eI love listening to audio books while going on walks. I most especially love non-fiction. I searched on Audible's library for books about ASD and found Aspergirls, Empowering Females with Asperger Syndrome.

Ever since my eldest daughter was in grade three, I had a suspicion that she had Aspergers. She had many of the symptoms, but because she was young and female, many professionals didn't agree with me; boys present so differently from girls. She was diagnosed with ADHD, GAD and giftedness. But these identifications didn't explain her sensory overload.

Simone's book opened my mind and blew me away! Each chapter outlined my daughters struggles in life...the book might as well have been written about my daughter! Aspergirls described problems she experienced with bullying, prescriptions medications, social loneliness and relationships.

This is the most valuable book I could have read this year. Simone, thank you for teaching me that Aspergers is not psychological but neurological. Thank you for teaching a neurotypical mom how to understand her child best. Although my daughter is 22 years old, and no longer a child, her disability is still very child-like; and after all, my daughter will always be my little girl in my heart. Simone taught me that Aspergers is truly a unique and special gift and I am so blessed to have such a unique and special daughter. Thank you for giving me new perspectives, a new lense on how to see ASD.

My wonderful husband bought this book for me for Christmas. I told him I wanted it months before and he remembered! It didn't fit into any of my 2025 book challenges so I simply added a new one...Free Reads! 

I was so attracted to the cover as firstly I love thrift store shopping and secondly, love the idea of second chances! This was such a cute, witty and enjoyable read. A lovely change from my usual thriller books. It had the feel of a "cozy romance" book but was more detailed and multifaceted, much like the layers of an onion. I loved peeling back each layer...each and every layer added a beautiful depth to the story line.

The story was about a woman named Gwen who lost her job and decided to volunteer at a second hand store to fill up her time on her now endless and open days. As Gwen's life intertwined with the other characters from the second hand shop, the author Bravo intertwined the stories of the objects found on the shelves and racks of the store. Slicing in separate little "chapters" of these wonderful thrift store finds. I was so enthralled in these little histories of the objects and how they made it from original owner to the store, it was a really neat addition to the main plot.

The little images drawn at the beginning of each chapter were details I also enjoyed. Bravo "The Second Chance Store", this book made me laugh and I am so grateful for this.

I have been consumed with so many life tasks lately that I haven't been posting, but I have been reading! I haven't stopped any of my challenges and now that I am off for vacation, it is time to catch up!

Reese Witherspoon caught my attention on Instagram one day advertising her new Book Club selection. All she had to say was "there was a murder" and I was hooked. Well actually, the cover drew my attention too. The yellow colour and the picturesque country scene, was so appealing to me right now with spring around the corner in Toronto.

I ordered Hall's book one day while on break from work, using mostly all of my Indigo points and sat down in my car and dug in reading. Honestly? This book flew directly to my top ten favourites list, of all time. The romance story in Broken Country had me swooning, I was all in from the first chapter. The emotions in Hall's story are so rich and true, warm and tragic; my heart was melting onto the pages. The main character Beth was so human, a real woman, she gave into her passions, loved with all her being, felt heart break, loss, struggle and sacrifice; I could really see myself in her.

​The last several chapters had me gasping as Hall slowly began to unravel the truth of the murder that happened in chapter one. Swirling a love triangle around a murder was an absolutely delicious plot. I never expected the ending, and it was so much more incredible, deep and meaningful, than anything my imagination could have ever created.

Thank you Hall for writing a new favourite of Dawn Rodger!

Here is letter W for my 2025's Alphabet Challenge!

This is my first McAllister book and it was so delicious! I follow her on instagram and just love how genuine of a person she is; funny and real. McAllister's personality is just so sweet and I liked her so much I decided I had to check out her novels. Wrong Place Wrong Time did not disappoint!

At first it began like a "Groundhog Day" type of story, where the main character is in a time loop, reliving the previous days events. I was a little nervous that each chapter would be a repeat of itself, with minor changes, and that I would get bored with the story line; but that did not happen. McAllister was masterful with how her main character went back in time, to investigate how she could change the present days events...her son, a murderer.
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I loved every minute of this book. McAllister kept me on my toes with twists and turns, dishing out new details that had me turning pages. I could not put this book down. I loved the idea of this story...gosh if only we could go back in time and change events for the betterment of our future! But be careful, going back in time and making tweaks, may just make your life unrecognizable! 

