Manuel Pe Pe من عند بوتومايو، كولومبيا
Wow. This book starts slow but really packs a punch after page 75 or so. Romantic, heart wrenching, and deeply touching in the way it asks us to ponder whether there are some acts for which there can be no atonement. Loved it.
The Golden Compass is the thinking man's Harry Potter. It envisions a world in which people's souls are outwardly manifested in the forms of animals, and the struggle of a quasi-religious organization to gain control over a mysterious material called Dust, which binds us to those souls. The protagonist, Lyra, is smart and interesting, and Pullman's thinly-veiled critique of organized religion has considerable bite. Whether you're of the Devil's party, like Pullman certainly is, it's hard to imagine how you won't find this to be an extremely engrossing read.