The long-awaited moment has arrived: you are finally lying on your beach towel, a book in your hand. Because the summer holidays are often conducive to reading. According to a Youboox* survey, 64% of French people say they read more during their summer holidays than during the rest of the year. They take the opportunity to read books spotted over the year but which they did not have time to devour before. Or let themselves be seduced by books that have been recommended to them by a bookseller or a friend.
Summer is also the time when you can tackle ambitious works: a book of several hundred pages, a literary classic that requires concentration for several hours to immerse yourself in the intrigue… Remy, who responded to our call for witnesses, jumped into the trilogy with both feet The Fall of the Giantsa British historical novel by Ken Follett: “It marked me : 3,000 pages of history and romance. I imagine the amount of research it took to stick to this point to reality! “. Moreover, historical books are the second favorite genre of the French after practical books, according to the barometer The French and reading **. One summer, Evelyne also started reading a 300-page book: wild seasons, by Kettly Mars. “This book that I devoured transcribes a pivotal and painful period in the history of Haiti. It tells both the fate of Nirvah and his family, but also the political situation and the horrors of this island. A real pleasure to dive into such a book in the summer after a good swim in the sea, ”she describes.
“I devoured it and it made me forget my boredom”
The summer holidays are also conducive to revelations: we all remember having discovered a novel or an essay that made us love reading or become passionate about a literary genre. It is especially during adolescence that these literary shocks take place. Example with Charlotte, who remembers with nostalgia her summer between the 4th and 3rd: “I read Gone with the wind. I had not seen the film and discovered the story. I can’t say what the weather was like outside, I only read until the end of the three volumes. Fatia was in the same state the summer of her 15th birthday. ” I read beautiful day, by Joseph Kessel. I was captivated by this beautiful and wealthy young woman. Fascinated by the obscure attraction which drove her towards this brothel. I devoured it and it made me forget my boredom, while I was stuck at home without a beach vacation in the moist heat of the Toulouse region. »
Some books also manage to reconcile us with reading, as for Fanny with Breathe, by Niko Tackian, an exhilarating thriller. “I hadn’t been able to read for two years, whereas before, I devoured books all year round and especially in summer (about ten). This book presents a man who wants to leave his life, to be an “evaporated” who leaves his too demanding daily life… The story takes place on a desert island where people are gathered who have chosen to leave civilization to create a new life. without restraint. After this period of Covid-19, I found it exotic, but also very close to the aspiration of many: to leave a consumerist society, which no longer gives us time to live. »
“This book I read 20 years ago changed my life”
Sometimes the discovery of an author is so significant that it gives rise to a real passion. This was the case for Gilles with The goldfinch, American novel by Donna Tartt. “I liked it so much that I bought the original version and every summer, I reread it with so much pleasure…” For Armelle, it was compulsory reading in high school that turned into love at first sight. “It was about fifteen years ago, The best of worlds by Aldous Huxley. It was my plunge into dystopia and SF. Since then, I have reread it at least 4 times, with varying degrees of maturity. And it’s still my favorite! ” As for Marine, her favorite author of the summer and who has become the one of her life: “I discovered Love me tender and play boy by Constance Debre. I loved these books that challenge the reader. I have also recommended them to everyone around me and I have become a fan of Constance Debré. I listened to all of his talks on Youtube, I love his very assertive and hard-hitting personality. I am going to buy the third book of this author: Last name. »
The emotion and reflection provoked are sometimes so strong that their readers have the impression that there is a before and an after. For Marion, it was Anger, by Denis Marquet. “This book, which I read twenty years ago, changed my life. In particular my vision of our relationship to nature, of our way of martyrizing it. He made me aware of the backlash that we are starting to get. It is an exceptional and visionary novel. ” Pierre, he was shaken by two books: “ The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. He changed my life. It was a friend who made me discover it in a situation where I was really not going well. In another style: think for myself, by Marc-Aurèle, which I discovered in an audio book on YouTube. I listen to it almost every day in small chunks. Alex, he swears by Like you, by Catherine Lemesle: “It shows the reality of show business seen through the eyes of a gifted working class girl. Hilarious and romantic. A book that makes you want to live your life to the fullest. “An enthusiast who puts a little more pressure on all those who are struggling to find out which books to take on vacation…