A little of this, a little of that:

01. 1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz published by Workman books, pp 976, price Rs 1195

02. DNA: The Secret of Life by James D Watson published by Arrow books, pp 544, price Rs 795

03. Love Lives by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees published by Arrow books, pp 405, price Rs 425

04. Hostage of Beijing: The Abduction of the Panchen Lama by Gilles Van Grasdorff published by Element books, pp 320, price Rs 995

05. Kum Nye: Waking Up for Beginners by Stephanie Wright published by Century Books, pp 80, price Rs 500

What the books are about:

1,000 Places to See ...

Introducing the eighth wonder of travel books, the New York Times bestseller that’s been hailed by CBS-TV as one of the best books of 2003 and praised by Newsweek as the “book that tells you what’s beautiful, what’s inspiring, what’s fun and what’s just unforgettable everywhere on earth.” Packed with recommendations of the world’s best places to visit, on and off the beaten path, ‘1,000 Places To See Before You Die’ is a joyous, passionate gift for travellers, an around-the-world, continent-by-continent listing of beaches, museums, monuments, islands, inns, restaurants, mountains, and more. There’s Botswana’s Okavango Delta, the covered souks of Aleppo, the Tuscan hills surrounding San Gimignano, Canyon de Chelly, the Hassler Hotel in Rome, Ipanema Beach, the backwaters of Kerala, Oaxaca’s Saturday market, the Buddhas of Borobudur, Ballybunion golf club-all the places guaranteed to give you the shivers.

DNA: The Secret of Life

James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA and author of the international bestseller ‘The Double Helix’, tells the story of the amazing molecule since its discovery fifty years ago, following modern genetics from his own Nobel prize-winning work in the fifties to today’s Dolly the sheep, designer babies and GM foods. Professor Watson introduces the science of modern genetics, along with its history and its implications, in this magnificent guide to one of the most triumphant achievements of human science.

Love Lives

Lloyd and Rees’s story involves four young people: Ned the architect, Ellen the filmmaker, tragic Jimmy and romantic Verity. It follows their lives as they fall in love, grow up, overcome tragedy and, above all, learn to love life and live it to the full.

Hostage of Beijing...

The 11th Panchen Lama, Guendun Tcheukyi Nyima, one of the most important dignitaries in Tibet and officially recognised as such by the Dalai Lama, was kidnapped in 1995 by the Chinese authorities, together with his family, when he was just six years old. At about the same time, another child from the same village was appointed Panchen Lama by the Chinese, although he is not recognised by the Tibetan people. This text presents an investigation into the kidnapping of the Panchen Lama.

Kum Nye: Waking Up...

Kum Nye is a simple but precise regime that guarantees to significantly increase energy levels, improve fitness and strengthen and tone the body. Based on a system developed in Tibet over thousands of years, this book is the first to bring the techniques to the West as a highly accessible and brilliantly effective package. It consists of eight positions to be held in sequence for up to two minutes.