4 out of 4 stars
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I guess that it wound up to be exceptionally fitting that it was late at night when I first began to read the collection of poetry from William E. Lang Jr. titled Midnight Musings...Thoughts From A Restless Mind. I can say that it somehow seemed to put me into a very similar frame of mind (which I think I can reasonably assume by the work's title) that the author ostensibly found himself in as he pondered and wrote down his different ideas that make up this book. For some reason it somewhat made me feel like we were curiously connected in experiencing the “musings” together in some indiscernible way.
Mr. Lang delineated his works of poetry into three distinct sections in the book: Musings, Sketchbook, and Eyes of Faith. The poetry itself is presented mainly in the typical rhyming format across all three of these sections, though there are some forays into free verse and narrative; along with a sonnet making an appearance as well. As I am sure you would expect, topics in these sections range from love, devotion, faith, loss, pain, and just general musings that might keep anyone up late at night from time to time. Of all of these, I think that Mr. Lang shined the most in the pieces found in the third section when he delved into his faith and trust in God and His Word. Though the other two sections were superbly written, this section just seemed to dig a bit deeper and cut down into the soul quite effectively.
I really enjoyed the way that the author displayed a wide range of subject matter throughout the book. It helped to keep the flow smooth and the content quite fresh and distinct from poem to poem. The range that Mr. Lang showed in the thoughts that he shared in his works really displayed the true reflection he put into each and every line and stanza of this book. This truly made the experience of reading his words a distinct joy to take part in.
The only real complaint that I have about the book is that of its formatting. On my iPad, it was displayed two pages at a time on the screen which made the reduction in print size difficult to read. I had to keep zooming in on each individual page which became a bit of a nuisance at times. However, in the end this wound up not detracting too significantly from the general enjoyment of the book.
Overall I easily rate this book at 4 out of 4 stars. I found it to be a splendid little book that I can confidently recommend to anyone who enjoys to read poetry in any or all of its formats. I also would add that I believe that readers who like to delve into the human condition or matters of faith would find much to their liking in these works as well.
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Midnight Musings
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