I too cannot read a book without a pen. In fact I won’t move to reading any digital version of a book until someone creates a system that allows me to annotate as effortlessly as I can with paper and pen.
That said I also love buying used books that have been annotated. It’s like having a conversation with the author and another “student”.
I use kindle sometimes for searchability, but I like to do things with annotation that really aren’t supported on kindle. I also have a distrust of purely digital media. The Animal Farm pigs can control digital content and change it too easily.
Even though I am simultaneously outraged, disgusted, horrified, and very judgmental at this outlandish and provocative piece, I suppose you are entitled to you opinion.
On a serious note, the farthest I venture into the world of marking up books is making vertical marks in the margins to highlight certain lines. I guess I wouldn't be opposed to more thorough markings in principle, but the underlining makes it harder for me to read.
Ah, harder to read perhaps (though I admit I have never found it so), but so much easier to see important connection, to find things you want to find again, etc. But I know I won’t win everyone to my way on this. I suppose there are more important hill to die on. ;-)
I cannot bear to write in a book. This is the result of a partner in a large law firm,in about 1983, telling me not to underline or otherwise write , in the books of case law in their library. This happened after 3 years in law school during which it was unheard of NOT to write or underline in law books used as texts in school.
Now , 50 years later, noteworthy ideas or concepts in fiction or non -fiction are memorialized on quarter sized (of 8 x11") paper, in ink, in the best penmanship I can muster. The page number is included. Writing it down is what's important, b/c I'm more apt to remember it. Sometimes ideas are recorded in an available notebook.
My goal is to finish the book or decide to cast it aside without finishing it. It was liberating when I discovered there is no shame in not reading to the end. The exception to the rule is to < bookmark the significant text with whatever instrument that's handy>.
Thank you for this! I am starting a Great Books Masters program at the end of the month. I am a homeschool mom of 4 who hasn’t been a student since I graduated from college in 2002! This gives me such a good framework as I start my studies.
It is with Memoria College. It is all online and very flexible which is great with homeschooling my kids. I have been looking at your curriculum and it looks great. My oldest is entering 5th grade so I hope to utilize some of your resources in the future.
I do so many of the things you mentioned. I appreciate the questions you suggested. In some ways I do that. In my bible I date my comments, especially those that are either questions or a personal way it hit me in a particular season. One other thing I do in all my books (except my bible) is notate the page number and a short note on the inside front (and often back) covers of the book where I made notes, had questions, underlined great quotes, etc. Thanks for this post! :)
I used to make my pages look like fairy tale world. But, now, I don't, I just write it down in my notetaking app. I think it works just fine. But, thanks for the advices!
Ok... noooooo!!!! I grew up with notebooks and secondhand books; the first thing I would do on getting a book out of a vintage bookstore was, go over it with an eraser. Mark it? Never.
That said, I love to see people work and interface with their books. Theirs might be a way that drives me nuts but it is a reaction to what they are reading, and that's great.
To manage genuinely dense and hyperreal texts, my way is, one beautiful edition to read and one Penguin or Wordsworth to mark up :)
Jacob, this post is so rewarding. I learned how and why to notate books, with a pen, as I read, and I find that I cannot stop. It's the best thing to do and engage with a book or novel. I can go back to some of my favorite books and note how I was thinking at the time. One thing I like to do is date it. It's amazing how thinking changes as we get older. I like your system of colors for notating, but I need to know how you juggle all those pens at one time. Or is there another way you do it. Great ideas here!
Thanks for your kind words! I just have my pens laid out and switch back and forth, it’s a bit cumbersome but worth it to me. I find the benefit outweighs the trouble.
I appreciate your suggestions, and I have restacked your helpful article. I also mark up my books, but I prefer to put most of my notes in digital formats—in Evernote, for example. Like you, I teach literature. My notes really come in handy, as I’m sure yours do!
Does this affect your re-readability at all? Perhaps it is beneficial for philosophy or non-fiction. But I feel that if I were to fill the margins that it would distract me from reading the story as it is a second or third time. Perhaps the extended conversation you can then have with your previous self makes up for it though.
I think it’s fun to see how my own thinking has grown since the last time I wrote in my book and made comments. But certainly you could keep clean copies of your favorite books just for pure pleasure reading. I have series I’ve consumed without stopping and then went back and annotated later. Two different and good experiences.
