Discover GEEO’s recommended books to read before you travel to France. Our book club is a way for travelers to learn through literature about the places they’ll be visiting.

These are some of our favorites about France, so if you’re heading there, take a look (the GEEO book club is not a required element of our programs, just a bit of added fun)! We hope you will enjoy the books we have selected and they will enhance your experience.

You should be able to find most of our selections through the links below and in your local library system as well. Do you have any feedback on our selections or suggestions for additions? Contact us and let us know!

Recommended books to read before traveling to France:

Fiction:

• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Baker’s Secret: A Novel by Stephen P. Kiernan (Bookshop.org | Amazon)

Nonfiction:

• The Longest Day: The Classic Epic of D-Day by Cornelius Ryan (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Soldier, Sailor, Frogman, Spy, Airman, Gangster, Kill or Die: How the Allies Won on D-Day by Giles Milton (Amazon)

For those looking for more suggestions, here are some other books you may want to consider:

Fiction:

• Les Misérables by Victor Hugo (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Life Before Us by Romain Gary (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Mythologies by Roland Barthes (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Ladies’ Paradise by Emile Zola (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Fall by Albert Camus (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Hunting and Gathering by Anna Gavalda (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Zazie in the Metro by Raymond Queneau (Bookshop.org | Amazon)

Nonfiction:

• Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day’s Black Heroes, at Home and at War by Linda Hervieux (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II by Sarah Rose (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The First Wave: The D-Day Warriors Who Led the Way to Victory in World War II by Alex Kershaw (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Versailles: A Biography of a Palace by Tony Spawforth (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• My Life in France by Julia Child (Amazon)
• A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• The Road from the Past by Ina Caro (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• A Traveller’s History of France by Robert Cole (Bookshop.org | Amazon)
• Napoleon: A Life by Andrew Roberts (Bookshop.org | Amazon)

Recommended films and videos to watch before traveling to France:

GEEO travelers can register with SIMA Academy for free using a unique access code that we provide after our programs end. Feel free to contact us if you would like to receive the access code early. For this program, we recommend watching Home Aamir and The Promise of Gene Therapy. SIMA Academy utilizes the storytelling power of award-winning global short documentaries to nurture globally competent and socially active learners worldwide.

GEEO utilizes both Bookshop.org and Amazon Associates links for the above-suggested books. If you purchase a book through one of the links above, you’re supporting us as a nonprofit and helping more teachers travel through GEEO!