Top Ten Tuesday: Books with Sensory Reading Memories

First of all, I'm not getting to ten with this topic. No way. But I was intrigued by the topic: Books with Sensory Reading Memories. Here's how it's described over at That Artsy Reading Girl: These are the books that are linked to very specific memories for you: where you were, what time of year it was, who you were with, what you were eating, what you were feeling, what you were seeing, etc.


I came up with a few, so here we go ...

Rilla of Ingleside by L.M. Montgomery

I remember virtually nothing about this novel 25 years after I read it, save for one thing. Walter dies. I clearly remember lying on my parents' bed on a sunny summer day (where I often went to read, for whatever reason), bawling my eyes out as I read about Gil and Anne's son's death.

Ever After by Karen Kingsbury

Once again, this is a crying memory. This time, I was reading in my bathtub in the apartment I rented for several years after college. One of the key characters died, and I was a wreck.

One Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury

Another crying memory (I seem to have a lot of them!)—I was reading One Tuesday Morning, about the September 11 terrorist attack, on the train from South Bend, Indiana, to Chicago as I went home for Christmas during college. I pretty successfully fought back the tears for the most part, as I was in public!

Counterfeit Dreams by Jefferson Hawkins (review)

I didn't know—or care—about Scientology at all until the summer of Dawson's Creek. It was while I was bingeing the series that Katie Holmes left Tom Cruise ... and then I started reading lots of articles about Scientology. I came across Jefferson Hawkins' Counterfeit Dreams, and I read much of it while sitting on my porch swing with a baby Hammond on my lap. (I got bogged down in the middle and didn't actually finish the book until a few years later.)

Loving by Karen Kingsbury

This Kingsbury book sticks out because it made me so mad. I was living in my yellow rental house at the time, and when I got home from work and saw the book on my doorstep, I flopped down on my couch and started reading. As I read, I felt myself getting more and more upset at the direction Kingsbury seemed to be going, so I flipped to the end. Sure enough, Bailey Flanigan ended up with the wrong guy ... at least in my opinion 😉. I couldn't even finish the book. (I wrote about my rather strong feelings here, here, here, and here. And if you're really looking for a good time, check out the Goodreads reviews! I knew the book was divisive, by my goodness!)

A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich

Does anyone remember the terrible 90's made-for-TV movie A Mother's Gift? I made the mistake of recording it when it originally aired—though money was tight, my parents always bought me blank videotapes when I requested them, and I taped virtually every TV movie that aired on ABC, CBS, or NBC. I immediately regretted taping the movie, especially since it became 5- or 6-year-old Blendy's favorite, and she wanted to watch it constantly. Eventually, I hid the tape and told her it was lost or broken or something (the details are a bit fuzzy). I did make it up to her though; it released on DVD a few years ago, and I bought her a copy.

My experience with A Mother's Gift made me less than eager to give the book it was based on, A Lantern in Her Hand, a try. But two years ago, Blendy and I took it on a road trip and took turns reading to each other. It was so good! We only got through chapter nine, but what we did read was delightful. (See more here.)

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

When I was a kid, my mom read to us each night before bed. The Little House series and the Chronicles of Narnia are the books I remember fondly. Not so fond a memory? Danny the Champion of the World. Someone gave me a boxed set of Roald Dahl books that included Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, James and the Giant Peach, and Danny the Champion of the World. The first three books were great; Danny, not so much ... I am and always have been a rule follower, so the fact that Danny and his father are poachers was very disturbing to me.

Those are the books I could think of off the top of my head. What books hold sensory memories for you? I'd love to hear about them!

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."