Nicole Kidman Reveals Her Favorite Books, Reading List and Her Middle-of-the-Night Reading Habits
The actress is a certified book lover whose bookshelf is filled with surprising reads
Key Takeaways
- Nicole Kidman has starred in countless book-to-screen adaptations.
- The actress has opened up about some of her favorite books and what she reads.
- Plus, Kidman revealed she'll often read in the middle of the night.
Nicole Kidman is an actress by trade, but she’s also an influential figure in the book world, largely due to her participation in countless book-to-screen adaptations. You may have caught her in series such as Big Little Lies or The Undoing, or perhaps you loved her in Practical Magic (1998), but at the end of the day, the starlet is a certified book lover who appreciates a good story.
“I grew up watching TV, but I also grew up watching a lot of theater, and I grew up with literature,” Kidman revealed in conversation with W Magazine. “That was basically where I molded my imagination and where I could get lost. And I’m still like that. Like, I’ll find a book and I can just read and read and read, and it’s my protection, it’s my sanctuary, it’s my place that I can go when I need friends, you know. More than cinema, more than television, more than any of those things, I’ve found that through books.”
During an appearance on the Books, Beach & Beyond podcast, Kidman revealed that she’ll often wake up in the middle of the night to read with the help of a clip-on book light. “Everyone places so much emphasis on sleeping. Eight hours straight, you must get eight hours. But there was a time, it used to be you’d wake at 2 or 3 sometimes and people would read. They’d sit by the fireplace and read.” She continued, “You’d sleep in increments of four or five hours and read a little bit and then go back to sleep. That’s kind of my rhythm.”
Whether she’s cozying up with a book in the wee hours of the morning or bringing one to life on the big screen, her book tastes are as diverse as her filmography. Here, check out some of Nicole Kidman’s favorite novels and the books that have been on her reading list over the years.
‘Fates and Furies’ by Lauren Groff
In a 2017 interview with InStyle, Nicole Kidman revealed that she had recently read Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. This novel analyzes the marriage of Lotto and Mathilde by sharing their individual perspectives and experiences within their union. As the story unfolds, the secrets that have lurked beneath the surface of their seemingly picture-perfect marriage are revealed.
What readers are saying: “I’ve never read a book whose central relationship felt so vividly real, with all its flaws and problems and beauties and wonders.”
‘War and Peace’ by Leo Tolstoy
Set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars and following the intertwining lives of five wealthy families, Nicole Kidman called War and Peace her favorite book in a 2009 interview with Oprah, saying, “it’s why I wanted to become an actor.”
What readers are saying: “War and Peace transcends genre, categorization and literature as a whole. It is a universal commentary on the brutality of war and how its violence affects everyone from soldiers on the battlefield to socialites in drawing rooms, and all those in between.”
‘All Fours’ by Miranda July
In All Fours, one woman says goodbye to her husband and child to embark on a cross country road trip from Los Angeles to New York, only to divert her journey, check into a motel and begin a new expedition of reinvention. Nicole shared this book during her appearance on the Books, Beach & Beyond podcast, calling it “riveting.”
What readers are saying: “This is the book I’ve been searching for! Deeply intimate, both emotionally and sexually, with an introspective, philosophical narrator who cares most about her relationships and freedom (see the conflict there?). It’s a kind of coming-of-age for a middle-aged woman—After all, perimenopause does feel like a kind of second puberty.”
‘Truly Madly Guilty’ by Liane Moriarty
A group of women and their spouses gather for a barbecue, and the events that take place leave them grappling with feelings of guilt and questions of what-if in this gripping tale by the author of Big Little Lies. Kidman revealed to InStyle she had just-re-read it at the time.
What readers are saying: “Truly Madly Guilty holds all the suspense, witty characters and emotional poignance of her [Liane Moriarty’s] previous books while also managing to be entirely fresh and different.”
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