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
00:10who
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
00:34few books in here that I did bring with me and that I have bought while I've been
00:40in London. I love books. I've been an avid reader since I was a child. There's
00:44something magical about books. Once they're printed, they live on and they have
00:50their own legacy and then they get passed on from person to person and you know
00:55I always wonder, like I love going into used bookstores and finding used books and
01:01I wonder, you know, how many people have gone through those pages or leafed those
01:07pages and I find the journey of books fascinating. I find the journey they take
01:12me on fascinating. One of the books that I want to talk to you guys about today on my
01:20bookshelf is Amnesty by Arvind Adiga. I have a movie coming out right now called
01:26The White Tiger which is based on a novel that Arvind Adiga wrote in 2008 and I'm a
01:32huge fan of his writing. He writes with wit. He always has a social commentary and in
01:39this one Danny, the main character, Dhananjay, is from Sri Lanka and he's a refugee in Australia.
01:47Basically through his eyes there's also a murder that happens and him trying to figure out the
01:52morality 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
02:03he's humorous and he's sarcastic and he's dark but at the same time, you know, has a very fast-paced
02:10sense of storytelling. This book sort of makes you think about, you know, refugees and refugees
02:16around the world and their lives and their choices and the choices they have to make and the ones that
02:22are made for them. It's something that, you know, makes you think about that and that's what
02:27I definitely picked up from this. What's my all-time favorite book cover? I, you know,
02:33I've been a big fan of graphic novels and comics as well. I have to say The Watchmen was one
02:39of my
02:39favorites and I remember like, you know, seeing it and it being seared into my memory and of course now
02:44The Watchmen is a TV series and it was a movie as well. So that's something that I really remember.
02:49The world fascinated me. Who's my all-time favorite crush? This is really cheesy. Instead of it being like
02:56some heroic crush from, you know, one of the great novels that I've read, I would like to say it's
03:03Archie Andrews from the Archie comics. I really think I had a real crush on him. Weirdo.
03:09This is one of my favorite, favorite books of the year. It's called Homegoing. It's written by
03:16Ya Gyasi. It's based in the 18th century actually and it's the story of two half sisters in Ghana
03:23and who are born without the knowledge of each other and one gets married to an Englishman and,
03:31you know, lives an affluent life and the other one gets sold into slavery in the same castle that
03:38her sister is married into. It has a commentary on family. It has a commentary on the slave trade
03:44and what that did. It has a commentary on being a black woman in America today where the book ends
03:50actually and it really makes you think about life and the privileges that come along with it and,
03:58you know, what is destined for you and 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
04:11book club. It's called Unfinished. I would love for you guys to check it out and see if I did
04:15an okay
04:16job, 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 down
04:29and then now I'm terrified of the thought of everyone reading them. So I have really newfound respect
04:35for all the authors that I've loved and admired. This is no small feat. This is the next book I'm
04:41going
04:41to talk about. I'm sure a lot of you have heard of it and seen it. The storytelling is extremely
04:47vivid
04:47which I love. It's about how she becomes the woman that she is, you know, from Chicago to the White
04:55House
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
05:12couple
05:12of months ago, I was also in the process of writing my own memoir. You know, I did take a
05:16few lessons
05:17from how she really talks about her evolution and how she digs in really deep to her vulnerabilities.
05:23Since 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
05:34is Black Beauty. It's the story of this black stallion horse. She's raised by a very loving owner
05:43and then gets sold into, you know, a workforce. As an animal lover, I remember being really, really
05:50moved by this book as a kid. Do I make notes or highlights? Yes, I do. I definitely highlight.
05:56I write notes. I write my name. I also look up words that, you know, I may or may not
06:01know.
06:02I have a very deep connection when I'm reading a book. Okay, next book I'm going to be talking about
06:07too is Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Sorcerer's Stone, Philosopher's Stone,
06:13it's the British and American version. But I kind of joined this train a little late. I had been,
06:19I watched the movies and everyone kept talking about the books. I was like,
06:25reading is a completely different experience, you know, and I really wanted to pick up the book and
06:30read it. And when I started doing it, I understood the hysteria. Yes, it's based in a fantasy land. And
06:37yes, you know, we're talking about magic. But the kind of issues that Harry deals with and the
06:42relationships and the people, they're all so human. And I think that's what makes this book so riveting,
06:50that, you know, you want to follow Harry and his friend's journey. And you want to see and learn from
06:56him at his young age about being adventurous, but also, you know, being able to stand your ground and
07:03being brave. And so I would recommend this to everyone who hasn't read the books. You must check out all
07:10the books.
07:14What's my favorite genre? So I it depends on my mood. I think I love reading fiction. Sometimes I love
07:22reading nonfiction, depending on who it is. But most of the time, I do love getting my hands on a
07:28good old
07:29murder mystery. Who gives me the best book recommendations? Well, most of the time, Apple does or Google does.
07:37But besides that, my mom, my friends, you know, who are avid readers, or the book clubs, I love
07:44following Reese Witherspoon's book club, Sonali Bendre's book club, even Oprah's book club. Those are
07:51really interesting. One of my other favorite books, and I don't have the physical copy of it is Letters
07:58from a Father to His Daughter by Jawaharlal Nehru. And Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Prime Minister of India
08:04after our independence from the British. And this was a book that he wrote when his daughter was only
08:1210, Indira Gandhi, who was the first female Prime Minister of India as well. It's basically 30 essays
08:19that he has written to his daughter, telling her about the world and how the world was formed and, you
08:26know,
08:26shaping her worldview. And I remember as a young kid, I was so fascinated to read all of that from
08:34a father to his daughter. And I think it was a way of my dad also sort of, you know,
08:40piggybacking on
08:42Pandit Nehru's book so that I could learn about how the earth was made and all the difficult
08:49subjects he probably didn't want to talk to me about.
08:56Thank you for watching Shelf Portrait and please make sure you check out my new book 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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