OPL’s Véro and Stéphanie are discussing what French books you should read to keep entertained during the cold winter months.  

The Franco Reading Buddies Suggestions – Winter 2024 edition 

Stéphanie : Hi Véro! Santa Claus has come and gone, our favourite festive foods have landed on our hips and now it's time to find an answer to the question: What to read during the long winter months? I always try to bundle up with good books filled with snowy atmospheres. There's nothing better than sitting in an armchair watching the snow fall outside, a book in hand. In fact, you should read Blanc by Sylvain Tesson. It describes the author's 4-year journey as he cross-country skied through the Alps. Such a poetic work filled with interesting reflexions.   

Véro : Brrr! After reading about this long cross-country ski trip, readers should get off their chair and go play outside! Those who want to use their skis can borrow a pass from their library for free access to the slopes of Mooney's Bay , Kanata Nordic , or Gatineau Park. 

Speaking of winter sports: do you remember Manon Rhéaume, the hockey player who was chosen in 1992 to play in the National Hockey League? It was a big deal at the time. In fact, no woman has been invited back to the NHL since.  Young people can read about it in a picture book entitled:  Briser la glace by Angie Bullaro (also available in English). A good and quick read for hockey players, young and old.   

Stéphanie : There are some people for whom the cold is for pleasure, but for others, surviving it is a question of life and death. I have just read the first Inuit novel ever published, Chasseur au Harpon (also available in English and Inuktitut) places survival at the center of the lives of the Inuit people from the perspective of a young adventurer. Learn about survival from the point of view a group of experienced hunters, and their mothers and wives and the first time hunter: Kamik.  

Véro : My favorite read in terms of Indigenous literature is the children’s series of novels called Nish (also available in English) , by Isabelle Picard (Wendat). The series takes place in Metimekush, on the border of Quebec and Labrador, and stars Léon and Éloïse, 13-year-old Innu twins. The reader is immersed in the life of a tight-knit and proud community and we quickly become attached to the characters. We discover as many differences as similarities between their life and that of young people 'from the South'. A prefect read for 10-13 year olds.  

But back to adult novels, the one that comes to mind when I think 'winter' is the first volume of the Neshov family saga, La terre des mensonges, by Anne B. Ragde (in French only). It's a family drama set in Norway: when the Neshov family matriarch dies just before Christmas, her three sons and granddaughter return to their childhood farm. Relations are strained; we guess past traumas, we understand that there are big secrets kept under wraps... a suffocating closed circle that will grip you until the very end.   

Stéphanie : It's an interesting recommendation because the books from northern Europe that reach us in French are more often 'Nordic noir' style detective thrillers. In this very popular style, I particularly recommend the works of Ragnar Jónasson (fr / eng). Buried under a blanket, the reader sees the body count grow between each snow storm. However, such a situation could also happen here in Canada... Read the distressing novel Tempêtes by A. Michaud.  

Vero :  I think this should keep us busy for a while. I'll leave you to your teapot and your sofa.  

Stéphanie : And I'll leave you to your neck warmer. I’m off to hibernate!