What do you want out of this group?

[Heather Josephine]

What do you want out of this group? Do you simply want to use the forums for book suggestions or do you want to do group reads? If so, what sort of books do you want to read?

[Sachi]

Thank you for creating this group!
This is my first time using goodreads, and I don't know how it works.
Since we read in a lot of different languages, maybe we could just recommend books, ask questions and share quotes and comments?
I like reading young adult novels. How about you?

[Heather Josephine]

Sachi wrote: "Thank you for creating this group!
This is my first time using goodreads, and I don't know how it works.
Since we read in a lot of different languages, maybe we could just recommend books, ask ques..."

Sounds good! To do group reads, I think we'd need a lot of members and we'd need a moderator for each language (unless we all happen to speak the same languages and want to focus on those).

I read a range of books, from YA to the classics to contemporary and non-fiction. I like to begin reading in a new language with YA fiction as it's easier.

[Kirsten]

Hi!

Thanks for creating this group. I'm looking forward to discovering new gems in different languages and getting to know you all.
I think sharing recommendations, questions, quotes, and comments is a great idea. I'd also be open to do group reads. I've never done that before, but I think it could be motivating and interesting to explore different perspectives in a shared reading experience.

I read a wide range of books as well, but mostly fantasy, YA, and classics. YA (or sometimes contemporary romance) is my go-to genre when diving into new languages as it tends to be easier just like you said.

What are some of your favourite books of all time?

[Heather Josephine]

Kirsten wrote: "Hi!

Thanks for creating this group. I'm looking forward to discovering new gems in different languages and getting to know you all.
I think sharing recommendations, questions, quotes, and comments..."

How would you envision group reads happening in this group? Would it be one book per language per month, focusing on languages many of us speak? Or would it be a book in a different language each month?

I find naming a favourite book very hard. Some books that I've loved include Wuthering Heights, Sleeping Dogs, Monkey Beach, Les Misérables, Mes illusions donnent sur la cour, Amor en los tiempos de colera, La sombra del viento, Pedro Páramo, L'amica geniale, Vinterviken, etc. There are many! What are your favourite books?

[Kirsten]

I guess it depends on how many people join and how many languages we have in common. For a small group, one book in a different language each month might be the only option. But maybe someone else has a different idea?

Naming one favourite is indeed very difficult. I also quite liked Wuthering Heights and La sombra del viento and L'amica geniale are on my list. I did see the series of the latter, which I can recommend.
Some of my favourites are Le Petit Prince, Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore, Blauw is bitter, Jane Eyre, North and South, The Handmaid's Tale, Graceling, The Gentleman Bastard series, Six of Crows, The Name of the Wind, Finnikin of the Rock, The Raven Cycle series, The Queen's Thief series, and a lot more.

For Swedish, I thought I should mention Fredrik Backman to you. I have heard a lot of good things about him, but I have yet to read his work.

[Heather Josephine]

Kirsten wrote: "I guess it depends on how many people join and how many languages we have in common. For a small group, one book in a different language each month might be the only option. But maybe someone else ..."

Seeing your list reminds me of several I forgot! I absolutely loved Finnikan of the Rock, as well as On the Jellicoe Road by the same author. I actually love all of Melina Marchetta's books, but those two are my favourites.

I also enjoyed Le Petit Prince, Se una notte d'inverno un viaggiatore, and Jane Eyre, although I think Villette is my favourite Charlotte Brontë novel.

I'm also currently rereading La casa de los espíritus because I loved it so much the first time I read it. The list could go on and on!

I've read two of Fredrik Backman's books and enjoyed them. I really liked Och varje morgon blir vägen hem längre och längre. Such a sad but meaningful book! I will definitely have to read more of his in the future.

Would anyone else be interested in doing a group read? If so, what languages do you read in? I read in English, French, Spanish, and Italian, as well as easier books in Swedish.

