Word/Music Associations

Experts say that the sense that is most strongly tied to memory is smell, with hearing coming in second. It is more likely than not that there is some sort of music playing while one is reading. With that being said, I was listening to the radio while I was randomly in and out of the car today, and I heard some songs that instantly brought back some memories of the books I had read while listening to that music. And then that got me thinking of all the music-book links that I've formed over the years

Crimson City series = Sleep Thief's CD The Dawnseeker

(Sitting in the rocking chair during the summer I got over my stupid ex)

Patient Zero = Linkin Park's  Minutes to Midnight

Dragonlance The Lost Histories  = No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom

Volume 2 The Irda and Volume 3 The Dargonesti (I read these on the school bus on the way to and from HS back when the CD first came out, such vivid memories of that)

Liberty = Tori Amos's Tales of the Librarian

Stupid & Contagious = Rachael Yamagata's Happenstance

Sacre Bleu (in the process of reading) = Seth MacFarlane's Music is Better Than Words

There are probably others, but I can't think of them at the moment. I've read so many books and listened to so many CDs while reading said books, I can't remember the book/music combinations. I'm sure there's a Matchbox Twenty (20?) CD in there matched with a Rogue Angel volume, as many others. 

What type of music do you like to listen to when you read? Do you listen to any music when you read? I have found that I read/retain what I've read better when there's some sort of music in the background. Not TV, even if it's like music videos or an all music channels. If there's some sort of visual component, I get distracted and can't focus on my reading. I'm a very visual learner. I have also found that there are certainly specific genres of music that tie together with genres of books. Like Tori Amos for more epic, sweeping stories, hard rocking Linkin Park for a zombie gore fest, and the like. I certainly wouldn't pair Five Finger Death Punch with a romantic comedy... on second thought... I probably wouldn't pair Five Finger Death Punch with anything. Their music makes my ears bleed. 

See?

Are your eardrums bleeding yet?