61. France

 The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain

When French President Francois Mitterrand leaves his hat in a restaurant in Paris, it finds the heads of strangers and has some profound effects on their lives.

Laurain's recognisably offbeat style makes this a charming and funny novella. Short at a nicely rounded 200 pages, but as satisfying as if it were a weighty tome.

This is a good place to start if you've never read Antoine Laurain before, and is an easier read than, say, Smoking Kills, for instance.