A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffery Archer

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This is the first Archer book I have read and it won't be the last! I was hooked on the character of Danny Cartwright as soon as he was willing to go down on one knee in a posh restaurant to ask his sweetheart Beth to marry him.  Clearly he has wonderful taste from the beginning to ask someone named "Beth" to be his wife!! :)

But soon after this exciting moment both of their lives begin to unravel - as Danny is accused and charged with murdering Beth's brother during a bar fight -her brother who was Danny's best friend.

There are four witnesses to this infamous fight - a lawyer, a real estate tycoon, a famous TV actor and a drug addict.  And the story they tell in court doesn't match Danny or Beth's.  But, they are from the upperclass side of London and Beth and Danny aren't. The court won't believe their side of events.  And Danny ends up in prison.

At the moment that his life belongs to the prison - it also takes a drastic turn that is the first step in owning his life for good.  Danny is put into a cell shared by 2 other men - Nick Moncrieff and Big Al. Nick takes Danny under his wing and begins to teach him how to leave the East End of London and speak and act as a person with more potential.

The book is about the opportunity to change, about the potential you are born with and about prison your birth can create.

It was a great and quick read - a 2:00 in the morning finish!!

Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth

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This story wheels us back to the 1950s and the East End of London.  Through a memoir of her time as a midwife, Worth introduces us to the perils and joys of life in a nunnery helping deliver babies in the poor parts of London - a London still rebuilding after WWII.  The homes are teaming with children and laundry and mothers and the docks are swarming with hard working men. Worth is not a nun - but rather a nurse focusing on midwifery. And Nonnus house is the perfect place to learn.

The chapters tell the stories of a wide variety of families  - including one where mom only speaks Spanish and dad English. They have clearly figured out how to make it work - they have 25 children.  The youngest is a baby born so premature he only weighed 1 and 1/2 pounds - at home - and he survived!

I am not always a fan of memoirs - they sometimes meander across the years backward and forward more like a conversation than a story. This one behaved itself!  I felt like I had a front row seat at a time of life that I am rather happy not to have lived through!

I want to be sure to watch the PBS adaptation!

The Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

I just finished this book. I have to say I love these!! This one does not disappoint...

The books are about Tessa Gray.  A New York girl who has been brought to London and is under the care of the Institute of London. Basically that means that she lives in the institute with Charlotte and Henry, Will and Jem and Jessamine.  Now that may sound very mild mannered - but the Institute houses the Shadowhunters - beings descended from the angels tasked with keeping the world safe from demons and evil.  Tessa is not a Shadowhunter, she is not a werewolf, vampire or other downworlder, she is not a warlock because she doesn't have a mark.  But - she is not a mundane (normal human) because she is able to change into another person with the help of something that person owned.

That sounds difficult enough - but there is a nasty dark figure stalking the Shadowhunters seeking to own Tessa.  He is the Magistrat and the mastermind behind an army of clockwork monsters ready to kill.  And he seems to be everywhere - easily finding their weaknesses through spies and clockwork creatures.

Oh yeah - and there is more.  Will is a loose cannon - irreverant, uncontrolled, unpredictable, hating everyone he comes in contact with.  Jem is the exact opposite - he is caring and kind and looks out for everyone and he is dying - addicted to a drug which is slowly killing hime and to stop the drug would kill him outright.  These two are fighting partners - paired in a special ceremony to defend each other no matter what. And they are both in love with Tessa.

Now the real problem...

I hate reading series...I really hate it...It's been too long since I read the first book and I have forgotten some of the underlying connections. So what do you do??  And the book just ends. The story doesn't - only the book.  So you are left with another year before the next installment.
Sometimes I think I should just buy them when they come out and not read them until they are all here...