French and Spanish Book Recommendations

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lozatron
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French and Spanish Book Recommendations

Postby lozatron » Tue May 23, 2017 7:48 pm

I'm a language learner from the UK looking to improve my French and Spanish, one of the ways I was considering doing this was through reading! I find it difficult to find books that are suited to my level (B1-B2, middle ground) and that I enjoy enough to continue reading, I really enjoy gripping stories and fantasy stories, and for a better idea some authors that interest me are Boris Vian and Carlos Ruiz Zafón. If anyone has any suggestions it would be really appreciated! :) thanks so much!
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mcthulhu
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Re: French and Spanish Book Recommendations

Postby mcthulhu » Tue May 23, 2017 8:44 pm

For Spanish, maybe Arturo Pérez-Reverte, e.g. La tabla de Flandes or El maestro de esgrima? Jorge Luis Borges; and of course Gabriel García Márquez if you like magic realism.
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iguanamon
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Re: French and Spanish Book Recommendations

Postby iguanamon » Tue May 23, 2017 9:44 pm

At B1 Spanish level, I'd suggest the young adult series of Isabel Allende. Start with La ciudad de las bestias. It has adventure and fantasy. It's the first of a trilogy and should be accessible at B1.
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lozatron
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Re: French and Spanish Book Recommendations

Postby lozatron » Wed May 24, 2017 11:22 am

These are great suggestions thanks so much c: I'll definitely have a little look at them on goodreads later! Just as a note I have tried reading Jorge Luis Borges' Las Ficciones but found it a bit too tricky and put it down, just to give an indication of my level :)
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Re: French and Spanish Book Recommendations

Postby reineke » Wed May 24, 2017 1:51 pm

Sélection de livres à lire dès le début du niveau B1

Comme j’ai la chance d’avoir des élèves motivés, on me demande souvent “quel livre est-ce que je peux lire en français ?” Alors, aujourd’hui, je vais tenter de proposer des pistes de réponses avec une première petite sélection...

http://enfrancais.nl/selection-de-livre ... niveau-b1/

Choix de livres « faciles à lire - Chronique de Bibliopass

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source= ... wh3ge2GpIw

FluentU book ideas:

http://www.fluentu.com/french/blog/easy ... -learners/

http://www.fluentu.com/french/blog/best ... rn-french/


The list was culled and compiled from a now-defunct forum:

Niveau A2 :

Jacques Prévert

Niveau A2-B1 :

La petite fille de Monsieur Linh de Philippe Claudel
Patrick Cauvin, E=MC² mon amour
Le Petit Nicolas
Fournier, Où on va, Papa ?
Tintin
Philippe Delerm, La première gorgée de bière
Joann Sfar, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Le petit prince (BD)
Le tablier Bleu(entre roman et nouvelle) ed. Alternatives

Niveau B1 :

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Le petit prince
Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Oscar et la dame rose
Eric Orsenna, La grammaire est une chanson douce
Marc Lévy, Sept jours pour une éternité
Marc Lévy, Où es-tu?
Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, Le Poisson d'or
Guillaume Musso, Et après
Didier Van Cauwelaert, L'éducation d'une fée
Catherine Cusset, Un brillant avenir
Jean-Paul Dubois, Tous les matins je me lève
Anna Gavalda, Je voudrais que quelqu'un m'attende quelque part
Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, Petit homme
Marguerite Duras, Un barrage contre le Pacifique
Raymond Queneau, Exercices de style
René Barjavel, La nuit des temps
Ionesco, La Cantatrice chauve
Marie Célie Agnant, La maison devant la mer ( une des 5 nouvelles du recueil "Le silence comme le sang; on peut lire et écouter le texte sur internet; mais aussi edition papier : éd. remue Ménage, Montréal; touche la situation en Haïti)
La nouvelle Alexis (éd. Hurtubise, Montreal), évocation, à travers un épisode de la vie d'un jeune ado, des camps d'internement des sans papiers... ailleurs qu'en France
Rosinksi et Van Hamme, Thorgal (BD)
Abolin, Pont, Où le regard ne porte pas... (BD)
Geluck, Le Chat (BD)

Niveau B1-B2 :

Delphine de Vigan, No et Moi (actuel), ed Poche (notre regard sur une SDF de 17 ans)
J F Sonnay, Les Contes du tapis béchir (une progression simple et poétique dans un environnement merveilleux mais fondé sur l'actualité) ed. Campiche (Suisse)


Niveau B2 :
Tonino Benacquista, Malavita
Jules Verne, Le Tour du monde en 80 jours
Annie Ernaux, La Place
Amélie Nothomb, Antéchrista
M. Condé, Le coeur à rire et à pleurer
Leïla Sebbar, La jeune fille au ballon (nouvelles)
Joseph Joffo, Un sac de billes
Didier Van Cauwelaert, La demi-pensionnaire
Marguerite Duras, L'amant
Alain Mabanckou, Bleu, blanc, rouge
Patrick Chamoiseau, Texaco
Tahar Ben Jelloun, Partir
Assia Djebbar, Fantasia
Patrick Modiano, Pedigree.
Azouz Begag, Le Gône du Chaâba
Françoise Sagan, Bonjour tristesse
Aimé Césaire, Cahier d'un retour au pays natal
Pierre Daninos, Les Carnets du Major Thompson
Daniel Pennac, Messieurs les enfants
Olivier Adam, Je vais bien, ne t'en fais pas
Daniel Pennac, Au bonheur des ogres
Dumas et Moissard, Contes à l'envers
René Barjavel, Le voyageur imprudent
Hugo Pratt, Corto Maltese (BD)
Goscinny, Uderzo, Asterix et Obelix (BD)
Vance, Van Hamme, XIII (BD)
Zep, Titeuf (BD)

