I Saw a Man by Owen Sheers

Owen Sheers won the Vogue Talent Contest in 1999. His new novel, I Saw a Man, is about a widower after the death of his wife. I’m expecting a beautifully crafted work that is tense and possibly heartbreaking. Alexandra Shulman, editor-in-chief, Britith Vogue

Book of Dreams by Jack Kerouac

I find his writing beautiful and am fascinated to read about his dreams. Apparently it involves lost love, madness, castration, cats that speak, people giving birth to cats, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Tolstoy and Genet – errr, amazing! Lulu Kennedy, founder and director of Fashion East and MAN

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

I’m organising the fashion part of the Port Eliot festival at the end of July, so my summer reading list will be consumed by that. We are doing a talk about medieval revivalism through time, which is based on thinking about why Game of Thrones resonates as a fantasy now, in the year people also went crazy over the reburial of Richard III. So I am re-reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Wife of Bath’s Tale and a recent history of the middle ages – such a popular genre, all of a sudden! Sarah Mower, US Vogue contributing editor

Catching up with Colm Toíbín

Through friends, I have recently become acquainted with Colm Toíbín, and am hastily working my way through his back catalogue. Having read the more populist books, Brooklyn and Nora Webster, I’m now ploughing my way through The Blackwater Lightship, The Master and The Story of the Night. He has an incredibly elegant way of slowing the world down to an unnervingly transparent pace. Dylan Jones, editor-in-chief, GQ

Mislaid by Nell Zink

The story behind this book is fascinating and proof that if you have a book in you it has to come out. With the help of her literary pen pal Jonathan Franzen, with whom she shared an interest in bird watching, Zink finally secured a publishing deal at the age of 51. Their meeting is an unusual story and suggests that sometimes luck or fate, or whatever you call it, plays a hand in creative endeavours. Zink is an inspiration for all of us journalists (me included) who want to write a book “one day”! Lorraine Candy, editor-in-chief, Elle UK

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

I am not a big reader in my normal day-to-day life, but once I hit the sun lounger a book is a must. I am drawn to this, funnily enough, as I absolutely love my Tube journey every day; it’s time for me to unwind, catch up on emails and simply stare at other commuters. They have all been reading this, so it’s about time I did too. Nicola Rose, creative director, Red

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Ironically, the book itself is not little at all. It makes Donna Tart’s The Goldfinch feel like a flimsy pamphlet and will last the entire summer. It made huge waves in the US when it was first published this spring, and is out here in August. It’s an epic novel, by no means cheery but completely gripping. It centres around the intertwined lives of four college friends who move to New York and how, as they navigate their adult lives, they deal with the fact that one of them is scarred by his unspeakable childhood. Jeremy Langmead, brand and content director, MRPORTER.COM

Radical People newspaper, created by Reba Maybury

This features handwritten manifestos and anecdotes written in response to the word “radical”, featuring London’s subcultural icons – those who have lived against the grain and created progressive ideas. It features photographs by Iain McKell and concentrates on some of my favourite icons, including Peter Tatchel, Princess Julia, Jeffrey Hinton and Steve Ignorant from the band Crass. Claire Barrow, designer and creator of the uniform for W hotel’s nightclub, Wyld