Top Ten Books That Make Me Think of Certain Smells

Posted September 15, 2025 by Jana in Top Ten Tuesday / 19 Comments

Welcome to another TTT! This week’s topic was submitted by Heather at The Frozen Library, and is: Literary/Bookish Candles I’d Make. The idea is to pick a book and assign it a fragrance or fragrance combo that would make a nice candle. I have a pretty severe fragrance and chemical allergy, so I’m not an artificial fragrance kind of girl. I decided to put a spin on this topic and focus on books that make me think of certain smells. I’m breaking this list down by smell, and I will note right now that this was a really hard topic for me. lol. Here we go!

Christmas Trees

Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison
Snowflakes at the Little Christmas Tree Farm by Jaimie Admans

Sea Air

A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare (Spindle Cove!)
Unbreak My Heart by Melissa C. Walker (takes place on a sailboat)

Baked Goods and Sweets

Mixed Signals by B.K. Borison (the heroine is a baker!)
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst (there are so many yummy baked goods and jams in this book)

Paper/Books

Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross (the two main characters communicate through letters for a time)
The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin

Flowers

Old Flames and New Fortunes by Sarah Hogle (the main character is a florist)
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren (Hawaii smells like flowers to me!)

I’m so curious to see what candles you’d create that are inspired by books you love?
Can you think of any smells that you associate with certain books?
Do you have a fragrance allergy like I do?

Share this post:

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

19 responses to “Top Ten Books That Make Me Think of Certain Smells

    • Jana

      Oh no! lol. I guess sea air can stink sometimes (depending on where you are), but I’m thinking of the good kind of smell! lol. I lived by the ocean for most of my childhood, and have been on many cruises and traveled to many tropical locations and that fresh, salty sea air is my favorite!

  1. I didn’t do the theme, instead I did my top ten short story collections and stand-alone short stories, to celebrate #ShortStorySeptember! Sorry! But hey, short stories light my fire! Does that help?

  2. HI Jana,
    I like your picks of the scents. I am sorry. I thought I had my link to my TTT. I didn’t. I put in my website instead. I didn’t know that I did. I am sorry again. Have a great day. Such a fun topic.