Niveau C1

A. Makhine, Le testament français
Y. Kadur, L'écrivain
Faïza Guène, Kiffe kiffe demain
Laurence Cossé, Le mobilier national
Chahdortt Djavann, Comment peut-on être français ?
Daniel Pennac, Chagrin d'école
Georges Perec, La disparition
Raymond Queneau, Zazie dans le métro

http://francesh2a.blogspot.com/2010/09/ ... e.html?m=1
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Re: French and Spanish Book Recommendations

Postby DaveBee » Wed May 24, 2017 2:03 pm

lozatron wrote:I'm a language learner from the UK looking to improve my French and Spanish, one of the ways I was considering doing this was through reading! I find it difficult to find books that are suited to my level (B1-B2, middle ground) and that I enjoy enough to continue reading, I really enjoy gripping stories and fantasy stories, and for a better idea some authors that interest me are Boris Vian and Carlos Ruiz Zafón. If anyone has any suggestions it would be really appreciated! :) thanks so much!
1. If you not yet checked out your local library you should try that. Mine has a number of 'graded readers', as well as one or two shelves of french language paperbacks.

2. There seem to be quite a number of french literary prizes. One aimed at the fantasy/scifi genre is the Grand prix de l'Imaginaire. Some of these should be available as free eBook loans from Culturethèque, a quick check shows some Hervé Jubert, Sylvie Lainé, Pierre Pevel, Laurent Gapaillard etc.

3. One of my favourite adventure books was Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped.
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klvik
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Re: French and Spanish Book Recommendations

Postby klvik » Wed May 24, 2017 2:55 pm

lozatron wrote:I'm a language learner from the UK looking to improve my French and Spanish, one of the ways I was considering doing this was through reading! I find it difficult to find books that are suited to my level (B1-B2, middle ground) and that I enjoy enough to continue reading, I really enjoy gripping stories and fantasy stories, and for a better idea some authors that interest me are Boris Vian and Carlos Ruiz Zafón. If anyone has any suggestions it would be really appreciated! :) thanks so much!


I'll second Iguanamon's recommendation for Allende's La Ciudad de las Bestias triology and also suggest books by Laura Gallego Garcia, a Spanish author who writes fantasy novels for young adults.
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Tomás
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Re: French and Spanish Book Recommendations

Postby Tomás » Wed May 24, 2017 3:50 pm

"Mundo de Dioses" by Rafael Marin is a fun science fiction novel with lots of action and dialogue. I enjoyed it a lot. It's expensive to buy, but I was able to get it through Interlibrary Loan.

I have listened to both of Dan Brown's novels--Angels y Demonios, and El Codigo Da Vinci--in my car as audiolibros in Spanish translation. They are very easy to follow, and while not a great literary writer he is a very good storyteller. It's something I would never read in English, but it was perfect for my intermediate level Spanish.
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Jbean
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Re: French and Spanish Book Recommendations

Postby Jbean » Wed May 24, 2017 9:48 pm

"Como agua para chocolate" is the first regular book that I read in Spanish.
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Re: French and Spanish Book Recommendations

Postby reineke » Fri May 26, 2017 4:28 pm

Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century

"The list of acclaimed titles mixes great novels with poetry and theatre, as well as the comic strip."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Mond ... he_Century

Les 10 livres préférés de 100 écrivains francophones

" Une silhouette domine incontestablement : Marcel Proust"

http://www.telerama.fr/livre/les-10-liv ... ,40420.php

Pour une bibliothèque idéale
https://fr.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pour_un ... d%C3%A9ale

100 Escritores En Español Eligen Los 100 Libros Que Cambiaron Su Vida

"El autor de A la sombra de las muchachas en flor es el único que le hace sombra a Cervantes."

https://www.google.com/amp/elpais.com/d ... 5.amp.html

http://www.quelibroleo.com/noticias/lib ... on-su-vida

Lista El Mundo de las 100 mejores novelas en español

https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anexo:L ... pa%C3%B1ol

Los mejores libros en español de los últimos 25 años

50 críticos, escritores y libreros de ambos lados del Atlántico eligen los hitos del último cuarto de siglo

http://elpais.com/elpais/2016/10/21/fot ... 1477330999

25 años en 100 libros
Lista completa del centenar de títulos elegidos por el jurado de Babelia
(full list)

http://cultura.elpais.com/cultura/2016/ ... 04300.html

1989-2014: las 25 mejores novelas

La elección, por parte de siete especialistas, se ha hecho dentro del campo acotado de los novelistas nacidos en España y que escriben en castellano. 25 novelas para 25 años

http://www.elmundo.es/cultura/2014/05/3 ... b4576.html
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