Natalie Portman Shares Literary Favorites by Israeli, Jewish Authors in Elle Magazine Questionnaire

Shiryn Ghermezian

Natalie Portman. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

In a new literary questionnaire published by Elle magazine on Tuesday, Jewish actress Natalie Portman named a number of books by Israeli and Jewish authors that have left a lasting impression on her.

The Jerusalem-born Oscar winner, 39, who became a New York Times-bestselling author with the fall publication of “Natalie Portman’s Fables,” said the book that helped shape her worldview is “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind,” the Israeli author Yuval Noah Harari’s bestseller about humanity’s creation and evolution.

When asked which text she has “re-read the most,” Portman answered “Poems of Jerusalem,“ by Yehuda Amichai. She also said the book with the recipe to her favorite dish of falafel is “Israeli Soul” by Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook.

The “Thor: Love and Thunder” star shared that the book currently sitting on her nightstand is “The Cost of Living: A Working Autobiography” by Deborah Levy, and that Nora Ephron’s novel “I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman” made her roar with laughter. When asked what she would gift a new graduate, the mother-of-two said “Men Explain Things to Me” by Rebecca Solnit, a collection of seven essays that discuss gender, feminism and power. She added that Solnit’s “Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities” fills her with optimism about the future.

Portman also revealed that as a child, she once asked for a Hanukkah gift of “The Baby-sitter’s Club Super Special 1: Baby-sitters on Board!” by Ann M. Martin.

Portman will be the honorary chair of National Library Week 2021 from April 4–10 with the theme of “Welcome to Your Library.”