Ditto on the Phillip Pullman series, The Golden Compass is my favorite. It's a fantasy series that deals with many philosophical issues. I was nervous about reading it at first because I'm not a fantasy novel person, but this is my favorite book.

Also Anchee Min, Becoming Madam Mao. Brilliant fictional biography of Mao's wife. Intrigue, passion, deception, social politics. I love Anchee Min!

Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles. It's a bizarre book, starts out a little funky slow, but stick with it. Can't really say what it's about, maybe learning about what really matters to you.

For fun and entertainment, Bill Bryson's, A Walk in the Woods is funny.

I could go on and on, my other love is reading!