MADreads

Mystery author Ann Cleeves has long developed a following for her mysteries that are as much about the relationships between her characters as the crimes grounding the stories. Her Vera Stanhope and Shetland series, both adapted for television, have been particularly acclaimed. The Shetland series has ended with the recently published Wild Fire, but fans mourning the loss of Jimmy Perez and the evocative Scottish setting can take comfort in the launch of Cleeves’ new Two Rivers series.

'Tis the season for chilling and creepy, ghostly and ghoulish, gory and grisly. This makes it the perfect time to read Carmilla! Victorian writer Le Fanu wrote Carmilla in 1872 and it's considered the first Vampire novel and a precursor to Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's a quick read and the perfect listen if you're driving for approximately 3 hours on a dark and rainy night.

Ready for some rollicking and roaring word play? Check out Forget-Me-Nots: Poems to Learn by Heart by Mary Ann Hoberman for some unforgettable poems. This is a wonderful treasury for elementary school kids. The poems are joyful and include bright and colorful illustrations by Michael Emberley. The book has 123 poems by 57 authors (ranging from A.A. Milne to Shel Silverstein to Valerie Worth, and many more phenomenal poets). It is also a great book for reading aloud as the days get shorter and the nights a bit longer.

It's been two steps forward, one step back for women in media organizations across the United States over the past four decades. Kristin Gilger and Julia Wallace have gathered stories from many of the most influential women of the newsrooms and dissect what it takes to succeed in male-dominated organizations when you are female. Some of the stories cemented my admiration for media superstars in perpetuity.  International correspondent and legend Christiane Amanpour, that shout-out is for you.