I seem to have a much more convoluted system than pretty much every other person who annotates, but I too believe in marking up one's books. I do have multiple copies of some books so that I can have a pristine version, especially if the book is old (I have one gem that's older than the US). I definitely won't use highlighters in my egregiously old books but I still write in them!
For me personally, a book that's been marked is a book that has been well and truly loved. I have synesthesia and everything in existence has a corresponding color whether I like it or not and whether I agree with the color or not. As such, my highlighting system is extreme—32 colors associated with topics/themes and 3 more for straight highlighting with no strings attached. And that's not including color-coded pens, like lime green to box in words I don't know yet (and it's a completely different system for the Bible yet).
I like using Staedtler's triplus fineliners and Zebra's mildliner/fineliner dual tipped highlighters for all my annotating needs. I'm in college majoring in literature so annotating is kind of a must but I've been marking up my books since middle school days—it's the easiest way for me to argue with authors without getting into trouble. I also like looking back and seeing how I understood a text at different periods of life/reading, because sometimes I disagreed with a text and years later I understood it better and maybe didn't disagree as much. My annotations show not only what interested me but how I learned and grew with the text over time and several rereadings.
It is quite overwhelming, I had to make a cheat sheet to remember them all. I generally pick about 6 topics or themes to look for in texts relating to my courses so I don't spend all my time over-analyzing things that aren't necessary. The extreme version is for my own time but I keep it shorter for coursework since grades and deadlines are involved.
I too cannot read a book without a pen. In fact I won’t move to reading any digital version of a book until someone creates a system that allows me to annotate as effortlessly as I can with paper and pen.
That said I also love buying used books that have been annotated. It’s like having a conversation with the author and another “student”.
Actually, the ability to underline, annotate, search, and export my notes is why I’m nearly a total digital reader!
I do appreciate your comment about “conversing” with other readers! (Kindle has this feature too!)
I use kindle sometimes for searchability, but I like to do things with annotation that really aren’t supported on kindle. I also have a distrust of purely digital media. The Animal Farm pigs can control digital content and change it too easily.
Even though I am simultaneously outraged, disgusted, horrified, and very judgmental at this outlandish and provocative piece, I suppose you are entitled to you opinion.
On a serious note, the farthest I venture into the world of marking up books is making vertical marks in the margins to highlight certain lines. I guess I wouldn't be opposed to more thorough markings in principle, but the underlining makes it harder for me to read.
Ah, harder to read perhaps (though I admit I have never found it so), but so much easier to see important connection, to find things you want to find again, etc. But I know I won’t win everyone to my way on this. I suppose there are more important hill to die on. ;-)
I cannot bear to write in a book. This is the result of a partner in a large law firm,in about 1983, telling me not to underline or otherwise write , in the books of case law in their library. This happened after 3 years in law school during which it was unheard of NOT to write or underline in law books used as texts in school.
Now , 50 years later, noteworthy ideas or concepts in fiction or non -fiction are memorialized on quarter sized (of 8 x11") paper, in ink, in the best penmanship I can muster. The page number is included. Writing it down is what's important, b/c I'm more apt to remember it. Sometimes ideas are recorded in an available notebook.
My goal is to finish the book or decide to cast it aside without finishing it. It was liberating when I discovered there is no shame in not reading to the end. The exception to the rule is to < bookmark the significant text with whatever instrument that's handy>.
Thank you for this! I am starting a Great Books Masters program at the end of the month. I am a homeschool mom of 4 who hasn’t been a student since I graduated from college in 2002! This gives me such a good framework as I start my studies.
Awesome! Where are you going to study?
It is with Memoria College. It is all online and very flexible which is great with homeschooling my kids. I have been looking at your curriculum and it looks great. My oldest is entering 5th grade so I hope to utilize some of your resources in the future.
That’s great! Martin Cothran, who I believe is instrumental in that program, is a really great guy. I’m sure you’re going to love it!
Let me know if there is any way I can support and encourage your family as you are homeschooling!
I started really annotating my books as an adult. I found that it helped me concentrate and made the book a friend again as it did when I was a child.
I'll definitely be borrowing some methods of yours and others in the comments and forming a more specific way of doing it. Thanks.
