We've been basking in some spring sunshine for well over a week now here at Lomond - almost unheard of in Scotland! But long may it continue, especially since we're now in June and ready for a successful summer. Our theme for the month is 'June for Juniors' and we'll be bringing you highlights from our children's range all month - trust me, it's a difficult job to choose which titles to feature because there are so many fantastic books for children of all ages in our range. Keep an eye on our Facebook , Twitter and Instagram for our best books of the season, and tell us what you think of them too - we love to hear from our customers! It's also a great time to bolster your children's ranges before the summer holidays start so we'll be telling you about our top new books and some of our perennial best-sellers to ensure you have the very best selection on your shelves. Have a fantastic June, and remember to find us Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the most up-to-date book news and reviews!

Hot off the Conway press is this new guide book with a twist - Take the Slow Road Scotland. Take the Slow Road Scotland It's billed as a collection of inspirational journeys round the Highlands, Lowlands and Islands of Scotland, compiled by 'campervan guru' Martin Dorey. This book celebrates Scotland's best driving routes. It gives details on where to go, where best to stop, where to pitch, what to do out and about and what makes these little pit-stops of Scotland so special. Take the Slow Road Scotland Touring holidays are definitely on the up in Scotland - just look at the popularity of the North Coast 500 route - and this guide will appeal to anyone taking this kind of relaxed holiday. It's a substantial guide in an attractive, chunky format and it's full of photographs and plenty of quirky cartoon maps. And for those of us not lucky enough to own our own home on wheels, there is also a comprehensive directory of rental companies for all areas. Take the Slow Road Scotland This is how the author describes his book - "Welcome to the slow road. Don't rush. There is plenty of time. We have a lot of long, light evenings ahead of us. There are sights to see and people to meet. There are smiles to be smiled. If we do this right the slow road could be everything that you have been looking for." This is undoubtedly going to be a popular guide book for the summer, and it's available now. Click here to find Take the Slow Road Scotland on our website.

From short walks to long-distance trails, one of Cicerone's 340 guidebooks is bound to give you the information and inspiration you’ve been looking for. Explore the Hebrides with Cicerone Their extensive range of Scottish titles include a beautiful and inspiring guide to the Hebrides set out in a large format to be savoured. The 50 walks and backpacking routes highlight all the very best landscapes and scenery to be found on the spectacular islands of the Hebrides, a wonderland for adventurous walkers to return to time and time again. The guide includes the best that the islands have to offer The walks also include Hebrides classics, like the Skye and Rum Cuillins, the Paps of Jura and full circuits of smaller islands. Each walk combines clear route description with mapping and spectacular photography, while also advising on the route's facilities, public transport access, length and terrain. The result is a collection of the very best walks with which to uncover the wild and rugged beauty of the Hebrides. 50 Walking & Backpacking Routes The Hebrides retails at £18.95. It's available in our wholesale range, along with all of Cicerone's other Scottish guidebooks. Click here for the Cicerone page .

Our book of the month for May is hotly anticipated to say the least - we're predicting this is going to be a phenomenal seller for summer 2018, popular with visitors from all over the world and with Outlander fans from Scotland. Outlander's Scotland Outlander has been one of the biggest TV crazes to hit screens in recent years. Since its first airing in 2014, millions of viewers have tuned in to see Claire Randal and Jamie Fraser's time travelling adventures. Scotland's awe-inspiring landscape has taken centre stage in this series, and now Pitkin have compiled this superb guide to the locations that the smash-hit series was filmed. From the ancient cobbled streets, gabled palace and herb garden of Culross in Fife, which became the fictional Cranesmuir, to the iconic 1960s Pathfoot Building at the University of Stirling, which Claire's daughter visits on her first trip to Scotland, visitors too can time travel through centuries. In Scotland, different eras coexist and collide - just as they do in Outlander. Outlander's Scotland - Pitkin The book focuses on easy day trips to take from the characterful cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow - both of which are packed with Outlander filming locations - and offer information on the most rewarding sites, when to visit them and how to get there. Outlander's Scotland - Pitkin As with all Pitkin guides, it's illustrated throughout with quality photographs of the locations themselves and with imagery from the TV series. Add a striking cover to boot, and this is bound to be a big hit all across the country. Outlander's Scotland is published in May 2018 and is available for trade customers to pre-order now - just click here to view the product on our website .

