From Dostoevsky To Roald Dahl, Here’s What’s Your Favourite Celebrity’s Bookshelf Looks Like
With the age of quick entertainment sources like Instagram Reels and mini-series available to stream on every known OTT platform to mankind and hectic work lives, reading a good book is quickly becoming an obsolete habit. But if you’re one of those who still manage to take out time to read, or listen to an audiobook, then you’re in good company. Some of the most popular celebrities, in India, and the world, are voracious readers who always find time to share what they’re currently reading with their fans. So if you’re wondering which book to pick up next, maybe allow your favourite celebrity to give you their top recommendations.
From Alia Bhatt to Taylor Swift, these celebrities have allowed us a glimpse at their bookshelves over the years and here’s a curated list of their top literary picks for your next binge reading session…
What’s On Your Favourite Celebrity’s Bookshelf?
Sonam Kapoor
The actress has always maintained that she’s a voracious reader. Some of her favourites include The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita, and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. During the pandemic, Kapoor shared that she’s been reading 50 Greatest Short Stories compiled by Terry O’Brien.
Kim Namjoon or RM of BTS
The leader of one of the most influential bands in the history of music can often be seen with his head buried in books between performances. The rapper often shares book recommendations with fans on his Live chat sessions, some of them including, 1Q84 and Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam Joo, Demian by Hermann Hesse, and The Wind’s Twelve Quarters by Usula K. Le Guin’s. The latter two have had major influence on the band’s music and visuals. More recently, RM was seen reading The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, leading fans to wonder if the book is going to serve as an inspiration for their upcoming album.
Taylor Swift
The award-winning musician loves The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney, and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.
Alia Bhatt
Alia Bhatt may be the fodder of a thousand memes mocking her lack of general knowledge, but the actress is actually a seasoned reader. Bhatt regularly shares what she’s been reading on her Instagram, with some of her top picks including Palace OF Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Small Fry by Lisa Brenna-Jobs, Her Again by Michael Schulman, Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, and A Million Little Pieces by James Frey.
Aamir Khan
Aamir Khan is known for his erudite image, so it comes as no surprise that the actor is a big reader with a diverse reading list. Over the years, the actor has shared the names of the books he has read over and over again, like A Short History Of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, Lustrum: A Novel by Robert Harris, A Confederacy Of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. The actor also listed the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer, which he had read with his son, as one of his top favourites.
Twinkle Khanna
The actress-turned-columnist-turned-author’s bookshelf has something for everybody. Her recommendations include Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, Men Without Women by Haruki Murakami, The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall, Less by Andrew Sean Greer, Get In Trouble by Kelly Link, Exhalation by Ted Chiang, and One Part Woman by Perumal Murugan.
Olivia Rodrigo
The young pop star always makes time from her busy schedule of breaking chart records to share what she’s currently reading on her Instagram. Some of Rodrigo’s favourite books include The Marvels by Brian Selznick, Helium by Rudy Francisco, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon.
Shah Rukh Khan
It’s no news that Shah Rukh Khan is a voracious reader, and glimpses into his home have revealed his envy-inducing library. The actor regularly shares his book recommendations on Twitter, with them ranging from wild and fantastical to intense, self-introspective reads. Some of his favourites include The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adam, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, the Artemis Fowl series, anything by Roald Dahl (who he considers to be his favourite author), The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, Refusing Heaven by Jack Gilbert, and The Subterraneans, a 1958 novella by Jack Kerouack.
Emma Watson
Much like the iconic characters she’s played on-screen, like Hermione from the Harry Potter series and Belle from Beauty and the Beast, Emma Watson loves to read books. The actress created an online book club where she would share the monthly reading pick and discuss it with her followers. Some of the club’s reads included The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler, My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem, How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran, and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Other than that, the actress shares her favourite reads on Twitter, some of them including Self-Made Man by Nora Vincent, Brave Enough by Cheryl Strayed, Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey, Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed, His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, and Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter.
IU
The Korean singer-actress had revealed in an interview that in order to punish her as a child, her parents used to give her a book to read instead of a regular punishment. Consequently, this led her to develop a strong reading habit! The musician claims that The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky is the best book she’s ever read. Aside from this, her favourites include Essays in Love by Alain de Botton, A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, Castella by Park Min-gyu, and You Call it Passion by Lee Hye-rin.
Dua Lipa
In between churning out viral pop hits, Dua Lipa loves to read a wide range of literary genres. Lipa shares what she’s reading with her fans on Instagram and some of her picks have been A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (which she claims is her favourite book of all time and one that everyone must read at least once in their lives), Normal People by Sally Rooney, Queenie by Candice Cart-Williams, and The Girls by Emma Cline.
Jim Sarbh
The actor’s bookshelf presents an interesting collection with titles like Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong, The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz, Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family and Making of Modern India by Sujatha Gidla, and The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Priyanka Chopra
Between flying all over the world for exciting projects and posting cute photos with her husband Nick Jonas, Priyanka Chopra somehow finds time to read books. The Quantico actress’ top picks include Letters from a Father to his Daughter by Jawaharlal Nehru, Tell Me Your Dreams by Sidney Sheldon, Buy Yourself the F*cking Lillies by Tara Schuster, Furia by Yamile Saed Mendez, Serena Singh Flips the Script by Sonya Lalli, Stolen Reflections by Anangsha Alammyan, and Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare.
