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One day I get an email from my friend Liz, who says ‘you must read Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass, and oh, I’m getting married next month.’ A book that takes billing over one’s own life plans must be interesting. The following day I ask about it at Kepler’s. The clerk gives me a conspiratorial grin. “It’s the staff’s favorite.” The book is incredible, taking place in an alternate 19th century England where philogiston and the ether are undisputed fact and magic works. It’s similar to Harry Potter: orphans, wizards in academe, and mysterious circumstances. But the book has what seems to be a stronger edge to it than the Potter books (which I still need to read.) Anyway, if you get a case of Post-Potter depression, check out Pullman.