Various

This year we published Suzette Field's A Curious Invitation: The Forty Greatest Parties in Literature. Parties are at the heart of literature, they're where the drama happens; this book is a compendium of who was there, what they wore, what was eaten and who said what to whom. In tribute to all the festivities in the book, we've asked our authors to tell us a little about their best parties, real and fictional. 

Megan Abbott's new novel Dare Me portrays the world of cheerleading as something much darker than you might expect. Here, she picks her favourite books, albums and films.

Emma Chapman's first novel How To Be a Good Wife will be published by Picador in January 2013, and it's already caused quite a stir by garnering praise from the great and the good - including the Booker winning Hilary Mantel. We think it's brilliant, too. Read on for Emma's favourite books past and present. 

Naomi Wood is the author of The Godless Boys, a novel about an alternative England, where the Church controls the country and non-believers have been exiled to a remote island. On the Island, a fierce group of boys patrols the community, searching for signs of faith and punishing any believers. When a new girl appears the gang is split: one boy falls in love with her, another seeks violent revenge. The struggle between them will change everything.

Emma Donoghue is the bestselling author of Room and more recently of a wonderful collection of short stories, Astray. Read on for reading tips a-plenty.