I have first come across Annie Ernaux’s writing through her book “The Years“ which has been picked to be read by the “Barcelona Women’s Book Club” in September of 2023. Once I got through that one, I was instantly looking forward to get to some more books of the author’s soon. Luckily, “Happening” was chosen…
Tag: french authors
Talk to Strangers – Matt Dahlia
The reason why this book ended up in my home library was because I have been following the “Yes Theory“ YouTube channel for years. When I first heard that one of the original co-founders would be working on a project to tell their unique story, I instantly knew that I’d like to support them by…
The Woman Destroyed – Simone de Beauvoir
I have previously shied away from books by Simone de Beauvoir, thinking that they would be too complicated or too philosophical for me, so it was only thanks to a book club in Barcelona that I got my hands on a novel by the author. Three short stories make up the entirety of the book,…
The Years – Annie Ernaux
This book will probably be one of those that I will pick up again and again throughout the years. The sheer amount of passages that I highlighted speaks for itself (as you can see on the photo in the bottom of the post). From stylistically beautiful phrases, to clever observations or reflections on life as…
Bonjour Tristesse – Françoise Sagan
Upon finishing reading this book, I felt quite conflicted… The main character was extremely vain, superficial, privileged and spoilt. The voice it was written in took the mindless state of existence during teenagerhood to its perfection. It was full of sexist remarks, uttered by both men and women. If you take it as a snapshot…
The Book Collectors of Daraya – Delphine Minoui
Within this book, the reporter Delphine Minoui tells the story of an underground library that has been created within the Syrian town of Daraya, despite the constant bombings and a state of terror the inhabitants were surrounded by, day in, day out. The focus is placed upon both the founders of this library, as well…
Une simple lettre d’amour – Yann Moix
This has definitely got to be the worst book I have read this year so far… It really reminded me of my worst book of 2019, “Submission” by Michel Houellebecq. The style of the two of them really resembled, the story being told from the point of view of a despicable, misogynist and racist guy….
The Universe in Your Hand – Christophe Galfard
I’ll start off with the mention that this is an amazing book and that I’d suggest each and everyone to read it! (don’t mind the 3 stars!!) It opens up your understanding of our planet, our universe and simply how bizarre our existence is, living on a ball of matter floating through space. I’ll also…
Delta of Venus – Anaïs Nin
Finishing up this book, I’ve had a bit of mixed feelings about it. All in a all, I think I’m just generally not really into reading erotica. I’d rather do it myself than read about it 🤷🏻♀️🤭 Nevertheless, it can be said that it is written in such a way that it would be appealing…
Lullaby – Leïla Slimani
The story instantly whips you up into hyper awareness with the way that it starts, announcing the tragic ending on the first couple of pages. The fact that it still makes you want to read on and understand the whole story, is definitely a sign of great writing! The style was simply impeccable, simple, yet…
Submission – Michel Houellebecq
This is definitely the worst book I have read this year (and it also comes close to probably being one of the worst books I’ve ever read in my entire life). To start off, I absolutely don’t understand the hype and the buzz around Michel Houellebecq. To me, he comes off as a completely arrogant…
The End of Eddy – Édouard Louis
I would give “The End of Eddy” a rating rating of at most 2,5 out of 5 stars. The book simply wasn’t long enough to get attached to it or to understand the characters. Somehow the story felt like it was being suffocated, that it didn’t have enough space and enough pages to unfold itself…
Un Thé à Shanghai – Jamel Balhi
What started out as a promising read, ended up as quite a disappointment… Having shared a BlaBlaCar trip from Zurich to Paris with the author was how I first found out about his existence. A quick Google search afterwards showed up the couple of books he has written about his trips around the world. What…
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