What I’m Reading February 2023

What I’m Reading February, 2023, Feb. 1, 2023.

Book recommendations are a mixed bag of goods: sometimes I enjoy the recommended book, but more often than not I wouldn’t read it again. Books are such highly personal things. So, it would be perfection to find a literary soul sister. However worthy this goal may be it might actually be easier to go out and search for a unicorn. Such a friendship would require a marriage of things such as similar life philosophies, preferred styles and prose, beliefs, intellect, and more. Understandably, that is a tall order. So, it is no wonder I haven’t met mine yet. And since my unicorn still eludes me somewhere over the rainbow I must still depend on recommendations from all sorts of sources for literature.

One helpful avenue I have learned is to look for other authors of the same genre in the same time period as for example, Jane Austen. If you like her books, then you will likely enjoy Elizabeth Gaskell’s works just a few years later. Or Agatha Christie lovers may enjoy her literary contemporary, Patricia Wentworth and her Miss Silver novels which bear a strong resemblance to Christie’s Miss Marple. And then it often helps to find the authors who inspired your favorite authors. For example, JR Tolkien was inspired by Lord Dunsany who is one of this month’s book picks. Either way to find a good book is always a thrill, and the internet can be a helpful tool.

Both books I am reading this month are extraordinarily beautiful both in content and prose. I would also call these books soul-satisfying for different reasons as I will describe below. They are also books for a particular audience.

What I’m Reading February 2023

The King of Elfland’s Daughter by Lord Dunsany is my first book. This highly underrated book is described by many with a single word: beautiful. And it is an extraordinarily beautiful piece of literature about a king who marries a princess from Elfland. Troubles soon befall on them as the princess struggles to adapt to the human world and her father mourns her loss from Elfland. She soon leaves both her son and husband to go back. Her devoted husband wanders for years trying to find her while the son eventually becomes king. The strength of this book is the writing. Lord Dunsany is a master of descriptive story telling that is rarely seen. Fans are very moved when they read his dreamlike prose. However, I only recommend this for fantasy fiction fans and lovers of Victorian writing who will appreciate the elegant skills of Lord Dunsany in his craft.

Beauty Chasers by Timothy Willard is the second book I am reading. This book was a recommend by the author of another book I’ve read, “The Garden Maker” by Christine Purifoy. Timothy Willard is a theologian who writes about something that is close to my heart lately- the loss of wonder in our world. Every page of this book has been about reclaiming beauty and wonder in God’s world and how it draws us closer to Him. Willard’s book has been balm to my soul as we see everything that makes us human going up in flames right now as technology consumes us. His amazing insight has been just what I needed to reset my focus and the importance of beauty and wonder in nourishing our souls. Willard is also an elegant writer drawing on CS Lewis for lots of inspiration. This is book I highly recommend beauty lovers!

Have a beautiful day!