream in mind: to become a Musketeer. On the way, his fiery character drew upon him the wrath of the guards of the Cardinal de Richelieu and thus befriended three of his glorious elders, Athos, Portos and Aramis. He will even meet the love of Constance, the Queen’s moulder…
One for all, and all for one!
5 grammar books to help you in French
Books to read to progress in French – Classics
Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry
The perception of the world around us is totally subjective however through the stories and adventure of the protagonist, the Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry pushes us to reflect on current situations of life that will undoubtedly change your vision.
Les Contes by Charles Perrault
“Once upon a time…” This magic key is enough to open to us the world where the sleeping beauty, the little red riding hood, the blue beard or Cinderella appear in turn. Fairy tales? No doubt. But what enchants us is the naturalness and simplicity of an art of writing that seduces our imagination.
Les Contes de la rue Broca by Pierre Gripari
Once upon a time there was the city of Paris. Once upon a time there was a street Broca. The witches and fairies of today, narrated by the great storyteller and his little neighbors on Broca Street in Paris.Pierre Gripari has fun fudging the tracks and the reader has fun with him. Perfect to discover a Parisian universe. They also exist in cartoon for children!
Those books are availables as ebooks ici to defend at the same time the Parisian bookshops and books or ebook on the site of the FNAC
Stupeur et tremblements by Amélie Nothomb
Movie by Alain Corneau, teaser here
Hired by the company Yumimoto, Amélie hopes to be able to prove herself in Japan. Humiliations and vexations follow one after the other and submission settles in: Amélie thought she was a translator, she will end up being a company pee-wee-wee…
Métaphysique des tubes by Amélie Nothomb
“At the age of three, you are a Martian,” writes Amélie Nothomb. And before? This metaphysical question has not been asked by many readers…
The author proposes an amazing childhood story: that of a little girl who metamorphoses, questions the world and marvels at its paradoxical, fragile beauty.
Journal d’hirondelle by Amélie Nothomb
Following a heartbreak, the narrator, 30 years old, courier, loses his job to find another one, more in line with his new state: hired killer. One day, he was asked to execute a minister and his entire family and to bring his briefcase. In it, his daughter’s diary. He reads the notebook. The use of his five senses belongs to him.
L’étranger by Albert Camus
The day his mother died, Meursault noticed that it was very hot on the bus leading him from Algiers, and he fell asleep. And it is with a sun that blinds him and burns him that the office worker will commit an irreparable act.
Camus presents an elusive man led to commit a crime and who attends, indifferent, to his trial and to his death sentence.
L’alchimiste by Paolo Coelho
Santiago, a young Andalusian shepherd, goes in search of a treasure buried at the foot of the Pyramids.When he meets the Alchemist in the desert, he teaches him to listen to his heart, to read the signs of destiny and, above all, to go to the end of his dream.
Do not hesitate to tell us what you thought of your reading and to offer us ideas of books to progress in French for beginners!
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