Favorite French Fiction
- List of the Month
- July 2026 (see all)
- Talk
- July 2026 List of the Month: Favorite French Fiction
- Description
- July 14th was Fête Nationale, France's national day of celebration. It is the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, in 1789, and is known in the English-speaking world as Bastille Day. In honor of the occasion, our July List of the Month is dedicated to our Favorite French Fiction. Contributors may add ten titles, and are welcome to include notes explaining their choice. Downvoting is only permitted on titles that do not fit the theme, and are not fiction and/or not French (as in, written and published in France).
1
31,015 members
497 reviews
½ 4.3
Score 89.9
Added 2026-07-15, 02:12 PM
- 24 Members
- karenb, Amiziras, Bookmarque, Euryale, jwhenderson, Morphidae, Stevil2001, kleo, amanda4242, MichaelDennis, DBeecher, chokai, vwinsloe, zmeischa, al.vick, Bookwomble, NerdForHire, discarded, Kyler_Marie, Tosta, OResch, uenvs, BonnieLassie, IORD
2
53,418 members
876 reviews
4.2
Score 79.93
Added 2026-07-15, 01:56 PM
- 24 Members
- ablachly, amberwitch, Euryale, Morphidae, EerierIdyllMeme, lizzy50usa, saskia17, amanda4242, merrystar, birder4106, sturlington, DBeecher, C.Rose, gypsysmom, kyurenka, NerdForHire, SF_fan_mae, msjudy, Kyler_Marie, Mannivu, Charon07, OResch, uenvs, BonnieLassie
- Explanations
- birder4106: Simply beautiful.
3
24,684 members
271 reviews
4.1
Score 67.76
Added 2026-07-15, 02:08 PM
- 21 Members
- hipdeep, Bookmarque, pitjrw, kleo, yoyogod, lizzy50usa, saskia17, birder4106, BonnieJune54, zmeischa, gypsysmom, Bookwomble, missizicks, NerdForHire, rhondak101book, discarded, SF_fan_mae, Tosta, Charon07, BonnieLassie, IORD
- Explanations
- birder4106: How I loved and admired them as a boy. Especially D'Artagnan. That is the kind of man I wanted to become.IORD: One of the books that defined my childhood. A cracking adventure.
4
- 19 Members
- timspalding, ablachly, Amiziras, Euryale, rarm, kleo, lizzy50usa, saskia17, oceancat, MichaelDennis, DBeecher, BonnieJune54, gypsysmom, al.vick, NerdForHire, Kyler_Marie, OResch, BonnieLassie, yak_shelves01
5
- 18 Members
- hipdeep, Stevil2001, knerd.knitter, sharder, saskia17, sturlington, DBeecher, gypsysmom, Laura1124, msjudy, ProfBard, Charon07, skid0612, loulourevisited, RupertThorne, BonnieLassie, khee60, IORD
- Explanations
6
by Jules Verne
21,625 members
284 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 48.89
Added 2026-07-15, 02:29 PM
- 16 Members
- Euryale, jain, Stevil2001, urania1, merrystar, birder4106, sturlington, oceancat, NerdForHire, SF_fan_mae, Boand, ProfBard, Tosta, RupertThorne, BonnieLassie, NovicePotato
- Explanations
- birder4106: A favorite book from my youth.RupertThorne: This is all the more special because of its featured role in the book All The Light We Cannot See
7
- 14 Members
- Cecrow, Opinionated, sturlington, DBeecher, pperez333, zmeischa, gypsysmom, Boand, loulourevisited, RupertThorne, Easttexfarmer, khee60, IORD, mizezslo
8
3,561 members
46 reviews
3.8
Score 39.75
Added 2026-07-15, 02:51 PM
- 13 Members
- ablachly, lizzy50usa, sallylou61, oceancat, DBeecher, gypsysmom, al.vick, NerdForHire, beehappy, Tosta, OResch, BonnieLassie, mizezslo
9
by Jules Verne
20,474 members
309 reviews
3.8
Score 37.07
Added 2026-07-16, 12:44 AM
- 13 Members
- prosfilaes, kleo, lizzy50usa, oceancat, BonnieJune54, NerdForHire, treegardner, msjudy, Boand, Tosta, skid0612, RupertThorne, BonnieLassie
