00:00I remember I used to have a library in my house and I used to give the neighborhood kids books
00:05that I used to let them borrow my books and I had like a librarian, I used to write down who
00:10borrowed my book and when I was going to get it back. Hi guys, I'm Priyanka Chopra Jonas and I'm
00:15about to give Marie Claire a sneak peek into my personal library. This is Shelf Portrait.
00:24So if I was at home, you would have seen my library and my books which are my prized
00:29possessions but at the moment I'm not. I'm filming a movie in London but I do have a few books in here
00:35that I did bring with me and that I have bought while I've been in London. I love books. I've been
00:42an avid reader since I was a child. There's something magical about books. Once they're printed
00:48they live on and they have their own legacy and then they get passed on from person to person
00:54and you know I always wonder, like I love going into used bookstores and finding used books and I
01:01wonder you know how many people have gone through those pages or leafed those pages and I find the
01:09journey of books fascinating. I find the journey they take me on fascinating.
01:13One of the books that I want to talk to you guys about today on my bookshelf is Amnesty by Arvind
01:23Adiga. I have a movie coming out right now called The White Tiger which is based on a novel that
01:29Arvind Adiga wrote in 2008 and I'm a huge fan of his writing. He writes with wit. He always has a social
01:38commentary and in this one Danny, the main character, Dhananjay, is from Sri Lanka and he's a refugee
01:45in Australia. Basically through his eyes there's also a murder that happens and him trying to figure
01:51out the morality of whether he should you know tell the police what he knows or he shouldn't because
01:59he doesn't have papers and it's just the writing. He's so clever in his writing and he's humorous and
02:04he's sarcastic and he's dark but at the same time you know has a very fast-paced sense of storytelling.
02:11This book sort of makes you think about you know refugees and refugees around the world and
02:17their lives and their choices and the choices they have to make and the ones that are made for them.
02:24It's something that you know makes you think about that and that's what I definitely picked up from this.
02:29What's my all-time favorite book cover? I you know I've been a big fan of graphic novels and comics
02:35as well. I have to say The Watchmen was one of my favorites and I remember like you know seeing it
02:42and it being seared into my memory and of course now The Watchmen is a TV series and it was a movie
02:46as well so that's something that I really remember. The world fascinated me. Who's my all-time favorite
02:52crush? This is really cheesy. Instead of it being like some heroic crush from you know one of the great
03:00novels that I've read I would like to say it's Archie Andrews from the Archie comics. I really think I had a
03:06real crush on him. Weirdo.
03:09This is one of my favorite favorite books of the year. It's called Homegoing. It's written by Yaa Gyasi.
03:16It's based in the 18th century actually and it's the story of two half sisters in Ghana and who are born
03:25without the knowledge of each other and one gets married to an Englishman and you know lives an
03:32affluent life and the other one gets sold into slavery in the same castle that her sister is married
03:39into. It has a commentary on family. It has a commentary on the slave trade and what that did. It has a
03:46commentary on being a black woman in America today where the book ends actually and it really makes
03:52you think about life and the privileges that come along with it and you know what is destined for
03:59you and what are the what are the choices that you make that change your destiny.
04:05What book would I recommend to a book club? At the moment I would maybe recommend my book to the book
04:11club. It's called Unfinished. I would love for you guys to check it out and see if I did an okay job.
04:16You know as a first-time author. What was the process like to write a book? Daunting but exhilarating
04:23at the same time. I remember being terrified the thought of even putting words down and then now
04:31I'm terrified of the thought of everyone reading them. So I have really newfound respect for all the
04:36authors that I've loved and admired. This is no small feat. This is the next book I'm going to talk
04:42about. I'm sure a lot of you have heard of it and seen it. The storytelling is extremely vivid which
04:47I love. It's about how she is becomes the woman that she is you know from Chicago to the White House
04:56and that journey which is so fascinating to all of us and you know it feels like a Cinderella story
05:01but she gives that perspective of the hardships trials and tribulations that she had to go through
05:07and her family had to go through. Well the one thing about this book was when I read it a couple
05:12of months ago I was also in the process of writing my own memoir. You know I did take a few lessons
05:17from how she really talks about her evolution and how she digs in really deep to her vulnerabilities.
05:24Since I really admire her I really enjoyed it and I would recommend this to everyone.
05:27What was my favorite childhood book? I've had many but one of the ones that I really remember is
05:34Black Beauty. It's the story of this black stallion horse. She's raised by a very loving owner and then
05:44gets sold into you know a workforce. As an animal lover I remember being really really moved by this
05:51book as a kid. Do I make notes or highlights? Yes I do. I definitely highlight. I write notes. I write my
05:57name. I also look up words that you know I may or may not may not know. I have a very deep connection
06:04when I'm reading a book. Okay next book I'm going to be talking about too is Harry Potter and the
06:09Philosopher's Stone. Sorcerer's Stone, Philosopher's Stone it's the British and American version but
06:15I kind of joined this train a little late. I had been I watched the movies and everyone kept talking
06:22about the books. I was like reading is a completely different experience you know and I really wanted
06:28to pick up the book and read it and when I started doing it I understood the hysteria. Yes it's based
06:35in a fantasy land and yes you know we're talking about magic but the kind of issues that Harry deals
06:42with and the relationships and the people they're all so human and I think that's what makes this book
06:49um so riveting that you know you want to follow Harry and his friend's journey and you want to see
06:56and learn from him at his young age um about being adventurous but also you know being able to stand
07:03your ground and being brave and um so I would recommend this to everyone who hasn't read the books. You
07:09must check out all the books.
07:11What's my favorite genre? So I it depends on my mood um I think I love reading fiction sometimes I love
07:22reading non-fiction depending on who it is but most of the time I do love getting my hands on a good
07:29old murder mystery. Who gives me the best book recommendations? Um well most of the time Apple does
07:35or googled us um but besides that my mom my friends um you know who are avid readers um or the book
07:44clubs I love following um Reese Witherspoon's book club Sonali Bendre's book club even Oprah's book club
07:50um those are really interesting. One of my other favorite books and I don't have the physical copy of
07:56it is Letters from a Father to His Daughter by Jawaharlal Nehru and Jawaharlal Nehru was the first
08:03prime minister of India after our independence from um the British and um this was a book that he wrote
08:10when his daughter was only 10 Indira Gandhi who was the first female prime minister of India as well
08:17it's basically 30 essays that he has written to his daughter telling her about the world and how the
08:24world was formed and you know shaping her world view and I remember as a young kid um I was so
08:32fascinated to read all of that from a father to his daughter and I think it was a way of my my dad
08:39also sort of you know piggybacking on on Pandit Nehru's book um so that I could learn about um how the
08:48earth was made and all the difficult subjects he probably didn't want to talk to me about.
08:54Thank you for watching Shelf Portrait and please make sure you check out my new book
09:01um called Unfinished and my new movie it's called The White Tiger on Netflix and also subscribe to Marie Claire.
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