A portable reading lamp of the invention comprises a base, a head portion and a pole to connect the base with the head portion. The head portion is provided with the luminant, which is semiconductor LED. A battery box is provided on the base, the head portion or the pole for supplying direct current. The semiconductor LED is used as the luminant in the invention, so the reading lamp of the invention can save energy in high-efficiency (10% electricity consumption of the traditional reading lamp), which also has the following strongpoint: saturated color and ray, infinite motley, switching rapidly, unpolluted, shock-resistant, dampness-resistant, long usage life (100,000 hours), radiation-free and less maintenance. The invention also provides a battery box in the base for supplying direct current, which is very convenient to be used in the field when no external power source can be used.