Emma Watson taking break from acting

Los Angeles - Emma Watson is taking a break from acting to focus on her "personal development".

The Harry Potter star has revealed she will spend her new-found free time reading one book every week and some independent studying. 

She explained: "I'm taking a year away from acting to focus on two things, really. My own personal development is one. I know that you read a book a day. My own personal task is to read a book a week, and also to read a book a month as part of my book club. I'm doing a huge amount of reading and study just on my own.

"I almost thought about going and doing a year of gender studies, then I realised that I was learning so much by being on the ground and just speaking with people and doing my reading. That I was learning so much on my own. I actually wanted to keep on the path that I'm on. I'm reading a lot this year, and I want to do a lot of listening."

Meanwhile, the 25-year-old actress - who is also an UN Women Goodwill Ambassador - championed reading, revealing it has "exposed" her to "so many new ideas".

In an interview with Bell Hooks for Paper magazine, she added: "I'm reading so much and exposing myself to so many new ideas. It almost feels like the chemistry and the structure of my brain is changing so rapidly sometimes.

''It feels as if sometimes I'm struggling to keep up with myself. It's a really cool period of time for me. My work that I do for the UN is all very clearly outlined, but my personal views and opinions are still being defined, really. So it'll be an interesting time."