Natalie Portman on Elena Ferrante, ‘The Babysitters Club,’ and the Book That Made Her Feel Seen
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.
Actress Natalie Portman, who has appeared in nearly 50 films and is also a director, producer, and activist, can add New York Times-bestselling author to her resume with last fall’s publication of Natalie Portman’s Fables.
She says she wrote her debut picture book—three updated classic children’s stories that challenge gender stereotypes—to more accurately reflect the world we live in and inspire empathy in her two children. The Jerusalem-born, New York-bred Oscar winner (for Black Swan) is a great fan of books: she made her Broadway debut at 16 in The Diary of Anne Frank; posts what she’s reading on IG to her 7 million-plus followers with #nataliesbookclub; made her directorial debut with A Tale of Love and Darkness, which she also adapted from Amos Oz’s memoir of the same name and starred in; and executive produced and narrated the documentary Eating Animals based on Jonathan Safran Foer’s memoir.
Now living in L.A., she has two major projects in 2022: The release of Marvel movie Thor: Love and Thunder and the debut of Angel City FC, the L.A. soccer team she co-founded with a majority of female investors. Coming sooner is her role as honorary chair of National Library Week 2021 (April 4–10) with the theme of “Welcome to Your Library.” Check out her picks.
The book that:
…made me miss my vacation:
Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels—I couldn’t stop reading.
…made me sob uncontrollably (as a kid):
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.
…I recommend over and over again:
Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli.
…shaped my worldview:
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.
…I keep trying to finish:
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
…currently sits on my nightstand:
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy.
…made me laugh out loud:
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron.
…changed my mind about something:
Becoming Ms. Burton by Susan Burton.
…I’d pass onto my kid:
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.
…I’d gift to a new graduate:
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit.
…has the greatest ending:
I love the last line of the Stanley Kunitz poem “Touch Me”: “…Touch me,/remind me who I am.”
…should be on every college syllabus:
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde.
…I’ve re-read the most:
Poems of Jerusalem by Yehuda Amichai.
…I consider literary comfort food:
E.E. Cummings: Complete Poems, 1904-1962 edited by George J. Firmage.
…makes me feel seen:
Weather by Jenny Offill.
…everyone should read because:
You can’t understand the U.S. without it: The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin.
…I could only have discovered at Grolier Poetry Book Shop in Cambridge, MA:
Sun Under Wood by Robert Hass.
…fills me with hope:
Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit.
…surprised me:
That you can know much about a protagonist through the people around them: The Outline Trilogy (Outline, Transit, and Kudos) by Rachel Cusk.
…I asked for one Chanukah as a kid:
The Baby-sitter’s Club Super Special 1: Baby-sitters on Board! by Ann M. Martin.
…that holds the recipe to a favorite dish:
Goldie falafel in Israeli Soul by Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook.
…taught me this Jeopardy!-worthy bit of trivia:
Moss can change gender if their environment gets too crowded and they need to reproduce differently, from Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Bonus question: If I could live in any library or bookstore in the world, it would be:
Shakespeare and Company in Paris.
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