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?
🌻
Do you have any books forever linked to specific moments in your life?
Great topic choice! I can relate to books being linked to certain times and places in my life as well. aw that's sweet about Tabby McTat.
ReplyDeleteI can still recite most of that book from memory, lol.
DeleteI love those books that stick with us long after we have finished them! What a fun theme/idea this week!
ReplyDeleteCan't take credit, I'm afraid! I went through past topics. :)
DeleteIt's so cool how the human mind can link books to such specific memories.
ReplyDeleteMy TTT.
I agree!
DeleteWhat a fun idea for a post! Your cat definitely had specific reading preferences.
ReplyDeleteLol, I never thought of it that way!
DeleteFirstly, I need to tell you how much I love and adore the cover for Tabby McTat! 😻 It must be more of a British/UK book because I've never seen it before. I will be looking to see if I can find a copy somewhere. 👍✨
ReplyDeleteI have books I associate with certain points in time, too. I was thinking about that when I did my re-read review of The Hobbit. Reading the mountain section was so vivid in my mind I can remember what I was wearing and what I was snacking on the first time I read it. The brain is a fabulous creature. 📚
Thanks for sharing your list. I enjoyed it. 🙌
The brain is definitely amazing!
DeleteI think Tabby McTat may be a British one... It's by the author of The Gruffalo so shouldn't be too hard to find. (Unless you guys don't have the Gruffalo?!)
We do have The Gruffalo! I can usually find most UK books on Book Depoitory, so I'll have a look over there. 👍✨
DeleteCool topic! I associate certain books with specific moments too. Awesome about your cat :)
ReplyDeleteShe was so sweet. I miss her.
DeleteThis is a spectacular post. I especially love the stories associated with Vampire Academy -- that is incredibly cozy.
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteHow do you remember all that? I am impressed. I don't think I can really connect any books to memories in that way.
ReplyDeleteI don't know... To be fair, I can tell you where I was when I first read a lot of books but for others I can barely remember reading them. I guess somethings leave an impression but others don't.
DeleteI love your topic this week and that you have so many books tied to special moments in your life.
ReplyDeleteThanks, although I can't take credit for the topic as it was a past one I pulled from the list. :)
DeleteVampire Academy! Shadow Kiss hit me hard, the last part of the book. I was bawling because of something that had happened in my life. This is a neat topic!
ReplyDeleteGenesis @ Whispering Chapters
OMG, Shadow Kiss broke me!! I was distraught! Then Blood Promise was just argh! I couldn't believe how much that hurt, lol.
DeleteIt's really amazing when one remembers the specific moment they read a book like where, when, and what happened. If memory helps, I don't recall a specific scene in which I could connect a book in my life BUT I do remember reading and loving certain books that ended up helping me when I was at my lowest points. But the details like the time, place or the events going on were a blur. So this is pretty cool and amazing!
ReplyDeleteI remember the most random things but can barely remember what I went to the store to buy. *shrugs* The brain is weird. :)
DeleteBooks and what is on TV at a specific time can certainly stay in your mind even years later if the event is memorable in some way. My first Charlaine Harris book was Living Dead in Dallas because our library didn't have book one! That was the start of my urban fantasy adventures!
ReplyDeleteI must admit that it was the official start of mine too! Or my love of them. I had a very rocky relationship with them before that.
DeleteWhat a fantastic TTT theme! I think most readers can associate at least a few books with specific memories or significant times in their lives. I was reading The Shell Seekers on a plane when I had a panic attack out of the blue... I read Little Women for the first time during 6th grade, when all my playmates were still in elementary school and I was the first to have started middle school. (We got home at different times, so my afternoons were much lonelier that year.) I read Brighty of the Grand Canyon right after my dad bought it for me at the Grand Canyon bookshop when I was 8 or 9... I'm sure there are more, but those jump to mind.
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome, isn't it? I love how certain things just stick with us in vivid detail.
DeleteI love this theme idea!
ReplyDeleteThanks! It's from the list of past topics.
DeleteI've read Kiss The Night and I loved it. I don't remember what was going on when I read it though. I do remember my very first romance book though it was Once in Paris by Diana Palmer. I remember that my mom had brought over a huge box of romance books and that was the first one I read. I liked it so I kept reading more of them. That's when I started reading romance.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! My mum wasn't much of a reader when I was a kid but she started reading in a big way when I was in my teens but she's a mystery/thriller/crime lover.
DeleteWhat a wonderful idea for a freebie week, I love this theme!
ReplyDeleteIt's been a fun week!
DeleteI loved all your stories, so well written, the first one is really sad though...
ReplyDeleteYeah, I hate thinking of that time. Losing my grandad broke my heart.
DeleteI have a few books that I remember reading or listening to and can tell you exactly what I was doing at the time. It's amazing how the brain works. I remember when I got Last Sacrifice that I told myself I've only read one chapter a day so that I could make it last (instead of reading it in one sitting like I wanted to do). I still can't believe I showed so much restraint and stuck to my goal. LoL
ReplyDeleteI have no idea how you did it! I binged it and then re-read all my favourite bits until I was tired of reading them, lol.
DeleteMaybe I should re-read the Harris series again and see if it brings me the same luck lol I'm going through the same thing right now.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading the first 4 books over and over again almost weekly. I was obsessed.
Karen @ For What It's Worth
I re-read a few of them earlier this year and I found them just as charming as I originally did. It was also amazing how much I'd forgotten! It was like I remembered the key points of the story but not all the little things in between that made the story so good!
DeleteMoving is always hard so I wish you all the good luck you need!
Ooh, I adore your topic choice! There are so many interesting sensory memories we link to things and I'm always down to read about others experiences with them. I have a vivid memory about the Sookie Stackhouse novels, too! And Vampire Academy in general. This was such a fun post to read. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI kinda miss Sookie and VA... Finding a series that touches you like they did is hard.
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