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 wonder
01:02you know how many people have gone through those pages or leafed those pages and I find the journey
01:09of 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
01:22by Arvind Adiga. I have a movie coming out right now called The White Tiger which is based on a novel
01:29that Arvind Adiga wrote in 2008 and I'm a huge fan of his writing. He writes with wit. He always has
01:37a social commentary and in this one Danny the main character Dhananjay is from Sri Lanka and he's a
01:45refugee in Australia. Basically through his eyes there's also a murder that happens and him trying
01:51to figure out the morality of whether he should you know tell the police what he knows or he shouldn't
01:58because he doesn't have papers and it's just the writing. He's so clever in his writing and he's
02:03humorous and he's sarcastic and he's dark but at the same time you know has a very fast-paced sense
02:10of storytelling. This book sort of makes you think about you know refugees and refugees around the
02:16world and their lives and their choices and the choices they have to make and the ones that are
02:22made for them. It's something that you know makes you think about that and that's what I definitely
02:28picked up from this. What's my all-time favorite book cover? I you know I've been a big fan of
02:33graphic novels and comics as well. I have to say The Watchmen was one of my favorites and I remember
02:40like you know seeing it and it being seared into my memory and of course now The Watchmen is a TV
02:45series and it was a movie as well so that's something that I really remember the world fascinated me.
02:50Who's my all-time favorite crush? This is really cheesy instead of it being like some heroic crush
02:58from you know one of the great novels that I've read. I would like to say it's Archie Andrews from
03:04the Archie comics. I really think I had a real crush on him. Weirdo. This is one of my favorite,
03:11favorite books of the year. It's called Homegoing. It's written by Ya Gyasi. It's based in the 18th
03:18century actually and it's the story of two half sisters in Ghana and who are born without the
03:26knowledge of each other and one gets married to an Englishman and you know lives an affluent life
03:33and the other one gets sold into slavery in the same castle that her sister is married into. It has a
03:40commentary on family. It has a commentary on the slave trade and what that did. It has a commentary on
03:47being a black woman in America today where the book ends actually and it really makes you think about
03:54life and the privileges that come along with it and you know what is destined for you and
03:59what are the what are the choices that you make that change your destiny.
04:06What book would I recommend to a book club? At the moment I would maybe recommend my book to
04:11the book club. It's called Unfinished. I would love for you guys to check it out and see if I did an
04:15okay job you know as a first-time author. What was the process like to write a book? Daunting but
04:22exhilarating at the same time. I remember being terrified at the thought of even putting words
04:29down and then now I'm terrified of the thought of everyone reading them. So I have really newfound
04:35respect for all the authors that I've loved and admired. This is no small feat. This is the next book
04:41I'm going to talk about. I'm sure a lot of you have heard of it and seen it. The storytelling is
04:46extremely vivid which I love. It's about how she is becomes the woman that she is you know from
04:54Chicago to the White House and that journey which is so fascinating to all of us and you know it feels
05:00like a Cinderella story but she gives that perspective of the hardships trials and tribulations that she had
05:06to go through and her family had to go through. Well the one thing about this book was when I read it
05:12a couple of months ago I was also in the process of writing my own memoir. You know I did take a few
05:17lessons from how she really talks about her evolution and how she digs in really deep to her
05:22vulnerabilities. Since 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 Black Beauty
05:36it's the story of this black stallion horse. She's raised by a very loving owner and then gets
05:45sold into you know a workforce. As an animal lover I remember being really really moved by this book
05:51as a kid. Do I make notes or highlights? Yes I do. I definitely highlight. I write notes. I write my name.
05:58I also look up words that you know I may or may not may not know. I have a very deep connection when I'm
06:04reading a book. Okay next book I'm going to be talking about too is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's
06:10Stone. Sorcerer's Stone, Philosopher's Stone it's the British and American version but I kind of joined
06:17this train a little late. I had been I watched the movies and everyone kept talking about the books
06:23and I was like reading is a completely different experience you know and I really wanted to
06:29pick 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 um I think that's what makes this
06:49book um 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
07:09books you must check out all the books. What's my favorite genre? So I it depends on my mood um I think
07:20I love reading fiction sometimes I love reading non-fiction depending on who it is but most of the
07:26time I do love getting my hands on a good old murder mystery. Who gives me the best book recommendations?
07:33Um well most of the time Apple does or Google does um but besides that my mom my friends um you know who
07:41are avid readers um or the book clubs I love following um Reese Witherspoon's book club Sonali Bendre's book club
07:49even Oprah's book club um those are really interesting. One of my other favorite books and I don't have
07:55the physical copy of it is Letters from a Father to His Daughter by Jawaharlal Nehru and Jawaharlal Nehru was
08:03the first Prime Minister of India after our independence from um the British and um this was a book that he
08:10wrote when 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
08:24the world 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
08:47the earth was made and all the difficult subjects he probably didn't want to talk to me about.
08:51Thank you for watching Shelf Portrait and please make sure you check out my new book um called
09:01Unfinished and my new movie it's called The White Tiger on Netflix and also subscribe to Marie Claire.
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