Alan Cumming comes to Books at Noon next Wednesday, May 6 to discuss his latest work, Not My Father's Son. We asked him six questions about what he likes to read.

When and where do you like to read? 

If it’s the right book and I’m hooked I can read anywhere but my druthers would be my house in the country where it’s quiet and I can glance up from my book and have a view of the hills. 

What were your favorite books as a child? 

Enid Blyton’s Famous Five Mysteries. They were four cousins and a dog that went around the English countryside solving mysteries. They were always looking through telescopes at fiendish goings-on just off the coast and always had bars of chocolate and strings in their pockets in case of capture. They also had an Aunt Fanny—which I found hilarious. 

What books had the greatest impact on you? 

I think it’s books like The Catcher in the Rye or The Trick Is To Keep Breathing by Janice Galloway because both of them make you feel like you’re actually inside another human being. I guess the actor in me responds to that immersive narrative. 

Would you like to name a few writers out there you think deserve greater readership? 

Janice Galloway, an amazing Scottish writer, Mike Albo, who writes with such nostalgic wit and Alasdair Gray, another Scot who is as brilliant a writer as he is an artist. His masterwork Lanark is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever read. 

What was the last book you recommended? 

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. 

What do you plan to read next? 

White Girls by Hilton Als.