00:00 I remember I used to have a library in my house
00:02 and I used to give the neighborhood kids books
00:05 that I used to let them borrow my books
00:07 and I had like a librarian,
00:09 I used to write down who borrowed my book
00:11 and when I was gonna get it back.
00:13 Hi guys, I'm Priyanka Chopra Jonas
00:15 and I'm about to give Marie Claire
00:16 a sneak peek into my personal library.
00:19 This is Shelf Portrait.
00:21 (upbeat music)
00:24 So if I was at home, you would have seen my library
00:27 and my books which are my prized possessions
00:30 but at the moment I'm not, I'm filming a movie in London
00:33 but I do have a few books in here that I did bring with me
00:37 and that I have bought while I've been in London.
00:40 I love books, I've been an avid reader since I was a child.
00:44 There's something magical about books.
00:47 Once they're printed, they live on
00:50 and they have their own legacy
00:51 and then they get passed on from person to person
00:54 and I always wonder, like I love going into used bookstores
00:59 and finding used books and I wonder
01:02 how many people have gone through those pages
01:06 or leafed those pages
01:08 and I find the journey of books fascinating.
01:10 I find the journey they take me on fascinating.
01:13 (upbeat music)
01:16 One of the books that I wanna talk to you guys about today
01:19 on my bookshelf is Amnesty by Arvind Adiga.
01:23 I have a movie coming out right now called The White Tiger
01:27 which is based on a novel that Arvind Adiga wrote in 2008
01:31 and I'm a huge fan of his writing.
01:34 He writes with wit, he always has a social commentary
01:38 and in this one, Danny, the main character, Dhananjay
01:42 is from Sri Lanka and he's a refugee in Australia.
01:47 Basically through his eyes,
01:48 there's also a murder that happens
01:50 and him trying to figure out the morality
01:53 of whether he should tell the police what he knows
01:58 or he shouldn't because he doesn't have papers
02:00 and it's just the writing.
02:01 He's so clever in his writing and he's humorous
02:04 and he's sarcastic and he's dark but at the same time,
02:07 has a very fast-paced sense of storytelling.
02:11 This book sort of makes you think about refugees
02:15 and refugees around the world and their lives
02:18 and their choices and the choices they have to make
02:22 and the ones that are made for them.
02:24 It's something that makes you think about that
02:26 and that's what I definitely picked up from this.
02:29 What's my all-time favorite book cover?
02:32 You know, I've been a big fan of graphic novels
02:34 and comics as well.
02:36 I have to say The Watchman was one of my favorites
02:39 and I remember seeing it and it being seared into my memory
02:43 and of course now The Watchman is a TV series
02:45 and it was a movie as well.
02:47 So that's something that I really remember.
02:49 The world fascinated me.
02:51 Who's my all-time favorite crush?
02:53 This is really cheesy.
02:55 Instead of it being like some heroic crush
02:58 from one of the great novels that I've read,
03:01 I would like to say it's Archie Andrews
03:03 from the Archie comics.
03:05 I really think I had a real crush on him.
03:07 Weirdo.
03:08 This is one of my favorite, favorite books of the year.
03:13 It's called Homegoing.
03:14 It's written by Yaa Gyasi.
03:16 It's based in the 18th century, actually,
03:19 and it's the story of two half-sisters in Ghana
03:22 and who are born without the knowledge of each other.
03:28 And one gets married to an Englishman
03:30 and lives an affluent life
03:33 and the other one gets sold into slavery
03:36 in the same castle that her sister is married into.
03:39 It has a commentary on family.
03:41 It has a commentary on the slave trade and what that did.
03:45 It has a commentary on being a black woman
03:48 in America today, where the book ends, actually.
03:51 And it really makes you think about life
03:54 and the privileges that come along with it
03:56 and what is destined for you
03:59 and what are the choices that you make
04:01 that change your destiny.
04:03 What book would I recommend to a book club?
04:08 At the moment, I would maybe recommend my book
04:11 to the book club.
04:12 It's called Unfinished.
04:13 I would love for you guys to check it out
04:14 and see if I did an okay job as a first-time author.
04:18 What was the process like to write a book?
04:21 Daunting, but exhilarating at the same time.
04:24 I remember being terrified at the thought
04:27 of even putting words down
04:30 and then now I'm terrified at the thought
04:32 of everyone reading them.
04:33 So I have really newfound respect for all the authors
04:36 that I've loved and admired.
