Natalie Portman has continued her monthly book club through 2026, with the same goal she started with: cultivating empathy and understanding the different perspectives of people from different parts of the world.
The 44-year-old actress launched her book club, named Nat’s Book Club, in 2021 and readers from all walks of life, including other stars, join her to read literary masterpieces every month.
THE Black Swan The star revealed her first book pick for 2026, a horror mystery called Strange Pictures from YouTuber Uketsu. The book has an experimental format with interconnected images that readers are free to interpret to form a story as they wish.
The reading group’s past picks include memoirs like Malala Yousafzai’s Find my way and that of Amanda Nguyen Save fiveas well as Crying at H Mart by Michelle Zauner and novels like that of Claire Keegan To favorand that of Kaveh Akbar Martyr!.
Speaking about the launch of the initiative, Portman previously noted: “I believe that reading books is one of the first ways to begin practicing empathy. We feel for the characters in stories as we would for ourselves or for our own friends. Every time we imagine someone else’s life – their hopes and fears, their feelings and thoughts – we are practicing empathy.”
Besides the V for Vendetta book club of the stars, this year began with her nomination for worst actress of the year, for her role in the action-adventure film Fountain of Youthduring the parody awards ceremony, the Razzies or the Golden Raspberry Awards.
