Which books should you read to learn French?
Read books that are short and use few different words for their level. In our table of 20 free French books the easiest by vocabulary are Riquet à la Houppe (B1, 2,196 words), Fables de La Fontaine, Tome premier (C1, 6,910 words) and Une saison en enfer (C2, 7,111 words). Every book below is in the public domain, rated B1–C2 by our team, and measured: words, different words and how many word forms cover 95% of the text.
There are no French books below B1 in our table: original books, even short ones, rarely suit beginners. At A1 and A2, books written for learners come first: see free graded readers by level, and when to move on to original books.
French books for B1 learners 3 books
| Book | Form | Words | Forms for 95% | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Riquet à la HouppeCharles Perrault | fairy tale | 2,196 | 508 | 11–22 min |
Le HorlaGuy de Maupassant | short stories | 41,691 | 4,435 | 3.5–7 h |
Boule de SuifGuy de Maupassant | short stories | 36,423 | 4,979 | 3–6 h |
French books for B2 learners 8 books
| Book | Form | Words | Forms for 95% | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Candide, ou l’optimismeVoltaire | novella | 34,450 | 3,763 | 3–5.5 h |
Le Grand MeaulnesAlain-Fournier | novel | 64,901 | 4,421 | 5.5–11 h |
Le Fantôme de l’OpéraGaston Leroux | novel | 102,569 | 4,785 | 8.5–17 h |
Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts joursJules Verne | novel | 68,581 | 5,362 | 5.5–11 h |
Arsène Lupin, gentleman-cambrioleurMaurice Leblanc | short stories | 55,408 | 5,365 | 4.5–9 h |
Lettres de mon moulinAlphonse Daudet | short stories | 49,509 | 5,522 | 4–8.5 h |
Voyage au centre de la TerreJules Verne | novel | 67,960 | 6,070 | 5.5–11 h |
Les misérables, Tome I: FantineVictor Hugo | novel | 111,879 | 6,400 | 9.5–19 h |
French books for C1 learners 7 books
| Book | Form | Words | Forms for 95% | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Fables de La Fontaine, Tome premierJean de La Fontaine | fables in verse | 6,910 | 1,617 | under 1–1 h |
Les Rêveries du promeneur solitaireJean-Jacques Rousseau | essays | 41,944 | 3,773 | 3.5–7 h |
Les Fleurs du MalCharles Baudelaire | poetry | 24,839 | 4,594 | 2–4 h |
Le Rouge et le NoirStendhal | novel | 175,589 | 5,122 | 15–29 h |
GerminalÉmile Zola | novel | 166,686 | 6,604 | 14–28 h |
Madame BovaryGustave Flaubert | novel | 112,892 | 7,494 | 9.5–19 h |
Notre-Dame de ParisVictor Hugo | novel | 175,812 | 8,142 | 15–29 h |
French books for C2 learners 2 books
| Book | Form | Words | Forms for 95% | Reading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Une saison en enferArthur Rimbaud | prose poetry | 7,111 | 1,888 | under 1–1 h |
Du côté de chez SwannMarcel Proust | novel | 168,956 | 7,107 | 14–28 h |
How were the levels and numbers worked out?
Levels were set by hand by our team when each book was added to the Readlang Mobile library; they are a judgement, not a formula. Words, different word forms and the forms needed for 95% of the text were counted by a script from the text of each edition, without title pages and licences. The method is explained in Free books by CEFR level and on the About page, and the full table is free to reuse as a CSV file.