04:38 This is no small feat.
04:40 This is the next book I'm gonna talk about.
04:42 I'm sure a lot of you have heard of it and seen it.
04:45 The storytelling is extremely vivid,
04:47 which I love.
04:48 It's about how she becomes the woman that she is,
04:53 from Chicago to the White House
04:56 and that journey, which is so fascinating to all of us
04:59 and it feels like a Cinderella story,
05:01 but she gives that perspective of the hardships,
05:04 trials, and tribulations that she had to go through
05:07 and her family had to go through.
05:08 Well, the one thing about this book was
05:10 when I read it a couple of months ago,
05:12 I was also in the process of writing my own memoir.
05:15 I did take a few lessons from how she really talks
05:19 about her evolution and how she digs in really deep
05:22 to her vulnerabilities.
05:23 Since I really admire her, I really enjoyed it
05:26 and I would recommend this to everyone.
05:27 What was my favorite childhood book?
05:29 I've had many, but one of the ones
05:33 that I really remember is "Black Beauty."
05:36 It's the story of this black stallion horse.
05:41 She's raised by a very loving owner
05:43 and then gets sold into a workforce.
05:48 As an animal lover, I remember being really, really moved
05:50 by this book as a kid.
05:52 Do I make notes or highlights?
05:53 Yes, I do.
05:54 I definitely highlight.
05:56 I write notes.
05:56 I write my name.
05:58 I also look up words that I may or may not know.
06:02 I have a very deep connection when I'm reading a book.
06:05 Okay, the next book I'm gonna be talking about too
06:07 is "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone."
06:11 "Sorcerer's Stone," "Philosopher's Stone."
06:13 It's the British and American version,
06:15 but I kind of joined this train a little late.
06:18 I had been, I watched the movies
06:21 and everyone kept talking about the books.
06:23 I was like, reading is a completely different experience,
06:27 you know, and I really wanted to pick up the book
06:30 and read it, and when I started doing it,
06:32 I understood the hysteria.
06:34 Yes, it's based in a fantasy land
06:37 and yes, you know, we're talking about magic,
06:39 but the kind of issues that Harry deals with
06:42 and the relationships and the people,
06:44 they're all so human,
06:46 and I think that's what makes this book so riveting,
06:50 that you wanna follow Harry and his friend's journey
06:54 and you wanna see and learn from him at his young age
06:59 about being adventurous, but also, you know,
07:02 being able to stand your ground and being brave.
07:04 So I would recommend this to everyone
07:08 who hasn't read the books.
07:09 You must check out all the books.
07:11 (upbeat music)
07:14 What's my favorite genre?
07:16 So I, it depends on my mood.
07:19 I think I love reading fiction.
07:21 Sometimes I love reading nonfiction,
07:23 depending on who it is,
07:25 but most of the time, I do love getting my hands
07:28 on a good old murder mystery.
07:30 Who gives me the best book recommendations?
07:33 Well, most of the time Apple does, or Google does,
07:38 but besides that, my mom, my friends,
07:40 you know, who are avid readers, or the book clubs.
07:44 I love following Reese Witherspoon's book club,
07:47 Sonali Bendre's book club, even Oprah's book club.
07:51 Those are really interesting.
07:52 One of my other favorite books,
07:54 and I don't have the physical copy of it,
07:56 is "Letters from a Father to His Daughter"
08:00 by Jawaharlal Nehru, and Jawaharlal Nehru
08:02 was the first Prime Minister of India
08:04 after our independence from the British,
08:07 and this was a book that he wrote
08:10 when his daughter was only 10, Indira Gandhi,
08:13 who was the first female Prime Minister of India as well.
08:17 It's basically 30 essays that he has written to his daughter
08:21 telling her about the world, and how the world was formed,
08:25 and you know, shaping her worldview,
08:27 and I remember as a young kid,
08:30 I was so fascinated to read all of that
08:33 from a father to his daughter,
08:36 and I think it was a way of my dad also sort of,
08:40 you know, piggybacking on Pandit Nehru's book
08:44 so that I could learn about how the earth was made,
08:48 and all the difficult subjects
08:50 he probably didn't want to talk to me about.
08:52 Thank you for watching "Shelf Portrait,"
08:58 and please make sure you check out my new book
09:01 called "Unfinished," and my new movie,
09:03 it's called "The White Tiger," on Netflix,
09:05 and also subscribe to Marie Claire.
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