How do you interact with books that you are reading?

[gandpsmommy]

Do you underline portions which you especially like? Do you write comments or questions in the margins? Or do you write down these quotes and comments elsewhere, perhaps in a journal or notebook? Do you keep a list of words that you don't know and want to learn? Do you just react mentally, never writing anything?

 

Since I have been purchasing books lately instead of only using the public library's resources, I have found myself wondering if I should write in the books. Part of me really wants to somehow mark sections that resonate with me. But the other part of me doesn't want to mar the clean white pages. I did used to underline and highlight my Bibles when I was a younger person who studied the Bible daily. There are sections which are heavily marked. So, if I was willing to write in the Bible, which I consider a sacred book, I guess I shouldn't be afraid to write in other books. But somehow I just can't bring myself to do it. So, I'm just curious how others feel about it.:)

[MIch elle]

If it's a cheap book and I know I'll keep it I write in it; otherwise, if there are important things from the book I want to remember I write it in my commonplace journal.

 

Go to Roman Reading and click on 5 Practical Skills for Transforming Your Life through Lit.

[SFP]

I wound up being quoted in The Guardian a couple months ago when I answered this question on my blog:

 

http://pagesturned.blogspot.com/2007/11/preservatives.html

[Brigid in NC]

I love buying clean used (CHEAP!) books. It helps me "give myself permission" to write in the books. I find myself far more engaged in a book if I have a pen and highlighter close by. I underline passage that I think are well written, thought provoking, or interesting for whatever reason. I put asterisks and check marks in the margins. I circle words I don't know -- but I don't always look them up. :rolleyes:

 

I find it particularly helpful to write in the books that I am teaching in my English co-op class. As a teacher, I think that writing in the book is almost essential. I encourge my high schoolers to write in their books too. My own kids do. Some of the kids whose families don't want that use post-it notes instead. ;)

 

Take care! ~Brigid

[Amy in NH]

Well, I don't write in my books, but sometimes I talk to them, and sometimes I yell at the characters. ;)

[Mrs Mungo]

I wrote in my books all the time in college. Now I keep a journal and notebook. I use the Book Lust journal to keep track of books I've read and my brief thoughts. However, it doesn't give you tons of room for note-taking so I also use a composition book and make notes in it.

[Happy]

I underline and mark up non-fiction. It does make reading more of an experience.

 

I only mark up fiction if I'm taking it apart for some reason. Other than that, I try just to enjoy.

[Karenciavo]

If it's a cheap book and I know I'll keep it I write in it; otherwise, if there are important things from the book I want to remember I write it in my commonplace journal. .

 

I have a Commonplace book too. I tend to write in how-to books, Climbing Parnassus, TWTM, my Bible are all written in.

[Crissy]

I use post-it type notes to mark passages I want to remember as I read throuh a book. When I finish I copy all of them into a notebook, and sometimes post them on my blog.

[Colleen]

I just read. Every now and then I might copy a quote it to be handy, but I am definitely not one to read with pen in hand.

[WTMindy]

I use post-it type notes to mark passages I want to remember as I read throuh a book. When I finish I copy all of them into a notebook, and sometimes post them on my blog.

 

I use post-in-notes too, but I mostly just read.:D

[Pster]

I take notes in a separate notebook - doesn't matter if it is a library bk or one that I own. I am BIG at making lists and taking notes. My grandfather was like this too - guess it's hereditary? :))

[Jenny in Atl]

I rarely mark a book but I do tend to jot down quotes I like or put a post-it note to mark the page. Now, high school/college, that's a different story. I loved those highlighters!

[readwithem]

I'm reading classics with my 16 yo dd so we both highlight in our books. Books that I read for pleasure I just read - but I have a notebook that I write down things that resonate with me :)

[K&Rs Mom]

This is stupid, but I no longer write in my books for the same reason I won't keep a journal - fear of someone finding it. I used to comment in the margins, especially in college, but when I look back at those books now, it's a pretty deeply personal look at my thoughts, many of which have greatly changed over the intervening 10 years.

[sdWTMer]

It's just not my book, unless it is written in. Of course, I always mark out curse words; but, more importantly, I believe in making my book my own. If it's something for me and my dh, I buy 2 copies. I don't buy multiple copies for the young un's yet, but I will. You should see my Bible. :D All marked up and I use all available space given to me as well.

[Lolly]

I don't write in my books. I don't dog-ear the pages. I make marks of NO kind in them. I don't break the spines either. I read them and set them carefully and lovingly on a shelf for the next person to read. It always bothered me to have a used text someone had highlighted. Why on earth don't they just learn to take notes???:D

[Sharon H in IL]

I'll rarely use ink on a "good" book, but if it's a old paperback I picked up for a song, sure. But pencil underlines, made properly with an index card, make a book more eloquent, I think. It's part of my conversation with the author.

 

If something really speaks to me, I'll copy it into my commonplace book. (BTW, I *love* that this place knows what a commonplace book is, and you don't have to explain yourself or feel like an odd duck for mentioning it.)

I just finished reading and marking up Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves To Death" and copying portions into my book. Now I'm going to re-read it, and see what I may have missed the first time around. More marks, certainly, but my previous notes will help me see the key points more clearly.

 

Confession: I once marked (very lightly, with pencil) in a new library book. It's author was claiming miracle cures by avoiding - get this - vegetables. Yup. Vegetables contain toxins. On one page she admitted that she had no data to support this claim that the miniscule levels of toxins present in plant matter were 1) sufficient to cause harm in humans or 2) that avoiding eating them would solve your health problem. But the rest of the book went on, claiming silly things. I wrote in the margins next to each of the silly claims the page number where she admitted she was blowing smoke. And I'm proud. So there. :D

[RoughCollie]

I don't write in my books because I've got nothing to say. I do put in those post-it bookmark things if I plan to return to a passage in a nonfiction book later, though.

 

My Bible is a different story. I underline passages in it with wild abandon.

 

Mostly I just talk to my books. I beg them to get lost so I can muster up the self-control to do housework instead of reading.

[Guest Lorna]

She wrote 'Out of Africa' and 'Babette's Feast' amongst many other books. I was horrified to see she had written in the marbled paper end papers and throughout many of the books in her library. I was always taught that this was very wrong and 'defacing' a book. I must say I really dislike when someone has done it in library books, and it is sad even to see it in second-hand books. I think of books as all being potential museum pieces. They can be loved to death by reading but one shouldn't abuse them.

Rights for books! ;)