“Mystery Train” and “Lipstick Traces,” by Greil Marcus; “Rednecks and Bluenecks,” by Chris Willman.

What books might we be surprised to find on your bookshelves?

Hmmm. Poetry, maybe? I love Anne Sexton, Richard Wilbur, W. B. Yeats. The poetry I come back to again and again are the narrative poems of Stephen Dobyns.

Take a moment to praise a few unheralded writers. Whom should we be reading?

The Niceville trilogy, by Carsten Stroud. Sarah Lotz. “The Death House,” by Sarah Pinborough. “The Lie,” by Hesh Kestin (and “The Iron Will of Shoeshine Cats”). Karin Fossum. Thomas Perry. The list is endless.

Do you enjoy fiction in translation? Stories from particular corners of the world?

I actually avoid novels in translation when I can, because I always have the feeling that the author is being filtered through another mind. I read “Nana” last year, and swapped back and forth between two translations. They were quite different — not in the plot, which is simple, but in the mode of expression. That said, I read Pierre Lemaitre, a really excellent suspense novelist, and the aforementioned Karin Fossum. And of course the wonderful John Ajvide Lindqvist. I also enjoyed Stieg Larsson, wooden prose and all.

What kind of reader were you as a child? Your favorite book? Most beloved character?

Oh my God, I read everything from Nancy Drew to “Psycho.” My favorite was “The Shrinking Man,” by Richard Matheson — I was 8 when I found that. I also loved comic books, and my favorite characters (I can’t remember any I’d call “beloved”) were Plastic Man and his clueless sidekick, Woozy Winks.

Of the books you’ve written, which is your favorite or the most personally meaningful?

“Lisey’s Story.” I’ve always felt that marriage creates its own secret world, and only in a long marriage can two people at least approach real knowledge of each other. I wanted to write about that, and felt that I actually got close to what I really wanted to say. I also still like “Misery,” because Annie Wilkes was such a fun character to write about. She took on a life of her own.

If you could pick your next book to be turned into a movie or TV series, which would it be and why?

The three novels about retired detective Bill Hodges are slated to become a TV series, and I really hope that happens. I like the camaraderie between Bill and his friends.