The Summer Reads of Six Interesting Friends

— Ed Cumming, Telegraph writer and lifestyle guy

On a family holiday over Easter I started The Count of Monte Cristo, inspired by Nicholas Sarkozy, who took it with him to prison. I am enjoying it so much I plan to eke it out until the summer. It has convinced me that this crisis in reading we keep hearing about is because there aren't enough rollicking adventures about enigmatic aristocrats seeking vengeance, and far too many novels about young people who are sad because of the internet.

— Luke Hemsley, founder of Wednesday’s Domaine

It was a restaurateur-friend that first alerted me to the fact that the author posted his end-of-service reports online, which itself alerted me to the fact they even existed in the first place. As someone fascinated by the inner workings of the hospitality trade — combined with an inexplicable tendency to veer between impossibly airy fiction and unwaveringly intense non-fiction — I’m hoping this combines the two into the most sumptuous of summer reads.

— Patrick Johnson, founder of P. Johnson

A book I have on my pile for the summer is The Islander, the autobiography of Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records. I actually had the chance to meet him a few months ago in Jamaica. Very cool guy. He’s lived a fascinating life, from growing up around the likes of Errol Flynn, Noël Coward and Ian Fleming, to being at the center of the birth of reggae, and working with Bob Marley, Grace Jones, Cat Stevens and so many others through Island Records. A life full of adventure. Can’t wait.

— Mickey Down, co-creator of Industry

I’m currently reading my ex-collaborator Lena Dunham’s beautifully honest Famesick, which is part confessional Hollywood memoir, part brutal self-reckoning. Nostalgic, bittersweet, joyful and both a polemic and apologia for unbridled ambition. Also: Jason Zengerle’s Hated by all the Right People— a recommendation from my friend Anthony Scaramucci who summarises Tucker Carlson’s life down to “he’s a douche bag” . But this is a fascinating portrait of a right wing nomad-cum-firebrand as well as a study of the hardening of the conservative heart. I clearly don’t believe in guilty pleasures but if I did, Andrew Lownie’s Entitled,about the fall of Prince Andrew, would be one — save for the fact that it is meticulously researched and written with such infectious hatred of its subject. The paperback promises more revelation and disdain. I can’t wait. And finally: My friend Naomi Fry from the New Yorker agreed with me that the best parts of the recent Kennedy inspired limited series LOVE STORY were the parts were Alessandro Nivola’s Calvin Klein waltzed around his starch white office both looking and sounding “rather terrific”. Naomi recommended a trashy, gossipy 1995 biography of Calvin called Obsession. Perfect beach read, so looking forward to sinking my teeth into it during days spent in Cardiff Bay and Barrie Island whilst filming Industry season five.

— Max Harrison, Maitre D’ at Chiltern Firehouse

I’m currently reading 2666 by Roberto Bolaño. It’s a bit pretentious, but helps with my aura farming. I heard it was gnarly. And I love gnarly shit. It’s kind of about everything. But the gnarliest parts are about the Ciudad Juarez femicides, with lots of interlinked stories. It pairs well with a Camel Blue.

— Jack Carlson, Creative Director and President of J. Press

I love reading Thurber, Salinger, and Wodehouse in the summer. But for something a bit more intellectual - I’m looking forward to reading Lawless Republic by Josiah Osgood. It’s been on my list for a while, and it’s next on the docket (no pun intended). The book documents the final days of the Roman Republic, the suppression of freedom, and the rise of political violence, through the lens of Cicero’s career in law and government. It seems a timely read. Josiah is a brilliant classicist — and also happened to be my supervisor at university!