Best summer reads - win £400 of brilliant books

I think 2018 is going to be the best summer ever if we're spared.??

camping in wales in the late sixties/seventies, no posh site, just the bottom of the farmers field, each morning my first chore was to take the two buckets and come back with them full, one with milk, one with water, and a fresh loaf under one arm! I loved it, simple pleasures happily remembered

My best summer was 2 years ago , in june i was given the all clear with my cancer. I was recovering from the op so couldn't drive and would sit in my garden just enjoying the sun,being so happy to be alive. After a few weeks I got in my car again and went out lots, taking my daughter and gdaughter to places like beaches, parks, stately homes. I would lie on my back in the grass just taking it all in as if I had never seen a sunny day or dull one, everything was so much more clearer. That summer will stay in my mind for ever.

Typical! I just remember the extra special things of my best summer, only to find the competition closes today!

DS and family took me with them to a villa in Spain. An area I'd visited before but not with my own family, especially DGS. We felt there was something not quite right but he hadn't yet been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum, and we were all carefree and telling ourselves he was really ok, that we were just expecting too much. We had a fabulous time, not too touristy, beautiful beaches as well as on-site pool. He blossomed being just with the most important people in his life (although I'm embarrassed saying that) but there were no nursery workers or other children making demands on him, or neighbours being sniffy - just DGS, his parents and me, grandma. We all really got on - I hadn't thought I'd ever be a grandma but then DS met THE ONE and this was the first time we'd been away together. DDIL had a special birthday while we were there and everything in the garden was rosy. The memories of that trip, including getting scarily, hopelessly lost in Paris on the way back, have sustained us all in the intervening years. I thought I knew but the special times then and since have taught me what love is.

Whoops! Closing day is 19 July not 19 June! Silly me!

Or, as DGS says frequently, silly Grandma!

As a child every summer is remembered as long and hot all summer through. I remember my parents not being able to afford expensive holidays so off we'd trot to our nearest seaside area with all our camping gear, the food ( all tins in those days ) on a motorbike and sidecar. Mum and Dad on the bike me in the sidecar with all the camping stuff shoehorned all around me - not forgetting the dog as well ! Happy days.

My favourite summer was 1982 - we got married in June and honeymooned on Kefalonia. I worked in travel so blagged two cheap flights, my pal was a holiday rep working on the island so she gave us an empty apartment by the beach. The only request was that we looked after her dog, Daniella. No problem - Daniella came everywhere with us.
Kefalonia was in the early throws of tourism, everything was very basic. The airport building was a portakabin, the runway lights were oil cans. Every bar owner knew and loved my friend so welcomed us with open arms, and free drinks. (Ah, you are on honeymoon, have some champagne! Oh okay if you insist!)
We spent our days on the beach, or joining in with the travel companies excursions to remoter parts of the island. We spent our nights enjoying the hospitality of various bars or restaurants. It did not cost a fortune to watch the stars (no light pollution then) sitting on a beach with a bottle of local wine. So lovely, so romantic.
Sadly ten years later, visiting with the kids, tourism had hit Kefalonia. It was still lovely, but not quite so special. But I still have the memories of that simpler time.

Any summer when our children were small. We just had so much fun on the beach, or just about anywhere outdoors playing games, discovering new things and generally having a great time.

Presume you mean Wed. 19 July!!! My best summer was a long time ago when I visited French Guyana for 6 weeks to stay with a schoolfriend. We camped in the Amazon Forest, shot the rapids, saw the Kourou space station with Ariane in situ, etc. etc. Brilliant.

I'm living in the 'now' - beautiful weather and not having to get up and go to work in the extreme heat.

Barefoot and living on a beautiful estate with my toddler daughter and another on the way. Only downside was that DH worked such long hours at the 'big house'.

Summer '79. We had just moved to Jersey; I was pregnant with No. 2. No.1 was barely 12 months old - the lovely balmy beach days, the wonderful doing nothing with a paddling pool in the garden, just enjoying my baby. Magic!