[Letson]

Hi everyone!
Thanks a lot Heather for creating this group, this is a n awesome idea.
I am more into self help books but I think novels are the best for learning and perfecting a language. Like what others have said already, recommendations, sharing of quotes and comments will be helpful. I'd also love to do a group read for English books and moderately easy books for French and Swahili

[Letson]

Heather Josephine wrote: "Kirsten wrote: "Hi!

Thanks for creating this group. I'm looking forward to discovering new gems in different languages and getting to know you all.
I think sharing recommendations, questions, quot..."

Thanks, Heather for the books recommendations. Noted

[Letson]

Kirsten wrote: "I guess it depends on how many people join and how many languages we have in common. For a small group, one book in a different language each month might be the only option. But maybe someone else ..."

Thanks, Kirsten for your list of the books you enjoyed. I think I am anxious to read le petit prince.

[Letson]

Letson wrote: "Hi everyone!
Thanks a lot Heather for creating this group, this is a n awesome idea.
I am more into self help books but I think novels are the best for learning and perfecting a language. Like wha..."

The book ' The richest man in Babylon' a classic of personal financial advice in form of parables, is a remarkable book. I think I've read it twice. Now I want to read it in French

[Anita]

Great group! I LOVE Goodreads and have been using it for years. I read in five languages and am totally into audiobooks as well (actually the balance has tipped for me this year and my stats show way more audiobooks than regular ones now - Audible is my friend! ). For me, besides speaking the languages, it's the best and most fun way to maintain them.

[Heather Josephine]

Welcome to the group, both of you! What languages do you read in, Anita? Are you interested in doing group reads?

[Angelmercy]

Hi Heather, thank you for creating this group! I like reading SciFi and Fantasy novels, dystopian stories, crime stories and Thrillers, the odd historical novel ... well basically I enjoy almost anything except romance novels. ... For now I read in English and German, depending on the book's original language and I think I'll soon try something in French again as I'm just brushing up this language. I would also enjoy some graded beginner's books for Arabic, Spanish and Russian and I'd definitely like group reads as long as the genre and language fits my preferences :)

[Kirsten]

Heather Josephine wrote: "Kirsten wrote: "I guess it depends on how many people join and how many languages we have in common. For a small group, one book in a different language each month might be the only option. But may..."

I also read Saving Francesca and Looking for Alibrandi by her, but Finnikin of the Rock and its sequels are my favourites. The fact that my cat's name is Finnikin is proof enough, haha. On the Jellicoe Road has been patiently waiting on my bookshelf, but I want to read it soon. Villette and La casa de los espíritus too. You're making my TBR even longer. :p

I mainly read in English, Spanish, Italian, and recently Portuguese. However, I might also consider joining a group read for French, Swedish, German or Dutch once in a while.

[Kirsten]

Letson wrote: "Heather Josephine wrote: "Kirsten wrote: "Hi!

Thanks for creating this group. I'm looking forward to discovering new gems in different languages and getting to know you all.
I think sharing recomm..."

Le Petit Prince is beautiful. Simple and deep at the same time. I would definitely recommend it.

[Kirsten]

Anita wrote: "Great group! I LOVE Goodreads and have been using it for years. I read in five languages and am totally into audiobooks as well (actually the balance has tipped for me this year and my stats show w..."

Audible is my friend too! :p

[Steven]

Hi everyone and thanks for creating the group, Heather. I'm another audiobook fan.

I like reading novels in the original language (French, German & Spanish), though I find non-fiction (travelogues, history, etc) can be easier to read because the language tends to be more direct. My recent reads include:

French (all recommended)


German (first one highly recommended non-fiction, the second a bit weird, the third I've just started reading but looks good)


Spanish (highly recommended but I can see I'm not the only member of this group who likes it!)


Chinese (only graded readers so far - the first two take English stories and set them in China, very cleverly done and wonderfully illustrated too; the rest, based on a Chinese classic, are harder going)


I don't mind if we try to do group reads (if they're in a language I can read, I'll definitely have a go) or just swap multilingual book ideas, whatever the group decides.

