I have an odd habit.
Whenever I buy a new book—such as Folk-Tales of the Coast Salish, shown above, which I am using for research in my RAVEN books—the first thing I do is open them up wide, take a deep sniff, and smell the fresh print on paper.
But why?
Well, we all know that smell can elicit strong memories. The reason is, unlike all of the other senses, which require processing through the thalamus (a switching station in the brain), olfactory information goes to the olfactory bulb and then directly to the amygdala and hippocampus, the two parts of the brain that are principally responsible for emotion and memory respectively. (In evolutionary terms, the sensation of smell is very old, with significant survival benefit, so it isn’t surprising it has a direct route to emotions and memory.)
And what memory does the smell of fresh print on paper elicit for me?
I think it reminds me of a time as a 6-year old in England when I would buy and read paperbacks (mostly Enid Blyton books, if I recall). It was a joyful time—a time when I fell in love with books and fell in love with reading.
And now, every time I buy a new book, open it up, and smell its fresh print, I get to relive my childhood for one or two breaths.