I do so many of the things you mentioned. I appreciate the questions you suggested. In some ways I do that. In my bible I date my comments, especially those that are either questions or a personal way it hit me in a particular season. One other thing I do in all my books (except my bible) is notate the page number and a short note on the inside front (and often back) covers of the book where I made notes, had questions, underlined great quotes, etc. Thanks for this post! :)
I used to make my pages look like fairy tale world. But, now, I don't, I just write it down in my notetaking app. I think it works just fine. But, thanks for the advices!
Here is something Adler wrote regarding the marking of books which really confirmed my position to write in the majority of my books. https://stevenson.ucsc.edu/academics/stevenson-college-core-courses/how-to-mark-a-book-1.pdf
Amazing how many pre-owned books have copious markings which peter out after the first few pages!
Ha! Like New Year’s resolution journals.
Ok... noooooo!!!! I grew up with notebooks and secondhand books; the first thing I would do on getting a book out of a vintage bookstore was, go over it with an eraser. Mark it? Never.
That said, I love to see people work and interface with their books. Theirs might be a way that drives me nuts but it is a reaction to what they are reading, and that's great.
To manage genuinely dense and hyperreal texts, my way is, one beautiful edition to read and one Penguin or Wordsworth to mark up :)
Jacob, this post is so rewarding. I learned how and why to notate books, with a pen, as I read, and I find that I cannot stop. It's the best thing to do and engage with a book or novel. I can go back to some of my favorite books and note how I was thinking at the time. One thing I like to do is date it. It's amazing how thinking changes as we get older. I like your system of colors for notating, but I need to know how you juggle all those pens at one time. Or is there another way you do it. Great ideas here!
Hi,
Thanks for your kind words! I just have my pens laid out and switch back and forth, it’s a bit cumbersome but worth it to me. I find the benefit outweighs the trouble.
Great post! I’ve thought about writing something on this subject myself.
Annotation is a form of conversation with the author…
As opposed to feeling “talked at” by them.
I appreciate your suggestions, and I have restacked your helpful article. I also mark up my books, but I prefer to put most of my notes in digital formats—in Evernote, for example. Like you, I teach literature. My notes really come in handy, as I’m sure yours do!
Does this affect your re-readability at all? Perhaps it is beneficial for philosophy or non-fiction. But I feel that if I were to fill the margins that it would distract me from reading the story as it is a second or third time. Perhaps the extended conversation you can then have with your previous self makes up for it though.
I think it’s fun to see how my own thinking has grown since the last time I wrote in my book and made comments. But certainly you could keep clean copies of your favorite books just for pure pleasure reading. I have series I’ve consumed without stopping and then went back and annotated later. Two different and good experiences.
Good insight 😌 Can i translate part of this article into Spanish with links to you and a description of your newsletter?
Hi, yes you may.
Wonderful! Funny coming across this now, not long after publishing something similar myself, “Talk Back to Your Books” https://open.substack.com/pub/areasonabledoubt/p/talk-back-to-your-books?r=4zwti&utm_medium=ios
I’ll check it out!
I seem to have a much more convoluted system than pretty much every other person who annotates, but I too believe in marking up one's books. I do have multiple copies of some books so that I can have a pristine version, especially if the book is old (I have one gem that's older than the US). I definitely won't use highlighters in my egregiously old books but I still write in them!
For me personally, a book that's been marked is a book that has been well and truly loved. I have synesthesia and everything in existence has a corresponding color whether I like it or not and whether I agree with the color or not. As such, my highlighting system is extreme—32 colors associated with topics/themes and 3 more for straight highlighting with no strings attached. And that's not including color-coded pens, like lime green to box in words I don't know yet (and it's a completely different system for the Bible yet).
I like using Staedtler's triplus fineliners and Zebra's mildliner/fineliner dual tipped highlighters for all my annotating needs. I'm in college majoring in literature so annotating is kind of a must but I've been marking up my books since middle school days—it's the easiest way for me to argue with authors without getting into trouble. I also like looking back and seeing how I understood a text at different periods of life/reading, because sometimes I disagreed with a text and years later I understood it better and maybe didn't disagree as much. My annotations show not only what interested me but how I learned and grew with the text over time and several rereadings.
If it works for you, my friend, then it’s a good system. I’d feel a bit overwhelmed with that many colors myself. 😂
It is quite overwhelming, I had to make a cheat sheet to remember them all. I generally pick about 6 topics or themes to look for in texts relating to my courses so I don't spend all my time over-analyzing things that aren't necessary. The extreme version is for my own time but I keep it shorter for coursework since grades and deadlines are involved.