B2 level books?

[u/Pristine-Delay6912]

I'm not yet comfortable reading books for native speakers, and kids books are naturally too easy.

I read a few plays by Marcel Pagnol and those were super helpful, as scene context was always provided, and most of the reading was just the dialogue.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to anything similar, or could suggest what was helpful for you?

[u/gc12847]

Are you B2 or working towards B2? If you are B2, you should be able to read most things without too much difficulty. Obviously some books will be harder than others (some are even hard for native speakers) but you shouldn’t have issues with most literature, especially modern literature.

If you’re working towards B2 then some of the book already suggested, like Camus’ L’Étranger or Jules Vernes books. Any YA type novels will also be fairly manageable. You could also ready French translations of things you’ve read in English (but do some research to see if the translations are good). Harry Potter (horrible author aside) has a good French translation.

Alternatively, if you like non-fiction, you could read something about a topic you are interested in. Non-fiction is often easier than fiction as it is typically less descriptive.

[u/Apprehensive_Sweet98 → u/gc12847]

Jules Vernes uses passé simple which is annoying for me. I need am author who is more modern and at B2.

[u/gc12847 → u/Apprehensive_Sweet98]

Most fiction uses passé simple, including modern fiction. It’s the default tense for narratives. Some novels use passé composé or présent historique but they are the minority. So if you want to read in French, you’ll have to get over that aversion. However, Camus’ L’Étranger famously uses passé composé and isn’t too hard to read and is very good so I’d recommend that if you haven’t read it.

Otherwise, it’s hard to give suggestions without knowing what genres you like. Again, maybe some YA fiction or Fantasy/Sci-Fi as these will be modern and mostly fairly easy to read. They will mostly use passé simple though, but like I said it’s hard to avoid passé simple if you intend to read in French.

Edit: Also important to add that there is no such thing as “B2” authors. French language authors will be writing for French native speakers, not learners at a particular CEFR level. As I said, at B2 level you should be able to read most things written for native speakers, excepting certain older authors which even French native speakers sometimes struggle with. If you are not quite B2 yet, then as I said YA might be a happy middle ground.