Bestsellers Around the World: France

 

Once upon a time I had an infrequent feature called Bestsellers Around the World where I would take a look at the bestsellers from a country and see what caught my interest, particularly when I compared it to Australian lists. These days it is even more infrequent as it is something that I save for Paris in July! So, here is this week's bestsellers in France, based on the list from Sens Critique for the week from July 6 to 12.

1 Le Diner (The Dinner Party): A Pick Your Poison Adventure by Freida McFadden

2 La Prof (The Professor) by Freida McFadden

3 Les heures fragiles (Fragile Hours) by Virginie Grimaldi

4 Tata by Valerie Perrin 

5 Un lieu a soi (A room of One's Own) by Virginia Woolf

6 Tout le monde aime Clara (Everyone Loves Clara) by David Foenkinos

7 Quelqu'un d'autre (Someone Else) by Guillaume Musso

8 L'intruse (The Intruder) by Frieda McFadden

9 D'autres printemps (Other Springs) by Virginie Grimaldi

10 A Retardement (Delayed ) by Franck Thilliez

Freida McFadden has really dominated the bestsellers lists over the last couple of years when I have done these posts. I was surprised to see that the number one was a short story though, and it is not one I remember hearing about but that maybe because I don't really read her genre. I did recently read one of her books and I liked it. Just not rushing out to read another one really.

I was surprised when Virginie Grimaldi wasn't on the list last year but she is back with two novels in the top ten this year! I read one of her books a couple of years ago and really liked it. I am tempted to read more, but there are none available in my library system (which isn't really that surprising) and some of her translated novels are more than $30 on Kindle which is too much! 

I own Tata and was hoping to get it read for Paris in July this year but I am rapidly running out of time. I did read Like Water for Flowers for last years Paris in July and really liked it. I think I now have three of her novels waiting for me!

I thought it was interesting to see Virginia Woolf on the list. Seeing it makes me wonder about what has bought it back into the spotlight in France

Franck Thilliez has appeared on a lot of the lists over the years. Delayed was on the list last year so this book has a lot of staying power!

Often when I look at the Australian list there is some crossover, even if it is for an author like Frieda McFadden, but there was none this year!

Previous French lists

2025

2024

2023

2022

2020

I am sharing this with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz and A Good Book and a Cup of Tea hosted at Hopewell's Library.

Top Ten Tuesday/Paris in July: Bestsellers Around the World - France

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme Books I Wish Had More/Less [Insert Your Concept Here] In Them (for example: more/less romance, more/less world building, less info dumping, more/fewer pages, more character development, fewer characters, fewer descriptions, more suspense, etc.)

We are, however, getting to the tail end of Paris in July, a month long celebration of all things French. One of the posts that I try to do for every Paris in July is a look at what is currently on the bestsellers list in France. I call this feature Bestsellers Around the World. I roll it out infrequently, but I do like sharing it so here are the bestsellers for this week based on the bestseller list at Sens Critique! And my post for this week's Top Ten Tuesday.







The Midwife of Auschwitz by Anna Stuart (La Sage Femme d'Autwitchz) - Interesting to see a WWII historical fiction novel at number one on the list.


A Beautiful Life by Virginie Grimaldi (Une Belle Vie) - I read and enjoyed a Virginie Grimaldi book last year and enjoyed it. I will be looking for this one when I can.


Angelique by Guillaume Musso (Angelique) - This is a crime novel, featuring a cop who has a heart attack and then meets a woman who needs help.


The Bartender at the Ritz by Philippe Colin (Le Barman du Ritz) - This is another WWII novel. It does sound interesting!


Seasons, Volume 4: A Summer to Find You Again by Morgane Moncomble (Un été pour te retrouver) - How gorgeous is this cover! This is an author who started out on Wattpad!






Women from the End of the World by Melissa Da Costa (Les femmes du bout du monde) - Melissa Da Costa regularly appears on this list, but I don't think that she has been translated into English yet.


The Bride Wore Yellow Boots by Katherine Pancol (La Mariée portait des bottes jaunes) - This is a family drama set in Bordeaux


The Rift by Franck Thilliez (La Faille) - This is another author who regularly appears on these lists


The Housekeeper by Frieda McFadden (La femme de Menage - It's interesting to see which books cross the language barriers.


Complete Tragedies by Aeschylus (Tragedies Complete) - This one felt a bit like a bit of a curveball! I wonder why it has hit the bestsellers now.


You can find other posts in this series of posts at this link - Bestsellers Around the World

Sunday Salon/Paris in July: Bestsellers Around the World - France

 

Over the last few years I have had a 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.  For one of my final posts in this year's Paris in July, I thought I would revive it and share a list of the books the readers of Paris are reading at the moment based on the bestseller list at Sens Critique!

Il nous restera ça by Virginie Grimaldi (We Will Have This) - I reviewed another of Grimaldie's books earlier this week. I will read her again. She has appeared on this list everytime I have done this type of post


Sur La Dalle by Fred Vargas (On the Slab) - Book number 12 in the Commissaire Adamsberg mystery seriesJamais plus by Colleen Hoover (Never Again) - This is the first book in the It Ends With Us series. I remember looking in a books shop in The Netherlands and her books were at the top of the list there too!

