Great Summer "Escape" Reads

I was out recently with a group of friends and talk turned to summer getaway plans. I heard about couples getting away to California, family reunions in Spain, and girls’ weekends in London and Paris. My own summer plans include a lot of driving to ballparks and soccer pitches, and avoiding the commuter nightmare that’s bound to come with the PanAm games in Toronto. I’m super fortunate to have a family cottage that I’ll escape to when I have a few days, and baseball tournaments will turn into family road trips, but Knoxville, Tennessee is no Paris, France.

Instead of turning green with envy, I’m turning to books. A wise anteater once rapped that “having fun isn’t hard if you’ve got a library card” (parents with kids who were fans of Arthur will thank me later for that ear worm). Here are two books I’ve loved lately that I can recommend for you. Reading these novels will offer you an escape from your own reality, and maybe you’ll feel like you got away for a few days! 

At the Waters Edge, 

by Sara Gruen Philadelphia

Society, war brides, Scottish highlands, bearded mystery men, monsters…there is so much to love in this wonderful new tale by Sara Gruen (author of the similarly lovely, but completely different Water for Elephants). Not only will you find yourself escaping to a different country filled with castles, pubs, Loch Ness monster searches, and rolling hills, but you’ll escape to a different time. Set in the final days of World War II, this novel is timeless and beautifully written, and I expect it will be a big summer hit.

The Mountain Story

by Lori Lansens

***Bonus: CLICK HERE TO READ EXCERPT from The Mountain Story***

Excerpted from The Mountain Story.  Copyright © 2015 Lori Lansens.  Published by Knopf Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited a Penguin Random House Company. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

A fantastic, brilliantly plotted survival novel. A beautifully written coming of age story. An amazing character exploration. Each of these is rare enough, but imagine finding all three rolled into one book? That's what Lori Lansens' The Mountain Story was to me. I'm a longtime fan of Lansens', from the time I picked up "The Girls" on a whim at an airport before a flight, (by the way, aren't those the absolute best surprises...when you know nothing about a book, buy it and fall in love with it?) and I think this is her best work to date. This may not be how you’d choose to spend four days in California, but you’ll be absolutely immersed in this adventure, and will never forget the time you spend on that Palm Springs mountain.

So save yourself a few thousand dollars and a trip to the continent. Find a shady spot in the backyard, pull out a book and plot your own escape.

And we're giving away ONE AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF EACH BOOK! To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment below and tell me your favourite book to read when you want to escape. You have until July 10, 2015 to enter. You must be a YMC member and please be sure you've registered your email address in our commenting system so we can contact you if you win.

Yummy Rules and Regs: You must be a YummyMummyClub.ca member to win. Click to sign up! It's free and filled with perks. One comment per member. Entries accepted until **July 10, 2015**. Contest open to Canadian residents (excluding Quebec). Winners will be picked using www.random.org. See full contest rules.

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