Books That Engage the Five Senses

SIGHT — Chabon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel addresses many issues: World War II and the Holocaust, Jewish and gay identities, and the American Dream via New York City. But the most visceral parts of the novel are when Joe Kavalier and Sammy Clay actually sketch out their comic—Sam with the ideas, Joe with the pencil and ink strokes—which breathes life into their hero the Escapist and his allies and rogues gallery.

TASTE — On her ninth birthday, Rose discovers she possesses a fascinating and awful gift: She can taste people’s emotions in what they cook or bake. The first emotion she’s hit with? Her seemingly cheerful mother’s despair. While initially horrified, Rose tries to embrace her gift as she grows up, using her unique insight into others’ most private lives to better understand the personal interplays happening around her.

SMELL — Born without a scent, Jean-Baptise Grenouille becomes obsessed with bottling the odors of virginal young women and using them to create the greatest perfume the world has ever made. While his motivations and methods are horrific, the novel examines how smell is tied to humanity: Grenouille is shunned for lacking a natural odor, and his perfumes are tools for manipulating others to his twisted desires—which stem, ultimately, from wanting to be happy for once.