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Once upon a time I had an infrequent feature called Bestsellers Around the World. The idea was that I would take a look at the bestsellers list for that week and compare it to the Australian bestsellers list. It turned out it could be quite challenging and so despite my best intentions I haven't kept it going, although I do roll it out every now and again, particularly for Paris in July.It's not always easy to find current lists that are accessible but I try!
Here are the books the readers of France are reading at the moment based on the bestseller list at Sens Critique! Please note that according to the website the last time this list was updated was in May but it was still the easiest site to navigate when trying to collate a list
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La Psy (Never Lie) by Frieda McFadden
La Femme de Menage (The Housemaid) by Frieda McFadden
Les Secrets de la femme de menage (The Housemaid's Secret) by Freida McFadden
Lakestone, tome 2 by Sarah Rivens
A retardement by Franck Thilliez - The title translates to Delayed
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La Prof (The Teacher) by Freida McFadden
L'Heure des predateurs by Giuliano da Empoli - Title translates to Hour of the Predators
Norferville by Franck Thilliez
Interieur nuit by Nicolas Demorand - Translates to Interior Night
La femme de meage voit tout by Frieda McFadden - I am not entirely sure which book this is. The title translates as The Cleaning Lady Sees Everything so maybe it is another edition of The Housemaid.
Some observations.
On the lists that I found that were up to date, Frieda McFadden is absolutely dominating the best seller lists in France. When I looked at the lists for Australia for this week, we had two books by her in the top 10 as well.
Franck Thilliez is an author who you consistently see on these lists. It did surprise me that there wasn't a Joel Dicker on the list for this year though.
Just outside the top ten is Maud Ankaoua. This author has had books on the bestseller lists for a number of years now, with the exception of 2024. Her tagline on her website is The novelist who brings us back to the essentials, which sounds like good reading to me.
Interesting, Anna Stuart has two books in the top 20 first with her book La Sage-Femme d'Auschwitz and then with La Sage-Femme de Berlin which have the English titles of The Midwife of Auschwitz and The Midwife of Berlin. Last year her Auschwitz book was number 1 on the list. Whilst there is obviously a strong interest in WWII history around the world, it is surprising to me that it is this author that has such consistently strong results in France. I am going to see if I can get some of her books to read.
When I look back on my previous lists, it is interesting to note that this is the first year since I started doing this 5 years ago that there has been no book by Virginie Grimaldi featured. I did enjoy the one book I read in English by her, so I will try and read more from her. There were also no books by Melissa da Costa whose books I haven't been able to find in English. She also regularly appears on this list.
On a couple of the other extended lists I found, Lucinda Riley's Seven Sisters series was doing very well.
Does anything on this list surprise you?
I think that is an interestng feature you used to post about best sellers around the world. Love the ideas yuo shared on this post. Wish I were fluent in French so I could read some of these in French.
ReplyDeleteI would like to be able to read a book in French one day. In order to do that though I need to get back to my French lessons!
DeleteOh interesting!!! This is a neat post!
ReplyDeleteThanks Erin
DeleteThis is an interesting post! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cindy
DeleteWow, Frieda McFadden is really dominating the charts! I want to read her sometime!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read her either! Based on this list and a conversation I had with a friend on Saturday I have requested The Housemaid from the library. It's not my normal genre but I will give it a go and see if I like it!
DeleteThis is such an interesting post!! Seems like Frieda McFadden is popular everywhere... I've yet to read one of her books.
ReplyDeleteI haven't either, but I have now been convinced to give her a go!
Deletewe are end of July, and McFadden is still super popular in France.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this one, but many others by Thilliez, he is really amazing, and great writing!
La femme de ménage voit tout is not another edition, it's this one: The Housemaid is Watching, #3 in the series, published in 2024: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199235727-the-housemaid-is-watching
Thanks for confirming! Not sure why I couldn't find that one!
DeleteThey certainly enjoy some Frieda! I can understand why - they are fast-paced and always have a good twist you don't see coming! Have a lovely week!
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading my first one!
DeleteI haven't read any Frieda yet. I sure hope she lives up to the hype for me!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMe too! I'm waiting for The Housemaid comes into the library and then I will find out!
DeleteHow intriguing! I’d be very interested in reading some French mysteries if I could find a translation. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI am sure that there are some out there! Just a matter of finding them
DeleteIn my bookbub email this morning there was a French mystery series set in Brittany mentioned! They are definitely around
DeleteBooks are widely read in France, I think, whereas here in the US, the book-reading population seems to be diminishing. It's good to see what others are reading around the world. Looks like mysteries and thrillers are big there, too.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be surprised if it was diminishing in France too. It certainly seems to be here as well!
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