Priyanka Chopra Jonas | Shelf Portrait | Marie Claire - video Dailymotion

Marie Claire

Actress, entrepreneur, and author Priyanka Chopra Jonas gives us a peek at her bookshelves! The author of the new memoir "Unfinished" shares some of her all-time favorites and dishes on her reading habits, her fictional crush and much more.  From the best new book she's read recently to her top 'Harry Potter' pick, Chopra Jonas shares some excellent recs and an intimate look at her temporary London library.

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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 what are

03:59the 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

06:04I'm reading 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 I think that's what makes this book

06:49so riveting that you know you want to follow Harry and his friend's journey and you want to see and

06:56learn from him at his young age about being adventurous but also you know being able to

07:02stand your ground and being brave and so I would recommend this to everyone who hasn't read the books

07:09you must check out all the books. What's my favorite genre? So I it depends on my mood I think I love reading

07:20fiction sometimes I love reading non-fiction depending on who it is but most of the time I do

07:27love getting my hands on a good old murder mystery. Who gives me the best book recommendations um well most

07:34of the time Apple does or Google does but besides that my mom my friends you know who are avid readers

07:42um 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 the

07:55physical copy of it is Letters from a Father to His Daughter by Jawaharlal Nehru and Jawaharlal Nehru was the

08:03first Prime Minister of India after our independence from um the British and um this was a book that he wrote

08:11when 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 fascinated

08:32to read all of that from a father to his daughter and I think it was a way of my my dad also sort of you know

08:40piggybacking on on Pandit Nehru's book um so that I could learn about um how the earth was made and

08:48all the difficult subjects 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

09:01called unfinished and my new movie it's called the white tiger on netflix and also subscribe to marie clare

Priyanka Chopra Jonas | Shelf Portrait | Marie Claire

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