We can't quite believe we've made it to May already - the year is disappearing fast! As we come into Spring, we have a huge variety of new books on the way. You can read about them all in our Lomond Letter and find our fully updated May catalogue on the website now. Lomond Books on Instagram Since it's the Spirit of Speyside Whisky Festival and the Islay Festival of Malt and Music this month, we've decided to make May our month of all things Malt, and we'll be highlighting some of our best recommendations in the whisky range on our Facebook , Twitter and Instagram . We love reaching out to our customers on these platforms and talking about our books - so be sure to follow us, and have a chat when you can! Have a great month of May, and check back in tomorrow for our Book of the Month...  

We've just received this unique photography collection by Morten Hansen of one of Scotland's most popular destinations - the Isle of Skye. Skye: Cloud Island Ever since it was named by Viking explorers as 'Skio', cloud island, it has been known as much for its reputation as the misty isle, for its clouds, rain and other vaporous conditions, as for spectacular scenery, This collection explores and celebrates the landscape of Skye at its 'cloudiest magnificence'. Photographer Hansen believes that Skye's predominantly sombre weather conditions enhance the natural beauty of the island, one described as 'a place of cloud, mist, mountains, fairies and stupendous views'. The book is presented in three chapters - Sea, Land and Sky. Text throughout is minimal, essential but engaging captions only, allowing the full page photographs to really sing. It's an awe inspiring book that truly reflects the wonder of this island. A must-have for your shelves. Skye: Cloud Island is available from Lomond here

New into our range of fiction for older children is this lovely story set in around St Kilda. It's a story of courage, friendship and survival that is packed with gripping sea adventure and heart-stopping action. Julia Green's lyrical style perfectly captures the atmosphere of this remote outpost as her characters battle the Scottish elements on their dangerous voyage to St Kilda. Here's the blurb - To the Edge of the World 'Imagine a tiny island far out in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. On some days you can hardly see where the sea ends and the land begins, everything merged in a blue-grey mist of sea spray and wind-blown sand. There is nothing between here and America. I say nothing, but what I mean, of course, is nothing but ocean. About And about sixty-five kilometers out to sea, one last remote outcrop of islands and sea stacks, with the highest sea cliffs anywhere in the UK... St Kilda. Distant, desolate, and difficult to reach. The islands at the edge of the world... Jamie had thought that if he could just reach the boat then he could convince Mara to stay, but now he was on board and along for the ride. There was no going back, they were in this together. A new life, a fearless friend, a wild sea adventure...' This is an obvious choice for those of you along the north west coast, but it's sure to have a wider appeal across Scotland. Julia Green's previous novel Wilderness War was well received and style is popular with young readers up and down the country. To the Edge of the World is in stock and available to order now.

We're really pleased to have added this gorgeous new range of stationery products to our wholesale offering, produced by Quadrille and I Like Birds. I Like Birds Stationery Featuring this beautiful artwork, the products feel both vintage and modern, colourful and minimal. The designers are based in Forres on the Moray coast. Swallows Notebook In the range, there is this Swallows on a Line Notebook - an A5 hardback book with orange accents. Flying Puffins Spot & Jot This is the Flying Puffins Spot & Jot notebook, a pocket sized, flip notebook with blank pages and an elastic closure. It also has a little orange pencil that'll be to hand whenever it's needed! An Alphabet of Birds Address Book An Alphabet of Birds Address Book has illustrated pages for each letter of the alphabet - quite literally everything from an avocet to a zebra finch. Oyster Catcher Notecards For those who still enjoy the art of letter-writing, or who love to have some quirky cards for any occasion there is this box set of 16 greetings cards in 4 designs. They each come with complementary coloured envelopes. When Puffins Go Shopping... And lastly, this is the When Puffins Go Shopping Gift Wrap Book - with 12 folded sheets of gift wrap in 4 bird themed designs. Each sheet is folded twice with a gummed edge for easy removal. It also includes a set of 12 stickers. The range is in stock now, on the Scottish Stationery page .

