FEBRUARY Our well-thumbed advance copy of Brompton Bicycle has now been joined by a full stock delivery - this has so far been greeted with lots of enthusiasm and lives up to expectations. If your mind is turning towards sports nutrition take a look at The Athlete's Plate which offers a seasonal and whole food strategy for a sports based lifestyle - 85 recipes to help you eat well.

Here are our bestsellers of the moment. There are the all-time favourites alongside a selection from the best of some of the new generation of outdoor publishers. What they all have in common is that they are published by enthusiasts and experts.

A recommendation from Richard, the author of our newsletter and chief contact for all matters climbing related.Winter has arrived and Christmas is on the way so you might want some inspiration for a gift idea as well as something to while away those long winter nights.....

...... well, you could do no better than to get your hands on a copy of Mario Colonel's: Compagnie Des Guides De Chamonix. This is a fabulous book chronicling the history of the Chamonix guides. The book contains loads of beautifully reproduced colour and black and white photographs, many previously unseen, and much previously unseen written material provided by local Chamonix families to give a remarkable insight into what is probably the most famous guides organisation in the world. This is a must for anyone who has an interest, either active or 'armchair', in Chamonix and the Mont Blanc area and its mountains.

The text has been comprehensively updated, with over 50 new routes climbed since the last guide - particular care has been taken to make the approaches, descents, aspects and optimum conditions for the climbing stand out.

Llanberis covers the most popular bouldering areas in the Pass written by local bouldering guru Simon Panton, and they are illustrated by 14 of his own photo-topos and a number of action shots - a great new guide from the CC.