This week we celebrate Paris - la ville de lumière et capitale de la mode.  You can listen to our latest En Vadrouille podcast, or discover Paris monuments virtually and then explore a host of titles with plots centered around Paris for readers of all ages available on the AFSF Culturethèque e-library. If you find yourself daydreaming about the City of Light, picking up a book set in Paris might be the best solution for your yearning. Even if you can’t physically visit France, you can still feel like you’re there by diving into a great book, as explained in this informative blog suggesting a number of great Parisian-based titles that you can find on Culturethèque.

Young readers will love the captivating and beautifully illustrated stories of fun adventures in the city. Meet Gustav as he visits his cousin in Paris, or ride along with a young girl as she rescues a Jardin de Luxembourg pony from his winter boredom to explore all of the famous sites of the city.

Victor Hugo’s classic Notre-Dame de Paris is available in both français-facile (easy-reader) and original versions. Start with the abridged and annotated version to capture the main plot and then advance to the original version for a challenge.

Be sure to discover Emile Zola’s classic Rougon-Macquart series of romans (novels) following the lives of the members of  two titular branches of a fictional family living during the Second French Empire (1852–1870). The series is one of the most prominent works of the French naturalism literary movement.

You will find these authors and more including Alexandre Dumas, Guillaume Musso and Fanny Joly to name a few, with stories set in Paris to delight readers of all interests – classic and contemporary.  

Visit the AFSF Library page for instructions on how to sign up for the Culturethèque e-library.  Bonne lecture de Paris !