10
4,382 members
50 reviews
½ 4.6
Score 37.04
Added 2026-07-15, 04:35 PM
- 11 Members
- Amiziras, pitjrw, domgabfil, Cecrow, zmeischa, loulourevisited, RupertThorne, Easttexfarmer, LikeRain, IORD, mizezslo
11
by Jules Verne
17,779 members
267 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 35.26
Added 2026-07-16, 12:31 AM
- 12 Members
- Stevil2001, yoyogod, sturlington, BonnieJune54, chokai, NerdForHire, Laura1124, msjudy, Tosta, RupertThorne, BonnieLassie, IORD
12
4,278 members
66 reviews
½ 4.3
Score 33.63
Added 2026-07-15, 02:14 PM
- 10 Members
- Amiziras, domgabfil, thorold, Cecrow, Opinionated, EMS_24, DBeecher, missizicks, Charon07, uenvs
13
14
by Victor Hugo
16,483 members
209 reviews
3.9
Score 31.93
Added 2026-07-15, 02:09 PM
- 11 Members
- dgoshorn, birder4106, DBeecher, BonnieJune54, gypsysmom, NerdForHire, Laura1124, Kyler_Marie, Mannivu, Charon07, BonnieLassie
15
- 11 Members
- ablachly, Amiziras, EerierIdyllMeme, kleo, Laura1124, treegardner, Boand, ProfBard, skid0612, Easttexfarmer, khee60
16
14,696 members
191 reviews
3.9
Score 23.99
Added 2026-07-15, 02:20 PM
- 9 Members
- hipdeep, knerd.knitter, saskia17, sturlington, EMS_24, pperez333, Laura1124, Tosta, Charon07,
17
7,358 members
106 reviews
4.1
Score 22.42
Added 2026-07-15, 02:32 PM
- 7 Members
- timspalding, Amiziras, Bookmarque, domgabfil, zmeischa, missizicks, mizezslo
18
- 7 Members
- EerierIdyllMeme, prosfilaes, saskia17, sturlington, DBeecher, spencerjperry, PocheFamily
- Explanations
- PocheFamily: Adore Huis Clos. Comes up again and again in my life.
20
15,683 members
229 reviews
3.8
Score 19.73
Added 2026-07-15, 02:16 PM
- 7 Members
- kleo, sturlington, BonnieJune54, al.vick, NerdForHire, SF_fan_mae, itstheblob
21
22
- 6 Members
- Euryale, pitjrw, CurrerBell, Boand, Nonconformisto, itstheblob,
- Explanations
- pitjrw: I tried to keep to one work per author otherwise Camus would take up almost my entire list.
24
by Colette
1,138 members
18 reviews
3.9
Score 16.08
Added 2026-07-15, 03:10 PM
- 5 Members
- hipdeep, lizzy50usa, Caesia, Easttexfarmer, khee60
26
13,216 members
696 reviews
3.8
Score 15.69
Added 2026-07-15, 01:52 PM
- 5 Members
- knerd.knitter, Caesia, missizicks, Laura1124, msjudy
27
1,739 members
60 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 12.87
Added 2026-07-15, 02:03 PM
- 4 Members
- Aquila, karenb, saskia17, rhondak101book
28
- 4 Members
- pitjrw, Cecrow, CarltonC, Bookwomble
- Explanations
- CarltonC: My memories are of warm sunlight.
29
- 4 Members
- tardis, amberwitch, Caesia, khee60
- Explanations
- tardis: Parisian kids making their own fun and foiling criminals.
30
2,447 members
18 reviews
3.9
Score 12.38
Added 2026-07-21, 02:35 PM
- 4 Members
- Amiziras, CurrerBell, Bookwomble, rhondak101book
32
3,820 members
30 reviews
3.8
Score 12.28
Added 2026-07-15, 05:36 PM
- 4 Members
- CarltonC, DBeecher, spencerjperry, Nonconformisto
33
3,384 members
80 reviews
4.2
Score 11.84
Added 2026-07-15, 03:00 PM
- 4 Members
- jain, pitjrw, zmeischa, loulourevisited
34
5,367 members
52 reviews
3.8
Score 11.24
Added 2026-07-15, 02:32 PM
- 4 Members
- timspalding, Amiziras, paradoxosalpha, RupertThorne
35
3,470 members
60 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 10.73
Added 2026-07-15, 11:08 PM
- 4 Members
- kleo, EMS_24, MichaelDennis, Easttexfarmer
- Explanations
- MichaelDennis: Haunting. Melancholy. Beautifully written.
