A sure sign of summer's arrival--the Hired Belly has finally found time to catch up on his beach reading list, which this year sports a wanderlust that seems all too fitting, considering I've just returned from soccer mad Spain.

Let's just say the Spanish get short shrift when it comes to food, all too often eclipsed by the French and Italians. No surprise, then, the first thing we did on our return was look for inspiration to help us make something reminiscent and extend our travels, if only vicariously, through the summer.

We found it in the form of a recipe that could easily pass for a variation on the ubiquitous "Tostada" in the wonderfully seasonal Canal House Cooking (Canal House, $25), which contains great summer taste ideas. Grab yourself the freshest local tomatoes you can find, a decent baguette, some extra virgin olive oil and a jar of mayo, and you have just about all you need to make "Tomatoes All Dressed Up for Summer"--a delicious appetizer or a refreshing main course. Match it up with a bottle of Mission Hill 5 Vineyards Rosé ($14.99 at B.C. Liquor Stores) for the perfect patio snack. Aside from its seductive images and clean layout, Canal House is packed with smart and easy to make summer plates--made from sensible ingredients--that won't have you wasting valuable tanning time in the kitchen.

Seeing as she spends most of her days running her successful store, Books to Cooks owner Barbara-jo McIntosh doesn't have a lot of time to write. But when she does, she doesn't mess around. Cooking for Me and Sometimes You--A Parisienne Romance with Recipes (French Apple Press $29.95) is the delightful, sometimes poignant and personal diary of a month spent in Paris, mainly devoted to shopping and cooking, both for herself and close friends.

Before launching into the cookbook side of the culinary business, McIntosh ran a successful restaurant and catering business, and we're pretty sure that some of those recipes (chicken livers with crispy shallots?) pop up here.

"Paris," she writes, "is a city overflowing with wonderful ingredients to cook with. If you are truly in love with food, you can be assured you will be in love with Paris. And if you are truly in love with love, a love for beauty that runs through all the genres, Paris will happily take you by the hand and accommodate you if you are willing to risk the heart."

Intrigued? If you're one of those people who likes a little storyline with their recipe research, this little tome with its classic illustrations by Bernie Lyon fits the bill.

Here again, the underlying theme is simplicity of good ingredients and in most cases relative ease of preparation. But this is also a book lover's book, beautifully designed and crafted in a way that conveys a deliberate, personal feel when you hold it. And when I head for my next stay in Paris, you can be sure it will be tucked in somewhere, for inspiration and the author's list of shops and restaurants.

Not quite a short hop from Paris is the Yukon, home to Michele Genest, who penned The Boreal Gourmet: Adventures in Northern Cooking (Harbour Publishing, $26.95). The cover of this extraordinary book should be enough to draw you in: a fully set country table for two, complete with a platter of salmon, on a snow covered plateau. Genest's recipes are interspersed with stories and lore that come alive with an easy narrative style, made more compelling by Cathie Archbould's photography, which includes wildlife and scenery and captures the spirit of the place.

Game, wild berries, herbs and unlikely items such as spruce all show up here, along with a wealth of helpful tips on everything from baking to smoking--not to mention a recipe for moose moussaka. Despite its wilderness setting, there's no shortage of recipes here for even the most urban forager.

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