Let’s look at some of the best Emma Watson book recommendations!
Emma Watson is mostly known for being an actress. She got very popular after playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter series of movies. She has also acted in movies such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower, This Is the End, Beauty and the Beast, and Little Women.
Before Harry Potter, she had only acted in school plays. She graduated from Brown University for English literature in 2014. During that same year, she won British Artist of the Year from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Emma Watson has played a role in advocating for gender equality. She was appointed as a UN Women Goodwill ambassador, which helped launch HeForShe, the UN Women campaign.
Emma Watson created her own online book club where she aims to promote female writers from around the world, and has been known to hide books all across London for people to find.
How much does Emma Watson read?
Emma Watson majored in English literature at Brown University and still loves to read to this day. She has read four books already in her time during the coronavirus lockdown and has been keeping up with her online book club.
What is Emma Watson’s favorite book genre?
Emma Watson seems to love and recommend many different types of books, so it’s hard for her to pick just one genre.
Here’s what she had to say about her favorite books to read, “I like books that aren’t just lovely but that have memories in themselves. Just like playing a song, picking up a book again that has memories can take you back to another place or another time.”
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
The first Emma Watson book recommendation is Viktor E. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. It was written back in 1946 and is a memoir about Frankl’s life in a World War II Nazi death camp. The memoir is only just a part of the book, however, as the other part of the book explains Frankl’s theory, which is known as logotherapy.
In the first part of the book, he mainly describes his life in the concentration camps from 1942 to 1945. Between those years, he had been moved and stayed in four different camps. One of those camps was Auschwitz.
He loses his brother, parents, and even his wife, who was pregnant at the time.
In the second part of his book, Frankl describes what he calls logotherapy.
According to Frankl, logotherapy is the idea that we cannot avoid suffering, but we can choose how we deal with suffering. This man is no stranger when it comes to suffering.
Viktor Frankl wants to teach people how to find meaning in their suffering and to move forward with a renewed purpose. He argues that we should not be primarily focused on finding pleasure, but more to pursue what we personally find meaningful.
Man’s Search for Meaning has sold over 10 million copies since its release in 1946 and is labeled as one of the ten most influential books in America.
What does Emma Watson have to say about Man’s Search for Meaning?
Emma Watson has recommended Man’s Search for Meaning quite a few times.
About Man’s Search for Meaning, she said “My friend gave me this book for Christmas, she is a psychiatrist, “Man’s Search for Meaning”. It’s a pretty heavy subject but surprisingly readable. It’s actually very short. I loved it! Some really good words of wisdom.”
The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen follows Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn, a girl who loves reading and learning, and was raised in exile. On her nineteenth birthday, she goes on a journey back to the castle where she was born to take her rightful place on the throne.
Her mother, Queen Elyssa, is vain and doesn’t seem to rule with a purpose. Although inexperienced, Kelsea is nothing like her mother and wishes to rule in a different way.
She has a few tricks up her sleeve, as well. She has the Tearling sapphire, a jewel of immense magical power, hanging around her neck. There are also a few brave knights by her side called the Queen’s Guard, led by Lazarus. She needs this protection, as her enemies try to prevent her from ever getting to the crown.
Even though she still feels as if she is a child, she learns something about the capital that will change everything for her. Kelsea, in a daring act, unleashes the evil ruler, the Red Queen, of the neighboring kingdom, Mortmesne.
Who can Kelsea trust to help save her kingdom?
Why does Emma Watson recommend the book The Queen of the Tearling?
Emma Watson actually loved the book, The Queen of the Tearling, so much that she decided that she wanted to join in on creating the movie adaptation. Not only is she playing a part in the movie, she is the executive-producer.
She had this to say about the book, and movie: “I had kind of said I would never do a franchise again, so I was desperate to hate it. Unfortunately, I didn’t sleep for about a week because I couldn’t put the bloody thing down. It would be fair to say I became obsessed with the role and the book. Now I am executive-producing it.”
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson was published in May of 2015. The book focuses on the author’s relationship with Harry Dodge, who is a gender fluid artist.
In the book, she writes various stories about their romance, pregnancy, parenting, their changing bodies, family relationships, the death of a parent, and explorations through sexuality and gender. She goes through all the limitations of language and possibilities of love.
