Jay Ellis’ Book Recommendations

Welcome to Shelf Life, ELLE.com’s books column, in which authors share their most memorable reads. Whether you’re on the hunt for a book to console you, move you profoundly, or make you laugh, consider a recommendation from the writers in our series, who, like you (since you’re here), love books. Perhaps one of their favorite titles will become one of yours, too.

Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or Just Me?): Adventures in Boyhood by Jay Ellis

<i>Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or Just Me?): Adventures in Boyhood</i> by Jay Ellis

$29 at penguinrandomhouse.com

When your military childhood means 12 different schools in 13 cities, perhaps the most reliable friend you’ll have is one you take with you everywhere. Which is what Jay Ellis had in Mikey, a relationship he documents in his first book, a memoir entitled Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend (or Just Me?): Adventures in Boyhood (One World).

The South Carolina-born, everywhere-raised (though Oklahoma is where he attended high school, learned to drive, and had his first kiss), LA-based Ellis modeled in New York City (where he lived with 16 other guys). He started his acting career on Movie 43 directed by Elizabeth Banks and BET’s The Game, then gained fame on HBO’s Emmy-nominated Insecure (which earned him an NAACP Image Award and spawned the Lawrence Hive fan club—which includes Charlemagne tha God—and had to warn his grandmother when he’d do nude scenes). He has also starred in the Oscar-nominated Top Gun: Maverick (he’s now on Tom Cruise’s Christmas cake list), Mrs. America with Cate Blanchett, History of the World Part II (playing Jesus), and Somebody I Used to Know. He is a Christmas-season Capricorn, wed in Italy (he wore a bordeaux-colored suit by Dolce & Gabbana), and is now the father of 2. He is also on the board of amFAR; played basketball and was student body president at his alma mater Concordia University; was an intern with the Portland Trailblazers, in AmeriCorps, and a speaker/moderator for a summit for President Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative. He volunteers at Inside Out Writers, which teaches creative writing classes in Los Angeles County Detention Centers; has a production company called Black Bar Mitzvah (a recent project was the doc, Sue Bird: In the Clutch); used to work in retail and make smoothies; once aspired to be an investment banker; took directing classes at UCLA (he directed a few episodes of Insecure and Issa Rae’s Rap Sh!t).

Next up: Freaky Tales (Lionsgate bought at Sundance) and Mindy Kaling’s basketball comedy series Running Point (Netflix) opposite Kate Hudson.

Fan of: the Bond franchise (his family watched it every Thanksgiving); sushi and brownies; hair cuts (won’t go anywhere if he hasn’t had it cut); hard work; cars; architecture (has remodeled houses and hosted a season of Smithsonian Channel’s How Did They Build That?).

Dream career: On-air meterologist. All hail his book recs below.

The book that:

…helped me through a breakup:

All About Love by bell hooks. Just eye-opening. Completely changed my perception of what love is and what stands in the way from us finding it.

…kept me up way too late:

The Changeling by Victor LaValle. I couldn’t sleep. I was scared shitless that my daughter, who was a baby at the time, might have been a changeling. Definitely not a book to read when you have a newborn in the house. Just wait until they’re older.

…made me weep uncontrollably:

Life is Sad & Beautiful by Hussain Manawer. Tears flowed and then smiles broke through. Such an amazing testament to sadness, love, loss, perseverance, and happiness told through perfect poetry and prose.

...made me rethink a long-held belief:

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I know, I know but just such a great reminder that the journey is so fucking special, and we forget it all the time because we just want to get to the destination.

...I read in one sitting, it was that good:

The Ones Who Don’t Say I Love You: Stories by Maurice Carlos Ruffin. I feel like I have met, been friends with, or related to so many of the characters in these short stories. Corners of life often forgotten about but written and told in such a nuanced yet universal way.

…currently sits on my nightstand:

Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett. I read an article about Scott Frank (Queen’s Gambit, Logan, Out Of Sight) where he talked about finding his own voice as a writer after years of writing for other people and being a ghostwriter. He credited Red Harvest for expanding his capacity to understand and tell story so I was intrigued.

…I’d pass on to my kid:

The entire Black Americans of Achievement books series, because my mom made me read a book every summer and do a book report and although it was miserable to walk around with a backpack all summer, it was the foundation for my love of books and story.

…made me laugh out loud:

Survival of the Thickest: Essays. I love Michelle Buteau. I’ve known her for years and she has 100% unapologetically always been herself. She is undeniable and to get 300 pages of her funny-ass voice is a gift.

…I’d like turned into a TV show:

Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour. I worked retail for a long time and got plucked a few times from one job into a new bizarre job/world where I was an outsider, and when I read Black Buck for the first time I felt like my experience in the corporate world was all over those pages.

…has a sex scene that will make you blush:

Lucky Night by Eliza Kennedy. Two characters locked in a hotel room having an affair go at it when every mask and protective layer is stripped away, and they are at their most vulnerable. Fun. Sexy. A little “dangerous.”

…is a master class on dialogue:

Dialogue by Robert McKee. Pretty literal, but as an actor it was an early introduction into understanding how and why the dialogue we lean into, love, and get lost in works.

…describes a place I’d want to visit:

Kitchen Confidential and A Cook’s Tour by Anthony Bourdain. I love food and underbellies and when the two come together, I’m in! I’d visit every kitchen he writes about.

...I’ve re-read the most:

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz. This world is crazy, and I work in an even crazier industry. In the fast- paced chaos that is life, it’s nice to just come back to something that grounds you and helps you reset to focus on you and what you can do.

...makes me feel seen:

Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead. The main character Benji’s constant need to reinvent himself and be thrown into new situations while coming-of-age was exactly what I felt like moving around and going to new school after new school as a kid.

...I asked for as a kid:

Rare Air: Michael on Michael by Michael Jordan. I wanna be, I wanna be like Mike!! I begged for this book. I had to know the cheat code to playing like Michael Jordan.

...that holds the recipe to a favorite dish:

My Mexico City Kitchen: Recipes and Convictions by Gabriela Cámara. Pescado a la Talla. Damn….Best. Fish. Ever. And Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora by Bryant Terry.

Bonus question: If I could live in any library or bookstore in the world, it would be:

The New York Public Library because Jake Gyllenhaal survived the apocalypse there in the film The Day After Tomorrow. Books + safety–if it goes down that’s where you’ll find me.