This year I decided to read only books in French, or translated from French. That's obviously going to slow me down a bit, so this won't be one of those years where I read a hundred books or anything like it. But it has successfully got me to set aside more time for reading, especially since I want to keep my run of finishing a book or audiobook a day going.
So these are the books and audiobooks I've finished so far this month, at the half-way point. For those I've read in French I have made a note of new vocabulary, and I shall get Mrs Theaker to test me on those at the end of the month!
1. Leonard est un génie by de Groot and Turk. I'm such a dummy – I read this whole book about a marvellous inventor creating stuff like flying machines and didn't realise it was Da Vinci even after the model for the Mona Lisa turned up on the last page. 😄 Very funny. Vocab: febriler = to show intense agitation or excitement. ****
2. Les Taxis rouges by Peyo and Will. The first adventure of Benoît Brisefer, a super-strong and super-nice little boy, from the same creator as the Smurfs. In this one he suspects a new taxi firm of being up to no good. Charming and often laugh-out-loud funny. Vocab: balayer = to sweep. *****
3. Thorgal v.32: La Bataille d'Asgard by Sente and Rosinski. Thorgal's son is sent to Asgard with an army of puppets to get an apple of eternal life. Some of the best art I've ever seen in a comic. Vocab: un lourdaud = a lummox. ****
4. Félicie by Georges Simenon. Maigret investigates the murder of an old sailor, and is fascinated by his curiously flamboyant housekeeper. Brilliantly read by Gareth Armstrong as ever, e.g. when he has four policemen on a joint call and somehow keeps each of their voices distinct. ****
5. Madame Adolphine by Peyo and Will. Funny little Benoit Brisefer gets himself and everyone else into a muddle when he makes friends with an elderly lady – and her malfunctioning robot doppelganger, which goes on a crime spree. Vocab: un encrier = an inkpot. ****
6. Panne sèche à Serado by Vernes and Vance. I tend to read only the science fiction Bob Morane novels, but this graphic novel's cover tricked me into reading a story where he gets involved in a plot to assassinate a dictator. And there's kissing! Bob seems to be much more of a womaniser in the comics. Vocab: panne sèche = out of petrol. ***
7. Maigret Gets Angry by Georges Simenon. Maigret, two years into his retirement, gets thoroughly irritated by an elderly woman who hustles him into investigating a murder for her, then even more so by her son-in-law, a former (detested) schoolmate. ****
8. Thorgal v.33: Le Bateau-Sabre by Sente and Rosinski. Thorgal, still searching for one of his sons, is on a husky ride to deliver trade goods, but the village is in the hands of vicious Vikings, desperate to rescue treasure from the teeth of a killer whale. Vocab: le sevrage = weaning. ****
9. Maigret at the Coroner's by Georges Simenon. An unusual and interesting Maigret book in that he's not the one actively investigating the crime: he's on a tour of the US and sits in the audience for a coroner's inquest, deciding whether the death of a 17-year-old girl involved foul play. *****
10. Les Crapauds de la mort by Henri Vernes. The 86th Bob Morane novel is one of my favourites so far, with rather an epic storyline. Bill is abducted by sailors from a Lovecraftian cult, and Bob pursues them to Peru. The first novel I've read in which Bob gets a kiss. Vocab: les balivernes = nonsense. ****
11. Thorgal v.34: Kah-Aniel by Sente and Rosinski. It turns out that Thorgal's son Aniel (not the one who went to Asgard) has been kidnapped by the Red Magicians of Bag Dadh, who believe him to be their leader reincarnated. Thorgal is in hot pursuit. Vocab: un éboulis = a scree. ****
12. Maigret and the Old Lady by Georges Simenon. This time Maigret is charmed by an old woman, a pleasant and lively type whose housekeeper has been poisoned. Mme Besson thinks herself the target, but no one stood to benefit from her death. I was as dismayed as Maigret by the end of this one, because everyone I liked turned out to be a wrong 'un! ****
13. Final Incal v.1: Les Quatre John Difool by Jodorowsky and Ladronn. It wouldn't be an OcTBRChallenge for me without a Jodorowsky book or three. I first read the Incal after staring at it on a professor's shelf through a series of tutorials, and eventually I got up the nerve to ask if I could borrow it. Nice to be reading some more, all these years later! This one is a true epic (all biological life is threatened!) with astonishingly detailed artwork. Vocab: un trouillard = a coward. ***
14. Juan Solo v.1: Fils de flingue by Jodorowsky and Bess. More Jodo, but not the fun kind. This is the relentlessly grim and miserable story of violent social climber, abandoned as a baby on a rubbish tip and suckled on a pistol by a cross-dressing male dwarf prostitute. Vocab: cogner = knock. ***
15. Madame Maigret's Friend by Georges Simenon. The 34th Maigret novel is another unusual one: Madame Maigret makes a friend, sitting on a bench each day before a dental appointment. But one day the friend asks Mme Maigret to keep an eye on her son for a moment – and doesn't come back! Brilliant as ever. *****
16. Maigret's Memoirs by Georges Simenon. The 35th Maigret is also very curious: written in theory by the real Maigret, who recounts his relationship with Georges Simenon, who explains the reasoning behind the inaccuracies, simplifications and unlikely elements in the previous 34 novels! We also hear what the real Maigret thinks of all the actors who had played him! Quite a brain-bender. ***
17. Léonard est toujours un génie by de Groot and Turk. The great inventor's assistant causes him various problems, e.g. by not waking up and by creating his own inventions. Lots of laugh-out-loud moments and I often have to re-read each page to see what the cat is up to. Vocab: un vermisseau = a worm. ***
18. Brit, v.1: Baroudeur by Kirkman, Moore and Rathburn. An American comic but I read the French translation. After 50 years of superhero shenanigans in the same universe as Invincible, Brit (who confusingly isn't British) is ready to settle down and start a family. Vocab: un gigoteur = a fidget. ***
Some of you may have spotted that despite my plan being to read books in French or translated from French, that has turned out not to include any books by French authors! 15 are written by Belgians, 2 by a Chilean, and 1 by an American. I always thought I was a francophile but maybe I've always been an unwitting belgophile.
You may also have spotted that I haven't read a single book by a female writer this time, and that does come down to the kind of books I own in French: mainly science fiction bandes dessinees, pulp fiction novels and Georges Simenon. In October 2027 I might just read books written by female authors, to redress the balance a bit.
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