Have just returned from having my best summer. We went to Israel for my daughters wedding. It was magic! 9months of prep all fell into place. What an experience-to see the daughter who was quite a difficult baby and a sometimes challenging teenager who has developed into this beautiful mature sensitive bride -who could ask for more!

My best Summer was a horse! That was her name. I'd saved up for years, she was beautiful and exactly the colour of barley growing in the fields.

A good summer read for me is a big fat novel. In theory, when on holiday I'll have more time to read so I can get into something that little bit fatter. One summer I attempted A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. I didn't think it would be possible to read 1349 pages over a two week holiday. I infact devoured it! A joy to read. A real page turnover with characters that come to life and absorb you into theirs. Don't be scared by the number of pages - I urge you all to read it!

Any summer when my children were small. We spent endless days in the local park or at the beach playing hide and seek or rounders. I always made a picnic using whatever sandwich fillings I had in the fridge and we had crisps and frizzy pop.

My favourite summer memory is really a whole lot of memories rolled into one. Every summer we load up the car with camping gear, children, dog/s (and for a couple of years a cat too) and head to West Wales to the same beautiful campsite for our summer holiday. It doesn't matter if it is hot or cold, wet or dry we have a lovely week with no phones or interruptions just our family. It is now quite a large family holiday when as many of us get together as can. Brilliant.
If I had to choose one moment it would be the mid 80's driving through the mountains in pouring rain all singing our heads off to 'Come on Eileen' and waving our arms in the air

I lived out of a van for a couple of months back in the 90's a group of us toured and camped out at most of Devon and Cornwall beaches, we spent our days surfing and beachcombing, generally carefree and forgetting the mind numbing daily grind for awhile which was seriously needed. I'll always be thankful for all the people I knew and met at that time in my life, I often think of them, I'll never forget the joyful spirit we all shared, it has to be my best summer.

My best summer was when the children were very young - 3 and a half and 4 months old. We stayed on a farm accessed by a level crossing. The farmer took our daughter all round the farm and his wife insisted they babysat and we went out to the nearest cinema. Lindsey loved feeding the hens and even tramping over the hills sorting out the sheep.

As an Accommodation Manager of a large University I never had a summer. It was always full belt i.e. preparation for the intake, exam results, finding 3000+ students housing with only 1200 University units available.

My best summer was the year I took voluntary redundancy. We had just bought a dilapidated house in France and spent six weeks doing basic maintenance projects. The weather was fantastic, we made friends easily and enjoyed many late nights socialising. It was sad to come home and having to find a replacement job for the one I had just given up. But certainly my very best summer although can't say my husband felt the same.

So many good summers it's hard to be difinitive ... but I think I'd have to say the summer I spent with friends on a Greek Island for 2 weeks and it was heavenly. It was seriously hot and I got seriously burnt - despite all the lotions and potions!! That's red hair for you. (Although I'm glad now as it's still only just showing signs of silver)!

We spent lazy days on the beach - reading trashy novels, playing in the water and generally feeling fabulous, interspersed with days exploring the islands on the back of mopeds driven by Greek adoni!!

Youth was a wonderful thing ... freedom, the first flushes of love and the whole world to explore!

The Summer of 69 , of course ..

"Standin' on your mama's porch
You told me that you'd wait forever
Oh, and when you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life
...

Back in the summer of 69 ......."

Backpacking round Greece during May in the 80s - young and impressionable. Left me with a legacy of memories - heaven

One of my favourite summer's, years ago, was with a group of friends as we headed off for a holiday in Corfu. We had only booked flights and not accommodation being absolutely sure we would get accommodation while there as we wanted to travel around the Island.
What an adventure we had staying initially in a Greek family home in Corfu. We then stayed a couple of nights in each area of the Island then crossed by boat to Antipaxos and managed to get a week's stay in a lovely cottage as the Greek owner was working on the mainland.
It was real fun and very hot. I would not have the courage to do that again without booking accommodation first.
Are we wiser with age or do we just lose our sense of fun and adventure?