The reason I chose to read this book was because of it's incredible cover.  It really is such an eye catching cover design.  The saying "never judge a book by its cover", got me this time. My daughter bought the hard copy of this book at a bookstore, and started reading it. She carried it from her place to mine when she came home to visit. I asked her if I could borrow it when she finished, but one day the book was available on BookBub's Ebook deals, and I just had to buy myself my own copy.

I read my kindle in bed as oppose to physical books because it's lighter, there's no blue light (like on a phone), and I don't need a book light to light up the pages. I have been devouring Dicker's story, before bed every night.  I found it first difficult to get into the story, as it seemed to bounce around a lot; in both time periods and characters lives. But I soon found myself addicted, lost in the story, unable to put it down.  It is a traditional "who dunnit" story but written in a detailed, intellectual way. There is so much excitement in this story: passion, murder, counterintelligence, and a race for power. I loved how Dicker dove deep into the socioeconomic status of his characters and how it affected their life experiences, shaping their identities. Again, never any spoilers on DRB Reviews, but you will love the plot twists! Each page was like opening a door to a new room you have never seen before.

It was a breath of fresh air to read a "new" author, an author I haven't read before. Dicker was born in Geneva, Switzerland, and I usually read American, Canadian, British and Australian authors. It was a nice change to read a book set in Switzerland. I am so pleased to have this book included on my "read" list this year, as it also checks off the box of reading a translation, a book "that is not originally written in English."

This is my third reading challenge for 2025...new releases! I was so excited to get this book in the mail as I had pre-ordered it. Moriarty is the one author who dug me out of the depths of despair; something I was experiencing due to a nasty divorce, and she alone reignited my love for reading. I came across one of her novels in the library on a lazy summer day, and after devouring it, I read as many of her books as I could that summer.

What an original story Moriarty weaved in "Here One Moment." I was engaged from the first chapter. The idea of a psychic giving premonitions on a plane, in an enclosed space where there was no escape, resulted in a terrorizing butterfly effect amongst the passengers. The brief encounter the passengers had with her had huge implications on their future lives, causing paralyzing fears and feelings of uncertainty once off that plane. What I enjoyed most was how Moriarty developed the character of this said "pyschic" intertwining her life with the aftermath of that plane ride.

Honestly, everything I have ever read of Moriarty's I have liked, but this novel has moved right to the top ten of my all-time favourite reads. It is no wonder it was awarded Indigo's #1 Book of 2024, here in Canada. The story was so human, and challenged my thinking, exploring the frailty of our lives. No spoilers here, but my favourite "take home" from this novel is journalling each day about "One Great Thing." I am going to start this daily habit of writing down "OGT" each night before I go to bed. I think there is nothing more wonderful than the last thought of your day being filled with gratitude and happiness.

I am so pleased to say "I am staying on track with my alphabet challenge!" Gosh it is not as easy as it looks! I have set a schedule in my calendar to make sure I am completing and starting a new book every two weeks; so far, I am nailing it! I only say it's hard due to the fact that I am still working full time, and I am reading other challenges at the same time. But I got this!

Choosing which book to read next from my challenge was easy as we turned over into February, and February is the month of love. My favourite genres are thrillers and historical fiction, so "A Quiet Kind of Thunder" was an easy pick due to the fact that I have so few romance books to choose from.

I am not a romance lover by any means, but Barnard blew me away. I think "A Quiet Kind of Thunder" is one of the most sweetest, beautiful books I have ever read; and I don't say that lightly.  It was a coming of age story about a first love between a deaf boy and a selective mute girl. It was heartwarming, and incredibly humorous at times, and simply adorable. Barnard captured young adult life so perfectly. Barnard created real everyday relationships that intertwined with the teens...parents, step-parents,  siblings and friends, that made the story so much more believable. Barnard captured the struggles of living with disabilities perfectly; I know this as my daughter has ASD/GAD and I PTSD, so I have experienced them first hand. Barnard depicted the difficulties of trying to fit into a world that isn't disabled. Living with a disability has a profound effect on the way one interacts with the world. Barnard dove into how these disabilities affected the relationships around them, their parents marriages and their friendships. This depth made the story feel even more real. If I hadn't been so busy this month, I would have stayed up all night to binge read this one.