[Sachi]

Kirsten wrote: "Letson wrote: "Heather Josephine wrote: "Kirsten wrote: "Hi!

Thanks for creating this group. I'm looking forward to discovering new gems in different languages and getting to know you all.
I think..."

I like Le Petit Prince too. The story is simple yet profound, and it has a lot of beautiful phrases. I've read it in English, Spanish, French and practiced reading it out loud with the CDs. It's so popular that it's available in various languages.

[Feilin]

Steven wrote: "Hi everyone and thanks for creating the group, Heather. I'm another audiobook fan.

I like reading novels in the original language (French, German & Spanish), though I find non-fiction (travelogues..."


Thanks Steven for the recommendations. I will add them to my list. We read a lot of the same languages. I read in Fr, De, Es, It, Pt, Zh and En as well.

I would like to share the books I read too but I have just opened the account so it will take some time before I figure out the platform.

[Feilin]

I read these two books earlier this year in French and highly recommend them. La Rue Cases-Nègres I read really quickly because it was so amazingly good. It is the story of a boy growing up in Martinique.
The Kundera was originally written in Czech but the french version was revised, edited and approved by the author。

[Ivan]

Hi Heather,

Just a thought. How about we work with a template/format whereby we can recommend books (any language) and we detail why is suitable say for a beginner/intermediate or advanced learner.

A format can look like this;

1. Title of the book

2. Synopsis

3. Recommended for beginner/intermediate/advanced and why?

4. Any parallel text or book that can help the reader e.g. Japanese-English bilingual

5. Personal take

Just a suggestion.

Cheers,
Ivan

[Jade]

Thanks Heather for creating this group!! Can't wait to discover new authors in various languages.
I'm a real slow reader (I tend to always fall asleep doing it XD) but i enjoy it a lot, for now i'm just able to read in french, english and really easy ones in spanish and swedish.

Great idea Ivan, it will help a lot !

[Heather Josephine]

Thanks for the book recommendations, everyone! I like Ivan's idea and am going to start a new thread for recommendations, following that format.

[Steven]

I've just noticed that if I access this thread in the Goodreads iPhone app, posts with book covers only show the first cover but all of the covers appear on the browser version. So If you're viewing on your phone and only seeing one cover when we are writing about more than one, that's why! That won't be a problem with Ivan's one book per post idea though.

Feilin wrote: "I read these two books earlier this year in French and highly recommend them. La Rue Cases-Nègres I read really quickly because it was so amazingly good. It is the story of a boy growing up in Mart..."

That sounds interesting - I'd heard of it but never read it, I'll add it to my list.

However, I have read books by Kundera, including The Unbearable Lightness of Being/L'Insoutenable Légèreté de l'Être. I read a couple of them in English before finding out that he ended up living in France, later reviewed the original French translations of his books as you mentioned (I feel a bit sorry for the original translator!) and wrote his final works in French. So reading even his older novels in French is as close as you can get to the original without being able to read in Czech.

I actually read one book in Portuguese, long ago - I only ever got to about A1 and can't say more than a few phrases, but knowing Spanish plus basic Portuguese grammar makes it possible to read quite a lot. With the right speaker, Portuguese can sound beautiful too.

[Jade]

Hi Heather,

Do you think it would be possible to create a thread for "books reccomandation" for each languages, it might be easier later on to find books in our target language that way than all in the same topic? What do you think?

[Heather Josephine]

Jade wrote: "Hi Heather,

Do you think it would be possible to create a thread for "books reccomandation" for each languages, it might be easier later on to find books in our target language that way than all i..."

Sure! I thought about that, but thought the list of languages could go on and on. I can create a few for common languages and others can create them for their languages if they want.

[Jade]

Thanks a lot !!

[InterDmmm]

It's fairly difficult finding good books in a language you just started learning. I want recommendations of the most worthwhile literature for each language.