The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Many thanks to everyone who's visited and joined the site so far! We look forward to bringing you lots of great new books, but we hope you won't mind if we reach back for the occasional favorite.

One of the things I prize most in the stories I read is originality. I want new worlds and new magical constructs. Yes, the tried and true, such as wizards, elves, and dwarves, will never really go out of style, but there's definitely something to be said for an author who goes completely off the beaten path.

The Golden Compass: His Dark Materials is a perfect example of this. This book, the first in a trilogy, is about a  rambunctious teenage girl who is constantly accompanied by her own animal shape-shifting daemon. Her name, Lyra Balacqua, is one of my all-time favorites in literature, and the story of how she ventures out after the kidnappers and her father on a mythical quest that will take her far outside her own world is stunning.

Of special note: the movie version of this book was a horrid abomination that should be wiped out of existence. If you haven't yet, read The Golden Compass to see how this beautiful story really comes to life!