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
53,328 members
875 reviews
4.2
Score 50.73
Added 2026-07-15, 01:56 PM
- 15 Members
- Euryale, EerierIdyllMeme, lizzy50usa, saskia17, amanda4242, merrystar, birder4106, sturlington, DBeecher, C.Rose, gypsysmom, SF_fan_mae, msjudy, Mannivu, Charon07
- Explanations
- birder4106: Simply beautiful.
2
24,664 members
271 reviews
4.1
Score 44.28
Added 2026-07-15, 02:08 PM
- 14 Members
- hipdeep, Bookmarque, pitjrw, yoyogod, lizzy50usa, saskia17, birder4106, BonnieJune54, zmeischa, gypsysmom, missizicks, SF_fan_mae, Tosta, Charon07
- Explanations
- birder4106: How I loved and admired them as a boy. Especially D'Artagnan. That is the kind of man I wanted to become.
3
30,988 members
496 reviews
½ 4.3
Score 40.44
Added 2026-07-15, 02:12 PM
- 11 Members
- Bookmarque, Euryale, Stevil2001, amanda4242, MichaelDennis, DBeecher, chokai, vwinsloe, zmeischa, al.vick, Tosta
4
- 10 Members
- timspalding, Euryale, lizzy50usa, saskia17, oceancat, MichaelDennis, DBeecher, BonnieJune54, gypsysmom, al.vick
5
by Jules Verne
21,582 members
284 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 30.79
Added 2026-07-15, 02:29 PM
- 10 Members
- Euryale, jain, Stevil2001, urania1, merrystar, birder4106, sturlington, oceancat, SF_fan_mae, Tosta
- Explanations
- birder4106: A favorite book from my youth.
6
- 10 Members
- hipdeep, Stevil2001, knerd.knitter, saskia17, sturlington, DBeecher, gypsysmom, msjudy, Charon07, skid0612
- Explanations
- skid0612: I have read this short novel a dozen times and never tire of it.
7
3,565 members
46 reviews
3.8
Score 26.2
Added 2026-07-15, 02:51 PM
8
4,272 members
66 reviews
½ 4.3
Score 23.23
Added 2026-07-15, 02:14 PM
9
4,378 members
50 reviews
½ 4.6
Score 21.87
Added 2026-07-15, 04:35 PM
10
by Jules Verne
17,759 members
267 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 21.55
Added 2026-07-16, 12:31 AM
- 7 Members
- Stevil2001, yoyogod, sturlington, BonnieJune54, chokai, msjudy, Tosta
11
- 6 Members
- Ennas, thorold, amanda4242, merrystar, Mannivu, mizezslo
- Explanations
- amanda4242: A stand-in for the whole series.
12
7,350 members
106 reviews
4.1
Score 19.75
Added 2026-07-15, 02:32 PM
- 6 Members
- timspalding, Bookmarque, domgabfil, zmeischa, missizicks, mizezslo
13
by Jules Verne
20,433 members
307 reviews
3.8
Score 17.56
Added 2026-07-16, 12:44 AM
- 6 Members
- prosfilaes, oceancat, BonnieJune54, msjudy, Tosta, skid0612
15
by Victor Hugo
16,455 members
208 reviews
3.9
Score 17.3
Added 2026-07-15, 02:09 PM
- 6 Members
- birder4106, DBeecher, BonnieJune54, gypsysmom, Mannivu, Charon07
16
17
14,678 members
190 reviews
3.9
Score 15.57
Added 2026-07-15, 02:20 PM
- 6 Members
- hipdeep, knerd.knitter, saskia17, sturlington, EMS_24, Tosta,
18
15,646 members
229 reviews
3.8
Score 14.44
Added 2026-07-15, 02:16 PM
- 5 Members
- sturlington, BonnieJune54, al.vick, SF_fan_mae, itstheblob
19
- 4 Members
- Euryale, pitjrw, Nonconformisto, itstheblob
- Explanations
- pitjrw: I tried to keep to one work per author otherwise Camus would take up almost my entire list.
20
3,817 members
30 reviews
3.8
Score 12.28
Added 2026-07-15, 05:36 PM
- 4 Members
- CarltonC, DBeecher, spencerjperry, Nonconformisto
23
13,198 members
696 reviews
3.8
Score 10.31
Added 2026-07-15, 01:52 PM
- 3 Members
- knerd.knitter, missizicks, msjudy
24
25
3,385 members
80 reviews
4.2
Score 9.02
Added 2026-07-15, 03:00 PM
27
by Colette
1,135 members
18 reviews
3.9
Score 7.36
Added 2026-07-15, 03:10 PM
- 2 Members
- hipdeep, lizzy50usa
28
1,736 members
60 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 6.83
Added 2026-07-15, 02:03 PM
29
5,362 members
52 reviews
3.8
Score 6.4
Added 2026-07-15, 02:32 PM
- 2 Members
- timspalding, paradoxosalpha
31
32
33
327 members
8 reviews
½ 3.5
Score 5.92
Added 2026-07-15, 02:13 PM
- 2 Members
- amanda4242, LikeRain
- Explanations
- amanda4242: A stand-in for the whole series.
34
35
38
3,469 members
60 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 5.35
Added 2026-07-15, 11:08 PM
- 2 Members
- EMS_24, MichaelDennis
- Explanations
- MichaelDennis: Haunting. Melancholy. Beautifully written.
40
- 2 Members
- princessgarnet, 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.
42
43
3,854 members
113 reviews
½ 3.5
Score 5.02
Added 2026-07-15, 04:26 PM
- 2 Members
- BonnieJune54, missizicks
44
46
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.
47
- 2 Members
- thorold, birder4106
- Explanations
- birder4106: I like Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, his Paris, and the France of Fred Vargas.
48
- Member
- princessgarnet
- Explanations
- princessgarnet: This novel inspired "The Paradise" series on PBS "Masterpiece" with the story and plot taking place in the UK.
53
57
- 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.
58
72
231 members
6 reviews
½ 4.3
Score 3.04
Added 2026-07-15, 09:23 PM
73
187 members
16 reviews
3.8
Score 3.04
Added 2026-07-15, 03:04 PM
76
110 members
4 reviews
2.9
Score 3.04
Added 2026-07-16, 02:16 PM
- Member
- princessgarnet
- Explanations
- princessgarnet: Story about two princesses that I didn't know much about. Read and own the English translation of the novel.
86
3 members
½ 4.3
Score 2.83
Added 2026-07-15, 02:12 PM
- Member
- birder4106
- Explanations
- birder4106: First, the book depicts an important chapter of French history and one of the nation's greatest defeats. Yet it also reveals a side of (modern) Russian culture that one could come to appreciate and cherish. It is worth noting that the book was written before Russia’s incursion into Crimea and the war in Ukraine. I wonder how Sylvain Tesson would tell the story today.
88
92
- Member
- birder4106
- Explanations
- birder4106: This book shows that Annie Ernaux rightly received the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature.
99
2,588 members
60 reviews
½ 3.4
Score 2.56
Added 2026-07-18, 02:59 PM
- Member
- princessgarnet
- Explanations
- princessgarnet: An early example of classic French literature. A young Mary, Queen of Scots, has a cameo in the story--she's Dauphine of France.
