Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

Daylight Saving Time: The Power of Growing Older by David W. Berner is less of a self-help book and more of a thoughtful retrospective on the author’s life, loves, passions, and reflections on aging, knowledge, and understanding. The author will take you through the highlights and some lowlights of his life as well as offer interesting reflections on growing older; and the effect it has on your mindset and perspective of life, particularly that small part of life’s journey that remains when you reach your sixties. From the lows of a heart attack at the age of just 56, from which he gained a deeper understanding and desire to make his life meaningful, through to the satisfaction and joy of children raised successfully to adulthood, the author offers his unique and insightful view of happiness, fulfillment, and joy as a senior in today’s fast-paced society.

Daylight Saving Time is a fascinating read, more so because the author and I are of an age and presumably going through the same retrospective thoughts and analysis. Author David W. Berner writes with a gentle beauty and grace that uses language to convey deep meaning and strong feelings. The experiences described, whilst often everyday occurrences and circumstances, are imbued with an ethereal light from the author's deep thought and obvious command of the written word. I particularly appreciated his use of inflection points in his life that led to significant change or reevaluation. I understood his sudden interest in his antecedents. This is something I too have experienced. His idea of preparing for his and his wife’s demise well in advance, even to the point of writing letters to his sons to be read after his death, was admirable and one that should be contemplated by all of us of a certain age, to save never-ending difficulties for the one left behind. The author’s style flows melodically, much like the passing of the seasons on which the retrospective is based. The language is powerful and rhythmical yet simple and understandable. The author has found the perfect balance between readability and using language that conveys deep feelings and emotions. For this, he is to be congratulated. A book such as this is designed to make the reader think, question, and evaluate and it did do exactly that for me, so I can highly recommend it.