Question

Which style of leadership would be most effective in the following situation?

Answer 1

I believe the best style of leadership here would be democratic.
All of them should decide by vote who they want their leader to be, which is what happens in democracy. Given that they all need to work together, it's best for them to decide together on the book, specific projects, and the division of their work, and the best option for them would be a democracy.
Authoritarian style would mean the leader will impose on them whatever he or she wants; laissez-faire would mean they 'employees' decide without really taking into account their leader, which shouldn't be done in this case.

Answer 2

When working with several people it has been my experience that the democratic way of leadership would work best. The group knows what they like and what skills they have. The task need to distributed as evenly among the group as you can so each has a similar say in the results. As long as they work together it should be a successful project.