Jeffrey Kaiser (Dopey, Once Upon a Time)
When Jeffrey Kaiser cracks open a book, he's hoping to slip into a world that's vastly different from his own. How different?
"I like [books that are] haunting, depressing and destructive," said Kaiser, a busy and incredibly cheerful Vancouver-based actor who portrays Dopey on ABCs Once Upon a Time. "I experience horrible, traumatic events with the characters, and then I feel better."
Previous favourites include Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Cormac McCarthy's The Road, and this summer, Kaiser's working his way through George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones. The four books — which overflow with wild fantasy, vivid characterizations and stark violence — have been to Kaiser what fluffy summertime lit is to many others: sheer escapism.
"The way [R. R. Martin] writes is very visceral and cold," said Kaiser, who will serve as creative producer on an upcoming project by Once Upon a Time's Emmy-nominated make-up/prosthetics wizard Toby Lindala. "That's what I love about the books: they're just so dreary."
Dawn Chubai (Live Eye host, Breakfast Television) 
If you ever lend Dawn Chubai a book, be warned: it might come back a little, erm, well-loved. "I'm a page folder," says Chubai, laughing. "I like to dog-ear the corners, which is a blasphemous thing."
But one book she recently devoured via her iPad was Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV. Brian Stelter's bestselling exposé chronicles the behind-the-scenes shenanigans that led to Ann Curry's ouster from The Today Show — an apt choice for Chubai, considering her day (well, crack-of-dawn) job. "Getting rid of someone like Ann Curry required months of planning and backroom meetings, which is super-interesting and disturbing to read about," said Chubai, who usually reads at 8pm — right before she falls asleep.
Next up on the reading list, the busy host and jazz vocalist (who'll soon be heading back into the studio to record the follow-up to 1999's award-winning New Chapters for an Old Book) will dive into the glitzy world of 1920s Long Island high society with The Great Gatsby.
Shannon Bosa-Yacoub (Restaurateur, Glowbal Group) 
Its been a long time since busy restaurateur Shannon Bosa-Yacoub has curled up with a book, but that's not to say that she's not reading. On the contrary: Bosa-Yacoub is reading non-stop: with her son, eight, and daughter, six.
Though both kids love books, their preferences are miles apart, and they make their own choices (with Mom's gentle guidance). This summer, Bosa-Yacoub's daughter is enjoying lighter fare such as the Amelia Bedelia series by Peggy Parrish, while her son is hooked on Lauren Tarshi's biography series for kids entitled I Survived. Favourites include I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, I Survived Hurricane Katrina, and I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake.
But when it comes time to read as a family, Mom gets an equal vote. Hence their current family read: the CanCon fantasy classic The Secret World of Og by Pierre Berton. "I don't know if it's on the school curriculums anymore, and I remember being mesmerized by it as a child," she says.
As for Bosa-Yacoub's personal reading — well, she's not holding her breath. "Everything takes priority over me sitting down and reading for myself, but that's how it goes," she said. "I'll read as a senior."