The Argonauts is a mixture of a memoir with philosophical theory. Parts of the book are dedicated to criticizing ideas from other philosophers.
Why does Emma Watson recommend the book The Argonauts?
When Emma Watson recommended the book as the fifth book in her “Our Shared Shelf” book club, she wrote the following:
“Our next book is going to be The Argonauts, by Maggie Nelson. The story is about the author’s relationship with artist Harry Dodge, who is fluidly gendered. It’s about their romance, the birth of their son, the death of Harry’s mother and their changing bodies, as Maggie becomes pregnant and Harry undergoes surgery, but it’s also about inclusion and the powers and shortfalls of language. It might require a bit of work but The Argonauts rewards us with an expansive way of considering identity, caretaking, and freedom—along with a liberation from, what Maggie calls, ‘the demand that anyone live a life that’s all one thing.’ I am excited to read this book with you. Maybe it will change the way we think and speak about others and ourselves?”
Quiet by Susan Cain
Quiet by Susan Cain is a nonfiction book about introverts.
Cain says that one-third of the people that we know are introverts. Introvert means that they prefer listening over talking. This does not mean they are shy or socially anxious, though. Some examples are people who create and dislike self-promotion, or people who like to work by themselves rather than on a team.
Many famous people like Rosa Parks, Bill Gates, Eleanor Roosevelt, even Abraham Lincoln were introverts.
Emma considers herself an introvert.
Susan Cain believes that we underestimate and undervalue the introverts in our society. She argues that we owe many great human achievements to introverted people.
In Quiet, Susan Cain teaches us about the recent rise of the Extrovert Ideal and how it spread through society. She gives us many more examples of successful introverts and continues on to show that just because you are an introvert that does not mean you can’t achieve the goals you want to accomplish.
Susan Cain sheds new light on introverts and this book will change the way you view an introverted person and give you a glimpse into how they see themselves.
Why does Emma Watson recommend the book Quiet?
Emma Watson did an interview where she mentioned Quiet.
In the interview, she states “Quiet discusses how extroverts in our society are bigged up so much, and if you’re anything other than an extrovert you’re made to think there’s something wrong with you. That’s like the story of my life. Coming to realize that about myself was very empowering, because I had felt like, ‘Oh my god, there must be something wrong with me, because I don’t want to go out and do what all my friends want to do.’”
This was after she talked about being an introvert saying, “It’s interesting, because people say things to me like, ‘It’s really cool that you don’t go out and get drunk all the time and go to clubs,’ and I’m just like, I mean, I appreciate that, but I’m kind of an introverted kind of person just by nature, it’s not like a conscious choice that I’m making necessarily. It’s genuinely who I am.”
My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem
Our last Emma Watson book recommendation is My Life on the Road. This was written in 2015 and is a first-hand account of Gloria Steinem’s life while traveling. She is a writer, activist, organizer, and inspiring leader.
Gloria had traveled since she was a child because her family was driving across the country every fall. Since then she has had a lifetime of travel, realizing that just because you have grown up, it doesn’t mean that you have to settle down.
She spends her travels being an activist that promotes people who inspire change. It takes you across India in the 1960s, to political campaigns in the 1970s, back to India and beyond. My Life on the Road connects you deeply to the people who she talks to.
It is clear that Gloria has an open mind, or as she calls it, an “on the road” state of mind. She encourages you to have this mindset because it can shape the person that you are.
Why does Emma Watson recommend the book My Life on the Road?
Emma Watson’s book club, “Our Shared Shelf”, recommended My Life on the Road as the club’s very first book.
On her Goodreads page, she wrote “I’m reading it with a pen in hand so I can do some underlining and margin writing.”
What is Emma Watson’s Favorite Harry Potter Book?
Emma Watson’s favorite Harry Potter book is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. In case you had to think back, the Prisoner of Azkaban was the third book in the series. She is on record saying that Hermoine is still her favorite fictional character of all time.
This also happens to be her favorite Harry Potter movie!
Emma Watson Book Recommendation List
Emma is a daily reader with her own book club. She recommends books consistently. Here are some of Emma Watson’s book recommendations with links to Amazon for each:
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
- The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
- The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
- Quiet by Susan Cain
- My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem