"Three brothers, a war and secrets. Some years later, a niece and nephew come looking for answers. It is time for revelations"--Publisher description.

In the same way that we fall into the arms of a loved one or drop our heads on the pillow before sleep, we can let go into the beauty and truth of who and what we really are. Falling Into Grace presents Adyashanti's response to anyone looking for a way out of suffering and into the freedom of spiritual awakening. With his first introductory book, he offers what he considers the fundamental teachings on ''seeing life with clear eyes'' to transcend the illusions that lead to unhappiness. Readers join this sought-after teacher to explore: The concept of a separate self as the root of all suffering - and how to stop believing the thoughts that perpetuate our self-image How to take ''the backward step'' into the pure potential of the present moment Giving up the control we only think we have The essential invitation of spirituality: wake up from the dream to embrace what is When we realize that there is grace in every moment, our minds will open, our hearts ...

Their gorgeous faces stare out at us from the glossy pages of magazines or appear larger-than-life on movie screens. With role models such as these, it's easy to find yourself wanting. During his 25-year career as a plastic surgeon, Dr. Robert M. Tornambe has worked with thousands of women and spent countless hours contemplating the nature of beauty - particularly in situations where he was asked to perform a procedure he believed would diminish his patient's natural good looks. In an attempt to provide as many options as possible, he focused on helping women understand that while surgery has its place, it isn't the only roadmap to looking and feeling great. This focus led Dr. Tornambe to devise The Beauty Quotient Formula - a much more useful way to look at beauty. While physical traits do play a role in beauty, Dr. Tornambe shows us that what makes any woman truly attractive is based largely on confidence, charisma, personality, and a solid beauty routine - and that more often than not, going under the knife isn't necessary. The Beauty Quotient Formula begins with a detailed quiz that helps you identify your strengths and weaknesses so you can work to enhance your intrinsic good qualities. Your answers to the quiz will point you toward specific parts of Dr. Tornambe's unique beauty regimen covering everything from firming your body, to improving your skin, to dealing with social anxiety, to perfecting your unique style.

Marriages, affairs, suicides, duplicitous relations, second chances, murder, madness, and true love - Rajmahal is a beautifully crafted tale of families brought together in an unusual Bengali house over a century of turbulent changes. Within the walls of this stately home, a melting pot of tenants, alive and dead, new generations struggle to come to grips with the social, economic, and intellectual forces working in India as it moves from the British Raj to independence. Their intertwined fortunes and personal battles become a mirror of the struggle for possession of the country's future.

Rising from the drug-infested streets of '80s New York City, the incomparable Sonic Youth recorded some of the most important albums in alternative music history and influenced an entire generation of indie rockers. They helped spawn an alternative arts scene of underground films and comics, conceptual art, experimental music, even fashion. More than perhaps any band of their time, they brought art previously considered ''fringe'' into the mainstream - and irrevocably altered the cultural zeitgeist. Based on extensive research, exclusive band interviews, and unprecedented access to unreleased recordings and documents, Goodbye 20th Century is the definitive biography of the Velvet Underground of their generation.

This is a fine new collection of short stories by the much-loved Patricia Grace, probably never more popular since the great commercial success of the novel Tu. The feast of stories is varied: urban, rural, New Zealand, overseas, tribal, contemporary. The thread that runs through all the stories, though, is Grace's huge sympathy for the underdog and the perspective of the outsider. The world she depicts is often a stark and unsentimental place, in which people struggle against ageing, rejection, violence and betrayal.

This chilling passage is from Ellen McLaughlin's new adaptation of The Persians by Aeschylus, the earliest surviving play in Western literature, an elegy for a fallen civi-lization and a warning to its new conqueror. As Margo Jefferson wrote in the New York Times, ''the play is a true classic: we see the present and the future right there, inside the past. And when writers give us a 'new version' (a translation or adaptation) of a classic, they both serve and use it. They serve the playwright's gifts by refusing to simplify. But they can't just imitate. Every age has its own rhythms and drives. The classic must make us feel the new acutely. Ellen McLaughlin serves and uses The Persians with true power and grace.''