{"id":745,"date":"2019-01-07T15:57:58","date_gmt":"2019-01-07T15:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.ilini.com\/?p=745"},"modified":"2021-03-08T11:46:51","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T11:46:51","slug":"what-books-to-read-to-improve-your-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/learning-french\/what-books-to-read-to-improve-your-french\/","title":{"rendered":"What books to read to improve your French?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>There is nothing like a good French book for diving deep into the language and its culture. People often ask us about the best books to read to improve their French, so here is a shortlist of recommended classics!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Le Petit Prince &#8211; Antoine de Saint Exup\u00e9ry<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ll start off easy to get into the swing of things. This classic work of French literature is enjoyed by all from ages 7 to 77: The Little Prince! The story of the little blond boy who wants you to draw him a sheep is world renowned. It is simple and exciting with many timeless lessons about life. Le Petit Prince is a must in your library. And who knows? It might just make you fall in love with the French language too!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"583\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.ilini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/petit_prince-1024x583.png\" alt=\"Le Petit Prince\" class=\"wp-image-752\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/petit_prince-1024x583.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/petit_prince-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/petit_prince-768x437.png 768w, https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/petit_prince.png 1654w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Au Bonheur des\nDames &#8211; \u00c9mile Zola<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018The Ladies\u2019 Paradise\u2019 is part of a series by Emile Zola. This unforgettable novel takes us into the world of a department store and in doing so, describes Parisian life between 1864 and 1869 as well as recounting a love affair. This is a rich and complex novel for those who wish to improve their French.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"729\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.ilini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Capture-d\u2019e\u0301cran-2019-01-07-a\u0300-16.12.23-1024x729.png\" alt=\"Au Bonheur des Dames\" class=\"wp-image-755\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Capture-d\u2019e\u0301cran-2019-01-07-a\u0300-16.12.23-1024x729.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Capture-d\u2019e\u0301cran-2019-01-07-a\u0300-16.12.23-300x214.png 300w, https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Capture-d\u2019e\u0301cran-2019-01-07-a\u0300-16.12.23-768x547.png 768w, https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Capture-d\u2019e\u0301cran-2019-01-07-a\u0300-16.12.23.png 1196w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Les Fleurs du Mal &#8211;\nBaudelaire<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s step away from novels and concentrate on poetry, and not just any poetry, but the sulphurous \u2018Flowers of Evil\u2019 by of Baudelaire. This is a particularly scandalous collection of poems that describes death, night-time, beauty and the seasons\u2026it\u2019s quite the programme!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.ilini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/charles-baudelaire.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-762\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/charles-baudelaire.jpg 853w, https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/charles-baudelaire-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/charles-baudelaire-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 853px) 100vw, 853px\" \/><figcaption>Charles Baudelaire<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>La Gloire de mon\nP\u00e8re &#8211; Marcel Pagnol<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The first volume of Pagnol\u2019s autobiography, \u2018My Father\u2019s Glory\u2019, retraces an idyllic, if romanticized childhood in Aubagne, Provence. The book depicts the hills of Provence, family life, and hunting, evoking the scent of lavender and describing the dusty dirt tracks along the way. This classic will certainly make you want to take one way ticket for the south of France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"695\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.ilini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/chateau-de-ma-mere-1990-07-g1-1024x695.jpg\" alt=\"La Gloire de mon P\u00e8re\" class=\"wp-image-756\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/chateau-de-ma-mere-1990-07-g1-1024x695.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/chateau-de-ma-mere-1990-07-g1-300x204.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/chateau-de-ma-mere-1990-07-g1-768x521.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/chateau-de-ma-mere-1990-07-g1.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>La Gloire de mon P\u00e8re: image from the film by Yves Robert.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bonus<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"text-align:left\">Old French classics are <em>incontournables<\/em>, but French literature is still very much alive. Find out more about the latest winner of the prestigious Goncourt Prize in this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/learn-french\/nicolas-mathieu-wins-goncourt-prize\">this video<\/a>, and visit <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ilini.com\">ILINI<\/a> to practice your French with the latest French news!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There is nothing like a good French book for diving deep into the language and its culture. People often ask us about the best books to read to improve their French, so here is a shortlist of recommended classics! Le Petit Prince &#8211; Antoine de Saint Exup\u00e9ry We\u2019ll start off easy to get into the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":751,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-french-culture","category-learning-french"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",1500,1000,false],"landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",1200,800,false],"portrait_large":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",1200,800,false],"square_large":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",1200,800,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",600,400,false],"portrait":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",600,400,false],"square":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",600,400,false]},"post_excerpt_stackable":"<p>There is nothing like a good French book for diving deep into the language and its culture. People often ask us about the best books to read to improve their French, so here is a shortlist of recommended classics! Le Petit Prince &#8211; Antoine de Saint Exup\u00e9ry We\u2019ll start off easy to get into the&hellip;<\/p>\n","category_list":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/category\/french-culture\/\" rel=\"category tag\">French Culture<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/category\/learning-french\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Learning French<\/a>","author_info":{"name":"William Martin","url":"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/author\/williammartin\/"},"comments_num":"0 comments","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",1500,1000,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",1500,1000,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",1500,1000,false],"xs-thumb":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie-64x64.jpg",64,64,true],"stackable-landscape-large":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",1200,800,false],"stackable-square-large":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",1200,800,false],"stackable-portrait-large":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",1200,800,false],"stackable-landscape":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",600,400,false],"stackable-portrait":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",600,400,false],"stackable-square":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",600,400,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",765,510,false],"profile_24":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",24,16,false],"profile_48":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",48,32,false],"profile_96":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",96,64,false],"profile_150":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",150,100,false],"profile_300":["https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tom-hermans-264015-unsplash-copie.jpg",300,200,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"William Martin","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/author\/williammartin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"There is nothing like a good French book for diving deep into the language and its culture. People often ask us about the best books to read to improve their French, so here is a shortlist of recommended classics! Le Petit Prince &#8211; Antoine de Saint Exup\u00e9ry We\u2019ll start off easy to get into the&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":921,"href":"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745\/revisions\/921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ilini.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}