Jamais Plus by Colleen Hoover (Never Again) - I guess Tik Tok is all over the world! I remember seeing some of Colleen Hoover's books on the bestsellers shelf in The Netherlands when I was there earlier this year too! This is the first book in the It Ends With Us series

La Faiseuse d'étoiles: Unicef by Melissa Da Costa (The Star Maker) - This is another author who has appeared on this list over the last couple of years. Maybe I will see if I can find her to read for next year's Paris in July. The proceeds of this book all go to Unicef

Mon mari by Maud Ventura (My Husband) - This book won France's First Prize Novel in 2021

Tout le bleu du ciel by Mélissa Da Costa (All the Blue of the Sky)  - When Emile is diagnosed with early onset alzheimers at the age of 36, he decides that he wants to take one last trip.

Labyrinthes by Franck Thilliez (Labyrinths) - This author was in last years list too but with a different book!

Kilomètre zéro Le Chemin du bonheur by Maud Ankaoua (Kilometre Zero: The Way to Happiness) - Maelle joins her friend on a healing journey to Nepal. This was on last years list too!

Les Douleurs fantômes by Melissa Da Costa (The Phantom Pains) -

Une Belle Vie by Virginie Grimaldi (A Beautiful Life) - Yes, another Virginie Grimaldi book in the top 10.

In some ways it looks like the lists are pretty stable but when I started this post last week Toshikazu Kawaguchi had a book in the list but now it isn't even in the top 30. Having said that, two of these books were on last years list so it doesn't change that much! This is my third year of doing this feature and there are several names which have come up multiple times now including Melissa Da Costa, Virginie Grimaldi and Franck Thilliez. 

You can see my previous posts here:

July 2022

July 2020

I always find these posts interesting

I am also sharing this post with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz.

Paris in July: Chasing the Stars by Virginie Grimaldi (Il est grand temps de rallumer les étoiles)

Over the last few years I have had an infrequent feature which I call Bestsellers Around the World where I have a look at the bestsellers lists of other countries. One country I have done several times now is France, and there are some names that are appearing on the lists each time. One of those authors is Virginie Grimaldi, so I decided to read one of her books.

Anna is struggling to make ends meet. Her boss has just advised her that he is ending her employment and she has debt collectors chasing her. She's been the sole breadwinner ever since she split up with her ex husband. Her older daughter Chloe has never forgiven her for the break up of the family and is acting out, wanting to drop out of school and engaging in sexual activities with young men who treat her badly.  Anna's youngest daughter Lily is being bullied at school and wants absolutely nothing to do with her absent father. 

With the debt collectors closing in the least sensible thing for Anna to do is to borrow her parents camper van, accept some money from her grandmother and go on a roadtrip through Scandinavia in search of the Northern Lights. Whilst it isn't sensible, it is what Anna believes she and her girls need if they have any chance of repairing their little family. The girls aren't necessarily pleased and there will also be many arguments and challenges along the way.

On their travels, they meet up with a group of other travellers from a young couple just starting our, two elderly men who are completing the journey they thought they would be doing with their late wives, a wealthy family who are going back to basics, and their leader, a man who is taking his autistic son on an adventure. 

We see the emotional dynamics between all three of our characters, as they all deal with their own issues and with each other. I loved that we got to hear the voices of Chloe and Lily. Chloe is keeping a blog and Lily writes in her diary which she has named Marcel.

I often think about what authors from other countries are writing about. For example, there is a lot of WWII historical fiction that is set in France but written by English or American authors. So are French historical fiction authors writing about France or about somewhere else completely!

I was interested to see how different this kind of book would be. After all, over the last few years I have read many books where someone heads somewhere for a new start. So many times, it is an English person moving to France. So it makes sense that a French family would head somewhere else. There were many familiar ideas, but I will say that this book is grittier than a lot of the English authors I have read. There are sensitive issues explored for all three of our main characters.

There was a twist in the tail of this story that I was surprised by and I wasn't sure if it worked for me or if I felt manipulated by it. Despite this, I am really glad that I read this book, and I will read more of Grimaldi's books if I can get them in English.

And..spoiler alert...I am doing another Bestsellers Around the World post this weekend. Will Virginie Grimaldi make another appearance?

This post is part of Paris in July, hosted by Emma at Words and Peace.

Top Ten Tuesday - Last 10 Books I Have Read Which Were Set in France

 

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is the theme is 

Ten Most Recent Books I Did Not Finish with the additional proviso of feel free to tell us why if you want, but if you do please be nice to the authors and don’t tag them when you mention your post on social media!). However, I have decided to do my own thing this week. As I am participating in Paris in July (hosted by Emma at Words and Peace), my topic is going to be the last ten books I have read set either partially or fully in France.



To be fair, I did start this post over the weekend, and I have just finished another book which was set in France!

Dreaming in French by Vanessa McCausland - loved this book! - (Review)

Chasing the Stars by Virginie Grimaldi - Planning to review this book later this week. It starts in France but then the characters head north!

A Month in Provence by Gillian Harvey - Have read a couple of books by this author (Review)

The French Chateau Dream by Julie Caplin - Read this a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it (Review)

One French Summer by Gillian Harvey - Another book by this author (review)

Mrs Harris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico - one of those rare occurrences where the movie is better than the book. I did enjoy the book but I loved the movie (review)

Twenty One Nights in Paris by Leonie Mack - Paris at Christmas. Yes please! (review)

 
A Year at the French Farmhouse by Gillian Harvey  - This is the last of the Gillian Harvey books...for now! (review)

Escape to the French Farmhouse by Jo Thomas - I started reading this one by accident but really loved it!

The Lost Sister of Fifth Avenue by Ella Carey - Somewhat surprised to see this is the last historical fiction book I read set in France. My more recent ones have all been set in Italy or elsewhere. (review)

I am super impressed that I have written a post about most of these! How unusual!