Near the end of the book, I turned the page to realize it was the last sentence, and I actually started to cry. "No, this can't be the end!" I didn't want to leave them. The love between them was so tangible, so sincere. Barnard captured first true love perfectly, or at least the way everyone dreams their first true love to be. Thank you Barnard, for sweeping this non-romance reader completely off her feet!

After reading letter X, I needed to choose a lighter book in my alphabet challenge. I laugh because "The End of Her" was not lighter, but boy it was exciting!  Lapena is one of my favourite Canadian authors. I was so excited to read this novel because it was the only novel I hadn't read of hers.  I have her entire collection sitting on the shelves of my home library. In perfect Dawn Rodger style, I squirrelled back from the end of the alphabet at letter X, and jumped to letter E!  
Lapena knows how to write anxiety. She pens every shady and shadowy question of the inner mind, and it is felt by the reader tenfold. My emotions were on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs, moving with the emotions of the characters. I was trying desperately to discover the solutions to their problems and was rallying them on, praying they would make the right choices and follow the right path. I felt so deeply for them, it was like I was right inside their heads. I honestly finished this book in three days, while working full-time and being a mom. I could not put it down. 
I found the inner pain of her characters to be so tragic and at times I felt so sad for them. As a reader, I could empathize so easily with her characters because they were human, flawed, and had heartbreaking experiences that could be felt. This is due to Lapena's talent as a writer. The ending was left open ended, but not without closure.  A whirlwind of a story, that left me still wondering "Who dunnit?"

I started reading this book on my kindle, late in the evenings close to Christmas.  I read beside the Christmas tree, under the twinkling of the lights, with the fire burning beside me, or in the dark, in bed, curled under the quilts and duvet. I was really longing to read a heart warming story, and take a break from my usual thrillers. The warmth of the twinkling lights, the fire and quilts created the perfect atmosphere, but it was the story that brought all the warmth.
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I fell in love with the characters almost instantly. Harper created an embracing family life, full of love and delicious secrets, sorrow, grief, sacrifice and forgiveness that my soul longed to be a part of. I could not put this book down.  Every night after work, I couldn't wait until the quiet of the house came upon me, everyone in bed, so I could dig into the world of Dune Island. It was a beautiful beach side escape, being whisked away to a perfect, slower paced life.  Harper's characters weren't without flaws; they had real life issues that many of us struggle with everyday...loss, alcoholism, shame, regret, illness...the problems just made the story more real, relatable. Aunt Ivy's Cottage was a jewel, a precious nugget of a story I think I will always keep close to my heart.

I know you are asking, you started the alphabet challenge with X?  Aren't you supposed to read it in order?  I am laughing now because there was an important reason to start with X...it was a library book and needed to be returned! But honestly, I decided to read my alphabet challenge in random order, to allow the books to call to me when I needed them most.

The first chapter of Schaitkin's book had me perplexed. The characters were introduced in third person, and I found it cold. I couldn't connect with the characters and found I was craving this to get into the book.  I kept on, and began to discover how poetic and descriptive Schaitkin's writing was. She caught me then, breathless in moments like "Her sister is a secret whispered in her ear." pg 12.  Schaitkin had a way of capturing all the senses in her writing. I could hear, feel and smell many of the scenes vividly.
As the story unfolded, I realized quickly that Schaitkin had an ability to capture the human condition in all it's sin, darkness and struggles. She captured life's unforgiving relentlessness, the obsessions of the mind and the pains of the heart. The impact of how one traumatic event had unrelenting impacts; the spiralling aftermath for so many, the unravelling and destruction of the human psyche. She opened a rawness to her characters that made them real, touchable. "As if the land [was] weary with he burden of human secrets." pg 162. 
Saint X was a mesmerizing read, captured the depths of my soul as a trauma survivor. The ending blew me away. (No spoilers here!) When I closed the book I had to stop, hold the book and breathe out, knowing I will miss these characters in my life. I had a deep sadness for them. Brava to Schaitkin for creating a novel where empathy could be felt so deeply in real time.