Read Philip Pullman

Fine vapors escape from whatever is doing the living.
The night is cold and delicate and full of angels
Pounding down the living. The factories are all lit up,
The chime goes unheard.
We are together at last, though far apart.

- from "The Ecclesiast" by John Ashberry

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy - the lines above prefaced the second book -- is a must-read. I was led to it by one of those sometimes incomprehensible Amazon recommendations, ordered the first book The Golden Compass. After devouring that in almost just one sitting, I promptly ordered the other two books - The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

This series is a must-read but definitely a provocative one. I learnt only later that it has actually started a firestorm of discussion between those who believe it is blasphemous against the Catholic/Christian church, and those who think it merely opens new ways of thinking about sin, the Church, our religious beliefs. Myself, I didn't realize it was actually potentially heretical until I read about the controversy, at which point I re-read the books.