What's The Highest Rated Pick From Natalie Portman's Book Club?

Natalie Portman's favourite books prove she's one of the smartest people in Hollywood. Scrolling through her book club selections — in all its lofty literary glory — feels like browsing the reading list of your favorite college class. The club itself exists almost entirely on Instagram. Each month, she posts a selfie as she holds that month's title, accompanied by a caption that gestures at the book's emotional core or its broader cultural resonance. Rather than blithe, bubbly beach reads or romping romance books, her selections tend to be dense, lyrical, and often political. Typically, they're books concerned with justice, identity, memory, and voice. The club is not flashy by design, and is all the more compelling for it.

"Whenever we imagine someone else's life — their hopes and fears, their feelings and thoughts — we are practicing empathy," Portman wrote on her book club's website, and her curation reflects that conviction. Fiction and nonfiction both appear on her list, ranging from established classics to contemporary gems that may have escaped buzzy mainstream attention.

Every book on her list brings something to the table, but among them is one particular title that seems to have struck a collective nerve. On Goodreads, it has been heard loud and clear: "A Knock at Midnight," by Brittany K. Barnett, is the highest-rated selection the club has featured to date.

Brittany K. Barnett's memoir, "A Knock at Midnight," has amassed a 4.59 average rating pulled from nearly 6,000 Goodreads users since the memoir's 2020 release. One reviewer called her "an amazing young woman," whilst another described the book as "absolutely remarkable in every way," adding, "this should be required for everyone."

Raised by a mother who struggled with addiction and served time in prison, Barnett approached the law with an understanding with more than a theoretical understanding of the stakes. She was still studying when she came across the case of Sharanda Jones, a Black woman sentenced to life without parole for a nonviolent drug offence — her first. Barnett, herself the daughter of a formerly incarcerated parent, recognized something uncomfortably close to home. But the more she uncovered, the more disproportionate the punishment revealed itself to be.

As the mechanics of that system came clearer into focus, so, too, did Barnett's purposes. She supplemented her lucrative corporate path to fight for those serving extreme and procedurally flawed sentences. "A Knock at Midnight" follows that relentless pursuit of justice.

Natalie Portman hosted a livestream conversation with Barnett that resonated deeply with Instagram followers, many of whom praised the thoughtful exchange on reform. During the discussion, Portman highlighted Barnett's work, "transforming the criminal justice system and reimagining freedom." The book remains one of the most impactful selections in Portman's club to date, with ongoing relevance in legal reform efforts across the United States.