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
53,349 members
875 reviews
4.2
Score 52.98
Added 2026-07-15, 01:56 PM
- 16 Members
- amberwitch, Euryale, EerierIdyllMeme, lizzy50usa, saskia17, amanda4242, merrystar, birder4106, sturlington, DBeecher, C.Rose, gypsysmom, SF_fan_mae, msjudy, Mannivu, Charon07
- Explanations
- birder4106: Simply beautiful.
2
24,670 members
271 reviews
4.1
Score 51.49
Added 2026-07-15, 02:08 PM
- 16 Members
- hipdeep, Bookmarque, pitjrw, kleo, yoyogod, lizzy50usa, saskia17, birder4106, BonnieJune54, zmeischa, gypsysmom, missizicks, discarded, 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
30,976 members
496 reviews
½ 4.3
Score 47.81
Added 2026-07-15, 02:12 PM
- 13 Members
- Bookmarque, Euryale, Stevil2001, kleo, amanda4242, MichaelDennis, DBeecher, chokai, vwinsloe, zmeischa, al.vick, discarded, Tosta
4
- 11 Members
- timspalding, Euryale, kleo, lizzy50usa, saskia17, oceancat, MichaelDennis, DBeecher, BonnieJune54, gypsysmom, al.vick
5
by Jules Verne
21,612 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
3,566 members
46 reviews
3.8
Score 26.2
Added 2026-07-15, 02:51 PM
8
4,274 members
66 reviews
½ 4.3
Score 23.23
Added 2026-07-15, 02:14 PM
9
4,380 members
50 reviews
½ 4.6
Score 21.87
Added 2026-07-15, 04:35 PM
10
by Jules Verne
17,769 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
by Jules Verne
20,445 members
307 reviews
3.8
Score 20.39
Added 2026-07-16, 12:44 AM
- 7 Members
- prosfilaes, kleo, oceancat, BonnieJune54, msjudy, Tosta, skid0612
12
- 6 Members
- Ennas, thorold, amanda4242, merrystar, Mannivu, mizezslo
- Explanations
- amanda4242: A stand-in for the whole series.
13
7,352 members
106 reviews
4.1
Score 19.75
Added 2026-07-15, 02:32 PM
- 6 Members
- timspalding, Bookmarque, domgabfil, zmeischa, missizicks, mizezslo
14
15,660 members
229 reviews
3.8
Score 17.48
Added 2026-07-15, 02:16 PM
- 6 Members
- kleo, sturlington, BonnieJune54, al.vick, SF_fan_mae, itstheblob
16
by Victor Hugo
16,464 members
209 reviews
3.9
Score 17.3
Added 2026-07-15, 02:09 PM
- 6 Members
- birder4106, DBeecher, BonnieJune54, gypsysmom, Mannivu, Charon07
17
18
14,682 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,
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
3,819 members
30 reviews
3.8
Score 12.28
Added 2026-07-15, 05:36 PM
- 4 Members
- CarltonC, DBeecher, spencerjperry, Nonconformisto
23
13,204 members
696 reviews
3.8
Score 10.31
Added 2026-07-15, 01:52 PM
- 3 Members
- knerd.knitter, missizicks, msjudy
24
25
3,386 members
80 reviews
4.2
Score 9.02
Added 2026-07-15, 03:00 PM
26
3,470 members
60 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 7.91
Added 2026-07-15, 11:08 PM
- 3 Members
- kleo, EMS_24, MichaelDennis
- Explanations
- MichaelDennis: Haunting. Melancholy. Beautifully written.
28
by Colette
1,135 members
18 reviews
3.9
Score 7.36
Added 2026-07-15, 03:10 PM
- 2 Members
- hipdeep, lizzy50usa
29
- 2 Members
- tardis, amberwitch
- Explanations
- tardis: Parisian kids making their own fun and foiling criminals.
30
1,736 members
60 reviews
½ 3.7
Score 6.83
Added 2026-07-15, 02:03 PM
31
5,365 members
52 reviews
3.8
Score 6.4
Added 2026-07-15, 02:32 PM
- 2 Members
- timspalding, paradoxosalpha
33
34
35
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.
37
38
41
- 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.
43
44
3,856 members
113 reviews
½ 3.5
Score 5.02
Added 2026-07-15, 04:26 PM
- 2 Members
- BonnieJune54, missizicks
45
47
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.
48
- 2 Members
- thorold, birder4106
- Explanations
- birder4106: I like Commissaire Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, his Paris, and the France of Fred Vargas.
51
- Member
- princessgarnet
- Explanations
- princessgarnet: This novel inspired "The Paradise" series on PBS "Masterpiece" with the story and plot taking place in the UK.
60
- 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.
61
76
231 members
6 reviews
½ 4.3
Score 3.04
Added 2026-07-15, 09:23 PM
77
187 members
16 reviews
3.8
Score 3.04
Added 2026-07-15, 03:04 PM
80
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.
91
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.
93
98
- Member
- birder4106
- Explanations
- birder4106: This book shows that Annie Ernaux rightly received the 2022 Nobel Prize in Literature.
