More Book Recommendations

I had a lot of fun writing yesterday's post about The Rotation, but it's not the only good book I've read so far this year.  One of my New Years Resolutions was to read every day and I've managed to do so thus far.  I'm pretty proud of that and of the 10 books I've finished.  Below is a selection of those books, listed in the order I read them.

• Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James - Pride & Prejudice is my favorite novel and I love the veritable cottage industry of sequels that has popped up recently.  I don't care what genre a novel is, if it's a Pride & Prejudice sequel I will read it (and probably like it if it's any good).  I'd heard good things about this sequel by acclaimed mystery author James and it didn't disappoint.  If anything, it made me want to re-read Pride & Prejudice for the sixth time.
• The Magician King by Lev Grossman - Thankfully I really enjoyed this even after the clusterfudge that was my attempt at borrowing it from my local library.  Of course, it would've been helpful if I had still remembered most of The Magicians when I read this.  Do you need to have read The Magicians to follow this story?  Not at all, but I kept getting annoyed at myself for not remembering things that I knew I should've.  These two books are often called "Harry Potter for grownups" and that's a valid description, but these books aren't as derivative as that makes them seem.
• The American Heiress by Daisy Goodwin - This is another book I'd heard a lot of good things about.  The novel takes place during the latter part of the Victorian era, at a time when it was incredibly common for rich American heiresses to marry into old English aristocratic families.  The English family got an influx of money and the American wife's often nouveau riche family got respectability.  The heroine is the richest heiress of her generation (and a Jane Austen fan, so I can't help but like her) and she is determined to make a love match, regardless of her mother's wishes.
• We Two: Victoria and Albert: Rulers, Partners, Rivals by Gillian Gill - I've been fascinated by Queen Victoria's relationship with Prince Albert since Victoria showed up as a character in an episode of Doctor Who.  Shortly after that episode aired I read a very positive review of this book, which I later asked for and received for my birthday.  Unfortunately, I didn't get around to reading this book for several years.  But the Crown Prince Bertie (eventually King Edward VII) was a character in The American Heiress, which somehow reminded me of this book that was still in a moving box.  I don't remember learning much about English history after the American colonies won their independence when I was in school, so I learned a lot from this book.  And the material is not presented in a dry, textbook sort of way, so that's another plus.

Other books I've really enjoyed this year include Stephenie Meyer's The Host, Shannon Hale's Austenland, and Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games.  (I read The Hunger Games in about seven hours at the beginning of Spring Break.  I can't wait for the semester to be over so I can read Catching Fire and Mockingjay.)