Gillian Anderson Never Got Bored Reading Other Women’s Sexual Fantasies

What books are on your night stand?

It’s a big pile that includes “Poor,” by Katriona O’Sullivan, and “Kairos,” by Jenny Erpenbeck. But next up is my friend Andrew O’Hagan’s tome “Caledonian Road.”

How do you organize your books?

I don’t — I just plonk them down in various piles. I’ve tried keeping notes of who recommended what, so I have some context, but then I forget where I’ve put the list.

Describe your ideal reading experience (when, where, what, how).

Sun/hat/liquid/work accomplished for the day/no distractions other than my own head saying this is too good to be true — surely, I should be doing something else.

What’s the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently?

Holly Whitaker opened my eyes to how obsessed our culture is with drinking and all the ways the alcohol industry has historically targeted women, in her riveting book “Quit Like a Woman.”

Which character in literature would you most like to play?

Lisbeth Salander. I love her ambiguity, that she lives by her own set of moral rules and is perceived as being both sociopathic and sane and capable.

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Have you ever gotten in trouble for reading a book?

I should have gotten caught for sneaking looks at our neighbors’ “Story of O,” but I think I might have gotten away with it.