I just finished reading the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman this weekend. I had never heard of the books until the film came out this December. I really enjoyed the read. Pullman is an amazing storyteller who kept me locked into these books for entire trilogy over the past few weeks.
Many of you know the story, and if you do not, then go and pick up the Golden Compass and start reading. They are books written for children so the reading is fairly simple, and if you do no want to engage in the philosophically minded afterthought than you can choose not to.