My Top 10 Favourite Translated Books

The Books:

.................................................................................................................
Check out my podcast 'That's Ancient History':

.................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................
Where else can you find me?

.................................................................................................................
What do I use to film my videos?

Links to bookdepository and amazon are usually affiliate links.

[ana_]

Thank you for promoting translated fiction, Jean!! :) As a non native english speaker I've always read a lot of translated books but they are not that common here on english booktube, and there's sooo many good books! I'm happy the trend of global content is spreading, even with other things like tv shows on netflix or movies!

[lufro]

I'm from Germany but most of the time the I read books in the original english. It's kinda sad that not more people are looking into the international literature because they miss stuff like the books of Walter Moers (Jean I think you would adore "The City of Dreaming Books") or the hilarious books by Jonas Jonasson (swedish) I love to watch your videos because you're accent is so sweet and I like your recommendations I Just started The Missing of Clairedelune and love the series now :) So my Tbr got even bigger now thanks :)

[danielleoliver]

Andrej Sapkowski’s Witcher series is my fave translated fantasy, I need to read some Cixin Liu still for Sci Fi

[TomesAndTravel]

So great to hear another BookTuber talking about translated fiction! I feel like it doesn't get enough attention. I studied Spanish at university, so I had to study a lot of books from Spain and Latin America, and always found it so fascinating to learn about different cultures. I just made a video about them, but some of the ones I'd recommend are The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Lost Steps by Alejo Carpentier, and One Hundred Years of Solitude by García Márquez.

[nymeria]

Asterix and Tintin were definitely favorites of mine as a child. Thanks for making a video about translated works! I'll have to add these to my TBR and broaden my horizons.

[SnorriSnibble]

This is so funny to watch, because when you don't live in the UK or the US almost every book is translated, lol.

[Jana-gzho]

The books by the german author Cornelia Funke are great middle grade (to YA) fantasy reads! I loved the Inkheart trilogy when growing up

[wallyjames]

One of my favourite translated authors is Cixin Liu, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who knows about translated sci-fi, the man gets lauded and I think for good reason. The stories are just fascinating. I didn't know A Winter's Promise was translated! I'll definitely mark that down for when I pick it up later this year. Lots of great recommendations here. Thanks so much!

[booksandpieces]

I'm so intrigued by your description of Convenience Store Woman. Sometimes that's exactly how I want to live! And A Winter's Promise has been on my shelves since February so excellent reminder I should read it. :D

[nokiddingbrainless]

Being from the Netherlands, I grew up reading a lot of non-English fiction so my recommendations tend to be children's books. My I devoured and still love anything by Astrid Lindgren (the Swedish author known for Pippi Longstocking), especially Ronia The Robber's Daughter and The Brothers Lionheart, I've read both of these recently and they hold up! Another childhood favourite author is the Dutch Thea Beckman, queen of historical fiction. Her most well-known book in the Netherlands has been translated to English. It's called Crusade in Jeans and follows a teenage boy from the 20th Century who is sent back in time to the 13th Century and more or less accidentally joins a children's crusade. It's a wonderful mixture of historical fiction with some sci-fi elements and it's very well loved over here for good reason!

[Intervain]

Oh I'm happy you mentioned the Ludmilla Petrushevskaya book. I was trying to remember the title and author of this book for a while now and couldn't for the life of me :D Great recommendations. I just read the Terracotta Bride you recommended recently. Loved it. Thanks!

[Monki]

Yesss love this video, would love more current reads

[MaryAmongStories]

omg Asterix haha, love it! great video, Jean 💗

[septimasnape]

i love Asterix so much! have read some for the reading rush and the book junkie grail

[karenkoutsoumbaris]

Thankyou Jean Great list, I have one that I want to read “ a winters promise “ love your channel and your Irish accent !

[crazybooklady]

I read translated fiction regularly but if I look at my favorites this year that aren't originally in English or Dutch (I'm Dutch myself) I would say 3096 Days by Natascha Kampusch (Non-fiction, originally written in German, read in Dutch) and Whisper by Isabel Abedi (also originally written in German, read in Dutch).

[SaraStar]

Currently I'm reading Cien Años De Soledad/100 Years of Solitude in Spanish with the English translation to go along with when I get stuck. It's really shown me, as much as I loved the English translation, that reading it in its original form is so much more beautiful. I'm really loving it

[lufro]

I'm from Germany but I usually read books in the original english.
I think it's kind of sad that not more people look out for international literature because they miss so much like the books of Walter Moers (that you would probably love especially "The City of Dreaming Books") or the swedish novel "The Hundred-Year-Old Man who climbed out of the window and disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson

[bindrosbookshelf]

I would recommend Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was by Angelica Gorodischer, translated from Spanish Ursula K. Le Guin, as a fantasy with stories woven together that form the history of a fantasy empire.
Also worth a mention for gothic magical realism short stories is Thus Were Their Faces by Silvina Ocampo, translated from Spanish by Daniel Balderston with an introduction by Helen Oyeyemi.
Lastly the Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Skokoofeh Azar, translated from Farsi by Adrien Kijel, is a magical realism story happening immediately after the Islamic revolution in 1979, drawing on Persian storytelling - it was shortlisted for the Stella Prize in 2018 (Aussie women authors award which can include fiction and non fiction work).

[FMsukina]

Love to see the promotion on non-English literature/poetry/essays/etc! I personally love Isabelle Allende, Natsuo Kirino, Laura Esquivel, and Yoko Ogawa...There are many others, but those female writers are awesome!