TTT: Books That Are Linked to Specific Moments In My Life

This week is a freebie week on Top Ten Tuesday and I've decided to use a previous topic that I've never answered: Books That Are Linked to Specific Moments In My Life.

I thought this would be a really hard one - and it is if I push for 10 - but it actually isn't for there are a  moments that I'll always remember because of the mark they left on my soul (for want of a better way to word it) and the book I was reading at the time - or associate most with that time - is imprinted along with all the other details. 

Some are happy, some are sad. All evoke feelings...

Come Together

This is a book linked to a very specific memory.

It's strange because I remember next to nothing about the book but I remember this was the book I was reading when I got the call to go to the hospital to say goodbye to my grandfather as he wasn't going to make it through the night. 

My grandfather was the only father figure I ever had, he raised me alongside my mum and my grandmother, and that phone call aged twenty changed everything in my life. 

I remember picking the book back up on the lead up to his funeral hoping for distraction (as I had been enjoying it) but it suddenly felt so shallow and meaningless that I couldn't enjoy it anymore. I put that book down and never picked it up again. 

Last Sacrifice

Another one linked to a specific memory.

I was six months pregnant when this book released and I remember getting the bus into town on my day off work to get it despite the fact I worked in town and could have just waited an additional day to pick it up, saving me the extra trip!
It was freezing cold and icy and when I finally got home I bundled up in PJs, got a hot drink and snacks and then curled up to binge read undisturbed.
I was quite a few chapters in when my tiny, timid, cat who completely shied away from human affection crept out from wherever she was hiding and climbed into my lap.
She sat there purring and getting stroked until she fell asleep and I sat there happily for hours with my book and my cat feeling absolutely privileged and unbelievably content.
Although this marked a change in her (she'd snooze in the same room you were in, let you stroke her etc), she only ever sat on me one other time in her life and the other time I was reading The Summer of Jake by Rachel Bailey. 

Dead Until Dark 

This one (and the series, I guess) is linked to a specific period in my life.

We moved down to England after we graduated from university as my husband got a job here. 

It meant he started work on the Monday after we arrived (we arrived the Friday before) and I was left with no job and nothing to do (around job hunting) after unpacking the house. 

So, I joined the library and discovered the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. 

This series - not just book one - kept me sane that first month as I applied for job after job and generally felt low because I wasn't working, money was tight and I'd left my family and friends behind and moved to the other end of the country... In a weird quirk of fate, I got a job offer the day after finishing the last available book in the series (which was book eight). 😊

Kiss of The Night

This one is linked to a moment of realisation. 

This was the book that introduced me to Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunters but it was more than that. It was the book I read while recovering from the flu the last Christmas I was home after starting university. It was while reading this book I realised how much everything had changed... How much I'd changed. I was home and in my bedroom but I was struck with the feeling that it wasn't really home. Home was the city. Home was with my other half. I wasn't a kid anymore and I knew that that Christmas would be the last I'd spend at home without him.

I wasn't wrong. Every Christmas has been spent together since. 

Tabby McTat

This one is forever linked to my son.

This was one of the little dude's most favourite books when he was little. I cannot count the number of times I've read it nor the number of times I've sat smiling while the professor read it. I'm incapable of seeing the cover or hearing someone speak of it - or, you know, thinking about it - without thinking of how he was when he was younger and how we always used to read bedtime stories and he'd cuddle up and be full of sleepy giggles and loveliness. 

We never had any problems with bedtimes when he was young. He had his stories and off he went with no dramas... And he slept all night. (I know how rare that is, believe me.)

🌻

Do you have any books forever linked to specific moments in your life?

Book Blogger Hop: Do you always have a book with you?

Do you always have a book with you?

Yes, absolutely.
I always have either my Kindle or I have my phone that has the Kindle app and the audible app.
Sometimes, but rarely, I also have a paperback.
I don't like lugging paperbacks around anymore though.
They take up too much space, they get damaged as I throw things in and out of my bag, they're awkward while trying to read and eat/drink, and everybody can see what you're reading.
I want to read in peace!
I don't want to deal with questions, comments, snark, smirks or even fangirl/boyish excitement while I'm reading... I just want to read. In peace. Thanks.

I must admit that even though I always have books on me, I don't often read while out and about. This is pretty much because if I'm out, I'm out to do something and reading isn't it.
Even lunchbreaks have turned into catch up with friends breaks instead of escape into a book breaks.
Reading on the train or in a coffee shop are things I very much love but just don't get much opportunity to do... My reading time tends to be housebound and in the house, I have all my books.
😊

TTT: Auto-Buy Authors

Auto-Buy Authors

This question isn't as easy as it should be to answer.

The simple fact is, I don't automatically buy many authors any more and the ones I do? Well, I fear the answer is all too obvious as I talk about them constantly and they feature almost constantly on my lists!
I'm going to sound like a broken record but here we go again anyway!

Ilona Andrews

Yes. I love their work.
They can write an instruction manual on the upkeep of daisies and I'm going to read it.

Kalanya Price

She wasn't on my auto-buy list until I read the Alex craft series back in May but now she absolutely is!

Annette Marie

Another author who wasn't on my list two months ago but now is! Especially until the Guild Codex series (plural) are finished but likely beyond!

Mariana Zapata

The queen of slow-burn romance and a definite auto-buy.

Karen Chance

The Cassie Palmer series is a big love of mine so Karen Chance is on this list!

Sarah J. Maas

I know people have a love/hate relationship with Maas's books but I love them so I'm going to keep buying them even if it takes me a while to get around to read them!

Kylie Scott

Funny, sexy, books that give me all the feels. Some are better than others but all have been worth a read and that's why Kylie Scott is still an autobuy.

Rick Riordan

Fun, quirky, sarcastic, brave and 100% wonderful characters. Action-packed adventures. Myths and legends. What is not to love?

Who are your auto buys?