Edward M. Stack

Very good for quickly acquiring reading competence in French, which in my case accompanied a one semester undergraduate course in 1976. It is specifically not recommended for learning to write or speak French, which requires different and more sustained instruction, so it's best for working translations of texts. Its coverage of terminology and common phrases is well-tuned to practising academics and researchers.

This is pretty much THE classic book for grad students learning to read French in a hurry to pass their exams and get themselves up to speed. It's been around for a long time, and it's still pretty good. I recommend the Rosetta Stone program followed by this. The key here is that this does not waste any time teaching you how to make polite conversation or ask directions to the train station. This is just to teach you how to learn to read technical academic French as a graduate student.