I’m trying to find a book that I can buddy read with my wife. She’s a native French speaker who’s fluent in English, but since it’s not her first language, she isn’t as used to reading in English.
I’ve been looking for something we can both enjoy, ideally a book that doesn’t have overly complicated scenery or world-building. I think her main struggle would be trying to comprehend/visualize complex sentences, rather than finding the definition of a word.
One of the books she read recently and found to be a quick, easy read was The Housemaid, so that might be a good point of reference.
In terms of genres, she's not super into sci-fi, non-fiction, or horror. thrillers, fiction, maybe light fantasy, YA, stuff like that.
Some of the ones I'm considering that I haven't read:
- City of Thieves by David Benioff
- Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang (it's fantasy but heard it's an easy read?)
- Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby
by marbles12
21 Comments
The little prince?
The mirror visitor quartet (Christelle Dabos) is in English but originally French so y’all can read it in your own native tongues!
Book of the New Sun
(I am joking, this is exactly the contrary of what you need)
Something by the Marquis De Sade for that home county feel 😏
The Darkangel Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce was my favorite book series in middle school. It has a unique story with a couple of interesting plot twists.
I am in the opposite situation (reading books in intermediate French) but with similar tastes and I find that YA French sci-fi or fantasy is the perfect level, so maybe try the Wayward Children series or Murderbot and move up in complexity from there depending on how it goes (i.e., Harry Potter, etc) I have trouble with action scenes in general, but plot and scenery are fine. Murder mysteries are hard because you have to catch details to understand the twist. Wings of Fire is a fantastic series, although it may actually be too easy, as it is for the elementary school set.
The Hunger Games. Had an ex who was trying to improve fluency and this one was the biggest hit.
Not a book per-se. But maybe asterix comics? Though there might be a problem of character names not matching 1:1
I’m reading it right now so I can’t give a final verdict, but The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar. The sentence structure is fairly straight forward and easy. Probably the most uncommon terminology she might come across is terms for laboratory equipment since the narrator is a magician that deals with potions.
Another would be I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle. It’s another light fantasy book that follows the structure of a classical fairy tale (and subverts some of the tropes) and not overly complex. Both are shorter stand alone novels too.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold, and its sequels The books themselves are short, the chapters are self contained and the language is linear and straightforward.
Maybe a translation of Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Thief?
Maybe The Book Thief or Night Circus
Based on your description I don’t think Blood over Bright Haven would be a great fit. It’s like steam punk academia fantasy and if magic worked similar to coding. It’s cool, I gave it 4.5 stars but I wouldn’t call it light fantasy though.
I know he isn’t considered a great author or anything even close to that, but honestly first two Dan Brown’s books (Angels&Demons and The Da Vinci’s Code) are great for people that speak English as the second language and who are just starting to read bigger works in it
Fifty Shades of Grey.
Agatha Christie’s Poirot books? I don’t speak a word of French so I kept having to Google some phrases that Poirot sprinkles his sentences with. It’s the most French I’ve seen in an English book I’ve read
If you are considering non-fiction, try “Everything is Tuberculosis” by John Green
Bruno Chief of Police by Martin Walker might be fun. I like them. About a police chief in a small french wine country town.
Something like Percy Jackson? still super enjoyable as an adult but is more a middle grade book
Can you speak French? If not fluently, it would help you to master it if you read a French book with her.
Now I Surrender by Alvaro Enrigue
If you’re both interested in cozy murder mysteries, I recommend Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache books. They are set in Quebec and I think they are good in both English and French. I think it would also be a good option if she wants to read the english versions, she might find it pleasant to read a book that follows her specific flavor of bilingual characters