‘Disclosure Day’ Star Emily Blunt Shares Her Favorite Books—And No, They’re Not Sci-Fi
Her picks include historical fiction, a classic to read to her kids, and short stories.
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Emily Blunt is having a big year on screen. She’s perhaps best known for playing Miranda Priestly’s assistant in The Devil Wears Prada, a role she just reprised in The Devil Wears Prada 2, with her character now an executive at Dior. She also has a starring role in Disclosure Day, a Steven Spielberg-directed sci-fi/thriller about extraterrestrial contact that hit theaters on June 12.
But in her downtime, the British actress loves to read. She recently shared her favorite recent books in an interview with the BookTok influencer Jack Edwards, alongside Steven Spielberg. Her picks include award-winning historical fiction, an upcoming book-to-movie adaptation she’s starring in, and a classic that’s a favorite of her husband John Krasinski (of The Office fame).
“I thought it was so extraordinary, I’ve recommended it to everyone. It captivated me, it moved me. There was so much about the allure of travel in Italy that was just so beautiful, that this band of misfits who I really knew and understood that kind of English hardiness. Those people who were just desperate to be exposed to something else, and it made me weep. I thought it was just amazing.”—Emily Blunt
“I love Demon Copperhead.”—Emily Blunt
This historical fiction is a retelling of Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield, set in rural Appalachia during the opioid crisis. Fiercely smart and hell-bent on survival, Demon faces down poverty, foster care, addiction, and loss in this award-winning book about growing up in hardscrabble life.
“I’m reading The Pretender right now, which I really loved.”—Emily Blunt
In fifteenth-century England, young John is a farmer’s boy most concerned about facing down the cranky goat in his village. When a stranger from London tells him he is actually the hidden son of an earl and he must stake his claim on the throne to overthrow King Henry VII, he is plucked from his home and thrust into a world of politics and monarchy he isn’t prepared for.
“I loved The Names, I read that recently.”—Emily Blunt
The Names is a Read With Jenna book club pick. It follows Cora as she decides on a name for her newborn son, defying the wishes of her controlling husband. In three alternate timelines, the book explores how each choice of name changes their lives over the course of 35 years, following the ripple effects of a single decision and how it changes a family.
“We’re going to read to our daughters this summer, [husband John Krasinski] and I, To Kill A Mockingbird. It was his favorite book as a child, so we’re going to do that.”—Emily Blunt
“That’s a wonderful book,” Steven Spielberg chimed in to agree.
“I just made a film of an adaptation of Claire Keegan’s short story ‘Walk the Blue Fields’ with incredible Andrew Scott. She’s so exquisite, like a laser beam of brilliance. That she only does short stories, the economy of how she writes I think is just nothing short of breathtaking.”—Emily Blunt
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