I have been working on my French recently and have discovered after all these years that what is true in English is also true in French-- there seems to be no better way to increase my vocabulary (the weakest link, at least for me) than by reading. So I have made my way through all sorts of books that have been sitting on my shelf for decades, but I'm also reading things I pick up at the airport and books picked up at random in bookstores while traveling.

What I would really like, though, is recommendations for some good contemporary French fiction. I would like to learn who some good contemporary authors are and start exploring.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Not a novel, but more of an essay, Philippe Delerm's "La Première Gorgée de Bière" -- it is extremely light reading about the little joys of life, and you can pick it up and put it down anytime.

It was a top best seller for an extremely long time.

There are so many, but for starters, I'd recommend Andrei Makine. He won the Prix Goncourt for Le Testement Francais (as well as a couple other prizes), which is excellent. He also wrote several other good short novels, like La Musique d'Une Vie and La Femme qui Attendait. I just love his writing, but the novels are also quite short, so easy to digest.

I'd also recommend "Je Voudrais que Quelqu'un M'Attende Quelque Part" by Anna Gavalda, who is a contemporary Parisian writer -- that is a collection of short stories which won a prize, although she has also written novels such as Je L'Aimais.

How contemporary do you want? I really like Romain Gary, also, but he's not so current, that's for sure, but is 20th century and won the Prix Goncourt (twice, by cheating and writing under Emile Ajar as you are only allowed to win it once). I guess his memoir is one of his best known works and which I really liked a lot (Promesse de l'Aube), but he also has a book of short stories called "Une Page d'Histoire", as well as other fiction, including La Vie Devant Soi

oh, there is that book that was popular recently in translation, I suppose in the original French also, something about a hedgehog (herisson). I forget the full title. It was by Muriel Barbery.

Great, thank you! I am certainly open to reading things that are less contemporary. I'm starting my shopping list for Amazon.

The book that Christina references is called The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery and Alison Anderson.

Marc Lévy (Et si c'était vrai - Les Enfants de la Liberté - Vous revoir) and Guillaume Musso (Parce que je t'aime) are in at the moment. They are both easy to read.

Thanks for the continuing ideas. Funny you should mention Marc Levy, I picked up one of his books at the airport on my last trip and just finished it yesterday, which sparked the idea of looking for suggestions of what to read next. Knowing nothing about him, I was reading and thought it felt like a romance, but most of those aren't written by men. When I realized it included a robot and the fall of the Berlin Wall, I figured that is what happens when men write romance. I looked him up after finishing the book and was surprised to find he is the best selling author in France.

Niki,The Elegance of the Hedgehog! I read it in English. It is wonderful by Murial Barberry and translated into
English by Alison Anderson.

It isn't called that in French, though, although I believe the English title is a pretty straightforward translation of the original French title. I've read mixed reviews, so I don't really know if she is considered a top author or not.

Christina :
The title in French is "L'élégance du Hérisson" and it is a very good book.

L'Elegance du Herisson-- I just got it in Rome.

There's a new book out by the author of Balzac et la Petite Tailleuse Chinoise, but I haven't read it yet. Something about Confucius.

This is great--I am going to put in an order on Amazon in the next day or so. How wonderful to have your suggestions. Thanks Nikki for getting this started.

It is "L'Acrobatie aérienne de Confucius", by Dai Sijie.

Another vote for Anna Gavalda. And another option that you may not have considered is comics (bandes dessinees in French, BD for short). Claire Bretecher is one of my favorites: very contemporary, lots of slang, lots of modern feminine insights.

I agree-- this is very useful and a great thread! Thanks for the ideas. One book I picked up in the CDG bookshop was "French Women Don't Get Fat" but in French. I still haven't gotten all the way through it, but it's another one that's not an overtly difficult read, and if you like cooking, there are recipes in it as well.

Nikki, are you reading the Proust in French or English?

French. Seated squarely in front of an unabridged dictionary.

I read Le matin vient et aussi la nuit by Pierre Moinot in translation and really liked it. Published about 10 years ago