Born in Florida and raised between Argentina and the UK, Anya Taylor-Joy left school at 16 to pursue a career in acting. Since making her screen debut in Robert Eggers’ 2015 period horror flick The Witch, she’s become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after young starlets, ushering in a new generation of female-lead thrillers.
Taylor-Joy followed up her breakthrough performance with a headlining role in M. Night Shyamalan’s 2016 film Split(and its 2019 sequel Glass)playing Casey Cooke, a teenager abducted by a man with multiple personalities. She garnered praise for work in the Obama biopic Barry, the black comedy Thoroughbreds, the period drama Emma, and a starring role in seasons five and six of the BBC gangster epic Peaky Blinders. In 2020, Taylor-Joy cemented her status as critical darling withthe NetflixminiseriesThe Queen’s Gambit, winning a Golden GlobeandSAG Award for her portrayal of drug-addled orphan chess prodigy Beth Harmon.
An avid reader, the acclaimed actress has been posting a steady stream of book recommendations to her “Quaranreads” highlight on Instagram since the start of the pandemic. Like her film roles, her literary tastes feature a wide range of complex, thoroughly crafted female characters. From Sally Rooney to Roxane Gay, explore her extensive book list below.
Anya Taylor-Joy’s Reading List
The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry (also rec’d by Florence Welch)
What We Talk About When We Talk About Loveby Raymond Carver (also rec’d byDavid Sedaris,Lorde& Rose Byrne)
This Too Shall Pass by Milena Busquets
The White Albumby Joan Didion (also rec’d byAnthony Bourdain,Annie Clark, David Sedaris & Kim Gordon)
Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald
Call Me Zebra by Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi
Slow Days, Fast Company by Eve Babitz (also rec’d by Jia Tolentino)
Sex & Rage by Eve Babitz
Wild Embers by Nikita Gill
The Four Agreementsby Don Miguel Ruiz (also rec’d byEllen DeGeneres,Jack Dorsey, Jane Elliott, Meghan Markle&Yoko Ono)
How to Be Famous by Caitlin Moran
This Is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay
What Flowers Say by George Sand
A Moveable Feast byErnest Hemingway (also rec’d by John Krasinski)
Bad Feministby Roxane Gay (also rec’d by Kathy Griffin)
Exquisite Mariposa by Fiona Alison Duncan
My Contemporaries by Jean Cocteau
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie MacKesy
Eve’s Hollywood by Eve Babitz
Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney
Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis
The Terrible by Yrsa Daley-Ward
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (also rec’d by Jim Morrison)
How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell
Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan (also rec’d by Michael Stipe)
A Certain Smile by Francoise Sagan
Swan Song by Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott
Chocolates for Breakfast by Pamela Moore
The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer
A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
Conversations With Friendsby Sally Rooney (also rec’d byLena Dunham& Phoebe Bridgers)
All Those Bodies and They’re Moving by Juliano Zaffino
Tongues of Fire by Sean Hewitt
I Know Why the Caged Bird SingsbyMaya Angelou (also rec’d by Amanda Gorman, Angie Thomas,Christiane Amanpour,Colin Kaepernick,Glennon Doyle,Janet Mock,Richard Branson&Shonda Rhimes)
The Dirt by Motley Crue
Seduction by Caroline Cox
The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton (also rec’d by Suzanne Vega)
Gather Together in My Name by Maya Angelou
Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like ChristmasbyMaya Angelou (also rec’d by Tarana Burke)
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
Iris Has Free Time by Iris Smyles
A Line Made by Walking by Sara Baume
This Is Pleasure by Mary Gaitskill
The Beauty of the Husband by Anne Carson
All Men Want to Know by Nina Bouraoui
Crudo by Olivia Laing
Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency by Olivia Laing
Tell Me How It Ends by V.B. Grey
Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
Anam Cara by John O’Donohue
If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
I Feel Bad About My NeckbyNora Ephron (also rec’d by Tori Amos)
Animals by Emma Jane Unsworth
Notes to Self by Emilie Pine
ChroniclesbyBob Dylan(also rec’d byBruce Springsteen& John Cusack)
I’ll Eat When I’m Dead by Barbara Bourland
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
Tennis Lessons by Susannah Dickey
Year of the King by Antony Sher
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi
The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential by Wim Hof
Ghosts by Dolly Alderton
Devotion by Patti Smith
The Mermaid’s Voice Returns in This One by Amanda Lovelace
Hold Your Own by Kate Tempest
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
Possession by A.S. Byatt
The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone by Olivia Laing
The Argonautsby Maggie Nelson (also rec’d byCarrie Brownstein, Emma Watson, Greta Gerwig&Kim Gordon)
I Dreamed I Was a Very Clean Tramp by Richard Hell
Mona by Pola Oloixarac
The Idiot by Elif Batuman (also rec’d by Phoebe Bridgers)
The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy (also rec’d by Greta Gerwig)
Kink by Garth Greenwell
Animal by Lisa Taddeo
(via Instagram)
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Tags: anne carson anya taylor-joy bob dylan bret easton ellis caitlin moran edith wharton ernest hemingway eve babitz george sand james baldwin jean cocteau joan didion maggie nelson mary gaitskill maya angelou nora ephron pablo neruda patti smith raymand carver roxane gay sally rooney
Categories: Actors
