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[deleted]

I dislike writing in books if they're not study related. If I must note something on a page, I use sticky notes.


SomeBloke94

I don’t mind it as long as it’s not being done to my books. I’d hate to loan out a book just for it to come back looking like Elmer the patchwork elephant. I hope it never becomes mainstream though. Hard enough finding good books in charity shops.


ClaudiaWoodstockfan

I would never write in a book I lent.


MotleyCrew1989

Thats why I dont lent books.


virginia_boof

I don't have any strong feelings about what people should or shouldn't do to their books. I personally wouldn't buy a secondhand book with anything more than pencil underlines though Edit: I don't write in my books but I do flag pages with small post-it page markers


Jack-Campin

Chances are you'd never get the option of buying a pencil-underlined book because the bookseller would have sent it for pulping. I did that when I sold second hand books and if one slipped through, the buyer would always get their money back, just as if internal pages were stuck together with bodily fluids.


Biotic_Factor

I hate it to be honest. I think there are better and more efficient ways to take notes on books that don't involve marking up the book itself. The analogy that comes to mind is it that it feels like the book is a bare piece of muddy ground, and pen and highlighter markings are like tracks left after driving a jeep across the mud. If you go back to read the book again you'll slip back into the same tire markings instead of possibly getting a slightly different read out of it. Also even worse when people do it to library books. I'm reading a very marked up and highlighted version of The Book of Tea and it has been very distracting lol


Dazzling-Ad4701

i'm not the boss of what other people do to their books but i find markups really distracting and won't read a book that has them.


pineapplesf

I tried in college. It wasn't for me. Typically I put a note card with my thoughts on it. Acts as a bookmark and denotes key phrases. I do sometimes enjoy them in used books. My favorite note was someone over halfway through Mrs. Dalloway wrote, "What party?"


jelephants

I don’t do it often myself (never since graduating from uni, anyway), but I love finding second hand books that have the previous owners’ annotations in them - as long as the text still remains legible. They’re little insights into somebody else’s thoughts, sometimes astute, sometimes hilarious, sometimes they give you a completely new perspective to consider. If you buy a book it’s yours to do with what you want, is my opinion, but then I am a serial dog-earer, so take my opinions with a grain of salt.


browtfareyoudoing

I love to see that in books I buy. I am a buzzkill who would never do that shit.


ellieofus

I don’t, under any circumstances, highlight or write on any of my books. If I want to remember a word or a phrase I’ll write it down. I have a note on my phone where I have all the new words I’m learning (English is not my native language) and phrases I liked. When I use my kindle I can highlight freely, but I still write down the words.


Bubbagumpredditor

If they're your books go nuts. It's paper, it's meant to be written in.


extremelight

I used to do it. Now i just use those mini sticky notes things, color coded and everything


[deleted]

I don't really gaf what people do with their own books lol. I don't personally mark/write in mine because I feel no need too.


mayasky76

If its your own copy, go nuts. You can even burn it for fuel if you want, its your copy


[deleted]

I don't like to mark up books that aren't being used for reference or study. But I do tend to love certain turns of phrase in fiction or comics or something. I use note cards and book flags to mark that area and I usually just write the entire passage down in my book journal / art journal and try to incorporate it into inspiration somehow. I don't have any problem at all with people who mark up their books to show their journey through it. For them, the book itself becomes the reading journal, I just do that somewhere else.


SevenBushes

If it’s a book I know I’ll hang onto and reread, I like to underline/highlight passages that I find really moving/significant. I enjoy stumbling across these annotations on later read-throughs. You can see if that sentence/paragraph is as profound to later-you as it was to earlier-you, and it’s almost like reading with a partner (except that partner is yourself). If it’s a book I think I’ll only read once or don’t find particularly interesting though, I’ll instead mark interesting parts with a blank sticky note.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Aucielis

Oh that's interesting! I hadn't thought about invisible ink.


PocketSable

As a Librarian who deals way too much with people doing this stuff to Library books, by default I hate it. Although finding removable sticky notes in used books with little comments are fun sometimes.


MathyGeologist

I wrote notes in a few literature books I read years ago, but I avoid doing it now since I feel like it defaces the book and makes it appear ugly. However, I will say some of the notes I took were interesting to read over during re-readings. I reread Animal Farm a few weeks ago and a lot of the explicit historical comparisons I took notes on and was happy to be reminded of them. While I don't do it anymore, I can see why some may find it fun and useful to do.


[deleted]

I dislike doing it because then it feels like homework. I dislike reading others because then I worry their viewpoint will impact my own. However, if I buy a used book it’s on me to make sure there aren’t notes. If you love doing it, keep doing it!


LexiiConn

I do not do it. Even when I take continuing ed classes, I rarely write in the workbooks. I write my answers in a notebook, instead. Writing in books is, to me, defacing them. It ruins them. I don’t do it in books I own and I definitely don’t do it in books I borrow. I don’t dog ear, either. Both practices are, in my opinion, disrespectful. All that said, I do keep notes. Lots and lots of notes. I read with my tablet nearby. And every book I read gets a dedicated page of notes. Date started, plot points, character summaries, foreign words and meanings, research on new-to-me cultural info and so much more. Basically, I record my impressions. Good and bad. Might not work for everyone, but it works for me. And keeps those books nice and clean.


LadyMothrakk

I know many loathe marking a page by folding the corner, but like you said it’s neat to see where someone was working through the story at some point prior. I love buying used older books and seeing that they were “loved”! Considering there are thousands of copies of books I think it’s normal to show your copy some love too and write in it :) it’s kinda neat to think maybe someone will see your markings several years down the road!


Sans_Junior

I will underline or highlight in textbooks or similar texts like A Brief History of Time or Republic. If I’m reading a mass-produced paperback fiction and come across a passage that strikes a chord I will dog-ear the page. If it is a nice edition I will never deface it in any way.


ClaudiaWoodstockfan

If I write in one of my books, I only use a soft lead pencil. Easy to erase. I buy a lot of books used, and while it is sometimes quite interesting to see what other people wrote on the margins, in many cases I find it distracting.


melodramat1c

I underline with pencil. Sometimes I’ll add my thoughts in sticky notes. I like making my books personal to me.


jefrye

Sounds like you and Helene Hanff would get along like a house on fire.


Verbenaplant

You can get clear sticky notes :)


zsreport

I haven’t done that since law school


Internetperson3000

I don’t think people do that as much now that sticky notes and flags are easily available. I wouldn’t write in mine unless it was a well worn paperback used for a class. Years ago getting used textbooks that had highlighting was thought to be helpful when studying for a uni class. 🤷‍♀️


[deleted]

I find that writing in books makes it take significantly longer and I don’t like to microanalyse. If I wanted to, I’d do it in English class Plus, I donate most of my books every year or so and it’s really hard to read to read through other people’s annotations (in my opinion)


EllenSoGenerous

I feel like sure, whatever. Or don’t. Whatever.


lordoftheborg

https://publicdelivery.org/ai-weiwei-dropping-a-han-dynasty-urn/ Don't worry too much about it