His Dark Materials Trilogy (The Golden Compass; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass) by Philip Pullman
Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belacqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the …
This is the best book I read this year so far, and that's a surprise to me. Normally I tend to read fantasy and science fiction, so historical or romantic fiction is usually not my forte. I guess I was a little prejudiced and had too much pride to pick it up before, thinking it was maybe more of a book for girls. I'm glad I picked it up. I absolutely loved the prose, to me it showcases English as a beautiful language. The themes of the book are quite interesting to me. A society with a rigid class system, strongly defined gender roles, and social norms come across truly alien. The level of self reflection and personal journey of the protagonist navigating all this was capivating. It's probably not for everyone, but I highly recommend.