We have some new additions to our range of bargain picture flats for April - these books really do represent fantastic value for your customers, formerly retailing at up to £6.99! New £1.99 Picture Flats All are quality children's picture flats from renowned publishers. New in this month are - Ambrose Goes for Gold - a story about Ambrose competing in the Great Insect Games. Ready, steady, crawl! Cinderella's (Not So) Ugly Sisters - a backwards fairy tale about Winifred and Prudence, and their mean and miserable step sister Cinder-Ella Little Wizard - an uplifting, arty book about the one little wizard who finds a friend in an unlikely place The Littlest Bear - we've all seen the photos of Highland Safari Park's newest baby polar bear cub, now here's a beautifully illustrated story about what happens when a little bear wanders off and meets a baby wolf! The Princess & the Sleep Stealer - a modern fairy tale about with sleep stealing pirates, a friendly dragon and a heroic princess Showtime for Billie and Coco - it's all go at the Fancy Feathers Talent School in this funny story about an animal talent show And, Tilly and Friends Best Day Ever - as featured on CBBC, Tilly and her friends are having just the best day ever together so they decide to make a scrap book All of these fantastic bargains are available while stocks last, so don't miss out!

Having sold out for a short period early this year, we're pleased to have back in stock one of our exclusive Lomond publications, Scotland's 100 Best Walks . Scotland's 100 Best Walks In this paperback edition of a walking classic, renowned outdoor writer and television personality Cameron McNeish presents his favourite one hundred walks across his homeland, celebrating the uniquely beautiful and varied landscape of Scotland. 'By leaving the car behind and walking along a track you begin to appreciate the detail that turns a pretty countryside into a living, vibrant landscape - but leave the track for a faint footpath and you come even closer to the feel of the land.' Cameron describes himself as someone for whom 'walking is a way of life' and there are few people better placed to compile Scotland's greatest rambles, hill walks and mountain trails than him. Scotland's 100 Best Walks covers a wide geographical spread of routes from the Solway Firth to the Shetland Isles. Divided into chapters by region, the book is an ideal guide for any avid walker or visitor to Scotland. Each of the walks is detailed in a route summary with Ordnance Survey references, hill shaded maps, access points, distance, approximate time and difficulty grading. There are also Gaelic pronunciations and translations for hill and place names where appropriate. Scotland's 100 Best Walks Yet this is much more than a factual guidebook - though this is a function it serves well. The main feature of the book is Cameron's descriptive text, which includes his own anecdotes and experiences while acting as guide. His passion for Scotland's natural landscape is abundantly apparent in his words and it is clear that in focusing his mind on choosing the best walks in Scotland, he has included some his favourite places in the world. 'The hills of home still harbour that single element that isn't to be found in the mountains of the greater ranges, or the varied landscapes of Europe or North America. Put simply... it's the Celtic love of a homeland, passed down from father to son since time immemorial.' Scotland's 100 Best Walks Cameron's chosen walks range in length from 3 kilometres to 50 kilomtres and though he may be known first and foremost as a mountaineer, he has included routes to suit any walker and explains that over the years he has come to appreciate that shorter, low level walks can be 'as rewarding as big hill days'. The result is a mixture of inspirational adventures up famous mountainsides and relaxed rambles through woodlands and open spaces - as much a joy to read as they are to walk. Richly illustrated throughout, Scotland's 100 Best Walks features the breath-taking photography of Colin Baxter, one of Scotland's foremost photographers. His images capture the drama and awe of the Scottish mountains, the tranquil calm of lochsides and coastal waters, and the lush greenery of the Scottish lowlands. His photographs are the perfect accompaniment to Cameron's fond and evocative descriptions of these most spectacular walks. Scotland's 100 Best Walks is exclusive to Lomond. It's in stock and available to order now.