I’ve been asked a couple of times this week about good books for studying French.
For all the great resources that are out there, I still don’t think that you can beat the CLE series. They aren’t glamorous or trendy, and their titles aren’t subtle: Grammaire Progressive Du Francais
The first book I usually get my beginner students to buy is “The Orange Book”. This is the beginner’s Grammaire Progressive. Like all CLE books, it has explanations on each left hand page – all in French, but very clearly laid out, with examples and occasional pictures – and related exercises on the facing page. If you use no other book (aside from a dictionary), this one alone will be enough to teach all the basics of grammar, including five tenses, and a fairly wide range of vocabulary.
And then – oh happy day – once you have finished that, there is a niveau intermédiaire and then a niveau avancé.
The Grammaire Progressive really does start from the very beginning, so I suggest starting with that one. The others, though they may also have labels of débutant, often assume some knowledge.
Conjugaison Progressive Du Francais
For most Brits, I tend to use another text book, then supplement it with The Orange Book. But for everyone else – and for the rare Brits who are grammar fiends – I like the combination of Grammaire en Dialogues and Grammaire Progressive. Grammaire en Dialogues does, as they all do, what it says on the tin: each unit has a couple of dialogues that focus on a specific area of grammar but also on a specific area of vocabulary. Once my students are further on, I prefer Communication Progressive du Francais, which is similar but a little less dry, and I use it in combination with Vocabulaire Progressif and Grammaire Progressive.
So, according to your level, here are some suggestions of books you might want to try. There are separate ones for grammar, vocab building, pronunication, spelling (though I haven’t included those), and reading/comprehension. It’s important to note that for the most part you’ll need to buy the answer book separately, which is a bit of a pain but vital if you are going down the path of self-study.
Absolute beginners:
Grammaire Progressive Du Francais: Niveau Debutant (French Edition)
Conjugaison Progressive Du Francais
Tutored absolute beginners or self-taught post-beginners (A1):
Grammaire Progressive du Francais, niveau débutant
Grammaire en Dialogues, niveau grand débutant
Conjugaison Progressive Du Francais – 2eme Edition: Livre Intermediaire
Phonétique progressive du français – Niveau débutant
(Disclaimer: I haven’t used that one, but am going on the assumption that it is of as high a quality as the other books in the series. It’s particularly useful if you are self-taught – hence my not having used it, as a tutor – and don’t have anyone to show you how to make the different sounds of French.)
Post-beginners (A2)
Grammaire Progressive du Francais, niveau débutant
Grammaire en Dialogues, niveau débutant
Vocabulaire du Francais, niveau débutant
Communication Progressive du Francais, niveau débutant
Lower intermediate (B1)
Grammaire Progressive du Francais, niveau intermédiaire
Grammaire en Dialogues, niveau débutant/niveau intermédiaire
At this level, you could be convering the second half of the beginner level and the first half of the intermediate level.
Vocabulaire du Francais, niveau débutant
Communication Progressive du Francais, niveau débutant
(This book is the least “progressif” of them all, with sometimes big jumps in level. I’m not sure it’s great as a self-learning tool, for that reason, but it works well as a resource for tutors.)
Intermediate (B2)
Grammaire Progressive du Francais, niveau intermédiaire
Grammaire en Dialogues, niveau intermédiaire
Vocabulaire Progressif du Francais, niveau intermédiaire
Vocabulaire Progressif du Francais des Affaires, niveau débutant
– basic business French text book
Phonétique Progressive du Francais, niveau intermédiaire
Communication Progressive du Francais, niveau intermédiaire
Civilisation Progressive du Francais, niveau débutant
Civilisation Progressive de la Francophonie, niveau débutant
(Both of these give longer texts about various aspects of France or the French-speaking world, then comprehension and discussion questions. A great resource, though they do feel a little out of date now – they’ve aged much faster than the others in the series, since grammar doesn’t really change, especially the grammar in a country whose language is protected by such a stern body as the Académie Francaise.)
Littérature Progressive du Francais, niveau débutant
There’s nothing beginner-ish about this, unless they mean beginner in terms of it being your first foray into real Francophone litterature. You get extracts from a broad range of litterature down the ages and across the French-speaking world, alongside comprehension and discussion questions. Recommended, in particular if you want to get a flavour of what French authors would work for you: once you get to this kind of level, you might want to think about reading whole books.
Upper intermediate (B2+/C1)
Grammaire Progressive du Francais, niveau intermédiaire/avancé
My advice would be to finish the book and know it thoroughly before you move onto the green book!
Vocabulaire Progressif du Francais, niveau avancé
Phonétique Progressive du Francais, niveau avancé
Civilisation Progressive du Francais, niveau intermédiaire
Civilisation Progressive de la Francophonie, niveau intermédiaire
Littérature Progressive du Francais, niveau intermédiaire
— for more hints and tips on language learning, buy Conquering Babel: A Practical Guide to Learning a Language here in the US
and here in the UK
.
Conquering Babel 
Richard Brown
23/10/2016
How is a self learner suppose to use this book when its all in French? I imagine you would have to use a dictionary/translator along the way to get the meaning/translation of words you can’t figure out from the context?
babelclaire
25/10/2016
The grammar is explained on the left-hand side of the page in such a way that it should be accessible for the level of the student – with symbols, colours, etc. You don’t need to understand every word – but on the other hand, using a dictionary to look up new words is part of learning a language, so it can’t hurt!