38
1,897 members
35 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 10.4
Added 2026-07-15, 03:15 PM
- 3 Members
- gaskella, thorold, missizicks
39
1,653 members
33 reviews
½ 3.6
Score 10.4
Added 2026-07-16, 12:32 AM
- 3 Members
- mkbird, BonnieJune54, blueberry
40
305 members
4 reviews
3.8
Score 10.25
Added 2026-07-22, 01:04 PM
- 3 Members
- Amiziras, citizencane, ProfBard
41
326 members
8 reviews
½ 3.5
Score 9.28
Added 2026-07-15, 02:13 PM
- 3 Members
- sharder, amanda4242, LikeRain
- Explanations
- amanda4242: A stand-in for the whole series.
44
- 3 Members
- princessgarnet, CurrerBell, zmeischa
- Explanations
- princessgarnet: Basis for the 1994 movie. Dumas took dramatic license writing the novel so you want to read some non-fiction books about France during this time period.
45
47
3,860 members
113 reviews
½ 3.5
Score 7.57
Added 2026-07-15, 04:26 PM
- 3 Members
- BonnieJune54, missizicks, Easttexfarmer
49
- 3 Members
- thorold, birder4106, khee60
- Explanations
- birder4106: I like Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, his Paris, and the France of Fred Vargas.
51
- 3 Members
- gaskella, birder4106, missizicks,IORD
- Explanations
- birder4106: Quirky in a typically French way.
52
53
- 2 Members
- princessgarnet, Amiziras
- Explanations
- princessgarnet: This novel inspired "The Paradise" series on PBS "Masterpiece" with the story and plot taking place in the UK.
55
56
187 members
16 reviews
3.8
Score 5.87
Added 2026-07-15, 03:04 PM
58
by Jean Cocteau
1,952 members
20 reviews
½ 3.6
Score 5.74
Added 2026-07-21, 05:27 PM
- 2 Members
- Bookwomble, SwaledalePL
59
60
6,926 members
86 reviews
4.2
Score 5.71
Added 2026-07-15, 04:38 PM
- 2 Members
- datrappert, loulourevisited
- Explanations
- datrappert: This is a really great long novel-so much to chew over here. Unfortunately, Death on the Installment Plan, the sort-of-sequel, left me unsatisfied. But no reason to miss this one.
62
- 2 Members
- gaskella, lizzy50usa
- Explanations
- lizzy50usa: The first of a quartet of fantasy books, this was a bestseller in the original French edition and has been widely translated.
65
4,798 members
60 reviews
3.8
Score 5.38
Added 2026-07-15, 04:43 PM
67
1,997 members
20 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 5.29
Added 2026-07-15, 03:24 PM
- 2 Members
- paradoxosalpha, ProfBard
70
73
166 members
2 reviews
½ 4.5
Score 4.92
Added 2026-07-16, 02:35 PM
- 2 Members
- princessgarnet, zmeischa
- Explanations
- princessgarnet: Read and own the complete series in English translation. For many years, the 7th and final novel of the series was unavailable in English. Druon wrote the final novel in the 1970s however it's not his best entry to the series. George RR Martin wrote the forward to the English translation of the "Accursed Kings" series, saying it's the inspiration to his "Song of Ice and Fire"/"Game of Thrones" books.
74
81
394 members
18 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 4
Added 2026-07-22, 05:04 PM
- Member
- datrappert
- Explanations
- datrappert: Essential noir fiction with a very personal (I won't necessarily call it French) twist. This is just one book--they are all worth reading. Also see Pascal Garnier. Both are authors you'll want to read everything by.
87
90
- Member
- JalenV
- Explanations
- JalenV: Although written and published in English, the author was French. These are her re-tellings of stories from French history and French folktales. I found the book very interesting. Aside from Joan of Arc and Josephine Bonaparte, I had not heard of any of the historical figures or saints, nor knew I any of the folktales.
100
- Member
- datrappert
- Explanations
- datrappert: Like Jean-Patrick Manchette, Garnier's books are short, quirky, and unforgettable in their mix of noir and the blackest of humor. None of them are to be missed.