Do you write in your books?

[Wilde woman]

I'm always scribbling in my books. Anyone else?

[Mag Master 21]

I used to make make extensive markings, but I've recently started buying every book in hardcover / special editions (Easton Press, vintage, etc.). So now I'll either write on a post-it note and place it on the page, or have a separate paperback version that I can write freely in.

[Mr Endon]

The poll answer closest to mine is #3. I'll only write in the book if I'm using it only for university.

I never write or underline anything on a book of fiction, because a) it distracts me when I'm re-reading and b) I may offer the book to someone or some library. I do understand why someone would write on the margin, but underlining a book I'm supposed to enjoy would for me be masochism.

[andave_ya]

I did today - it was quite the strange sensation!!

But I did it because it's an old book, and one that I like very much, and realized that it's one I'd like to pass on, someday, with my thoughts in there :). It's a pity I'm nearly done with the book - I should have written in it from the beginning :D.

[mono]

Never!
Every time I see someone sketching words in a book, including with a pencil, dog-earing a page, or lying a book face down, bending and stretching the spine, I cringe. Several of my books in my mini-library contain a sheet (or two or three) of notebook paper or post-it notes that I used, at the time of reading the book, for a bookmark, on which I copied down notes, quotations, thoughts, etc., with pages referenced.
Not that I intend on sounding preachy, as we all only own a mere reproduced copy of a book, but I would think it unlikely for someone to buy an art print to mount on a wall, and write notes directly on the painting print of thoughts, such as 'note the coloring in this section' or 'this artist always signs in the bottom left corner.'

[MarkBastable]

I don't, but not really because I consider it desecration. I don't subscribe to the idea of books as sacred objects. To me, the words matter, but the object doesn't very much.

The reason I don't write in a book is that, next time I read it, I don't want to be reminded of what I thought last time I read it.

[grace86]

I write only in textbooks for university. And it does actually help me pay attention and digest what I'm reading...cause otherwise I'd just underline the whole darn chapter or something!

There was this philosophy I had against underlining in textbooks at one time; I had figured since it was a textbook, it was pointless to underline anything because all the material should be important. I graduated from naive thinking real quickly so to speak when I started to actually read the text :D but I do actually make notes in them today to help sort out and outline what it is I've learned. And it definitely helps!

[Phranchesskah]

I would think it unlikely for someone to buy an art print to mount on a wall, and write notes directly on the painting print of thoughts, such as 'note the coloring in this section' or 'this artist always signs in the bottom left corner.'

People do that on rough photocopies of pictures though.

Myself, I don't have a habit of writing in books, but have done every so often. There isn't a relevant poll option for me.

[Jeremiah Jazzz]

The only book I have ever written in was Joyce's Finnegans Wake. I enjoy writing in books, making it something I should do more often.

[kratsayra]

I think I voted for the wrong thing, now that I think about it . . .

I picked #4, because I write in a lot of books, all the time. The ones that I own, anyway. I use little post-it notes all over the place if it's a library book.

But all of the books I write in are actually for my research which is kind of like #3 since I'm a grad student. If you think of my dissertation as "being tested on it" ;)

I almost never write in books if I'm reading them for pleasure. Although I have on occasion if it's a really incredible line.

[joseph90ie]

I love to mark down my favourite passages in a book I like. I don't stick down my own thoughts, or rarely anyway, but each to their own in this matter. But I mark it very faintly; it's no heavy defacement. If you casually looked at these books, they would appear entirely unmarked, except the back, empty page, where the page numbers corresponding to the page markings are to be found (how else would I reference the page that has been marked?).

I use a blue pen to mark the two or three lines of a given page I may wish to be able to locate for future easy access. I draw a tiny, 1cm line - less than a word in length - under the start of the beginning of the quote, accompanied by three tinchy, invisible dots to indicate the direction of the marked quote. I leave it there, no further markings; but then I go directly to the end of the quote - maybe three lines later or whatever - make the same 1cm marking, and put the three dots in a backward direction, before the 1cm line, to show that it's the end of the captured quote. You should try this; you've to look very closely to see these marks (though if you've made them yourself, it's easy to find them), and what's best of all, they are the work of 2 seconds, so the flow of reading isn't interrupted.

I can't imagine looking at my shelf of favourite books and having no way to access my favourite parts; because most of those books I'm almost certain I'll never read from beginning to end again. Your favourite books are important experiences; and not to have quick future access to retrieve the most memorable parts - like a photo album of a holiday - well that would be terrible, wouldn't it?

There's a post that says don't mark your books for the same reason you shouldn't mark a lovely picture on your wall. I see no parallel here. Marking a book is all about easy access for your favourite bits. This is not a problem for a picture, which is on a single sheet. And sure a picture is all about the image, the appearance to the eye, so any marking is going to ruin that; whereas words on a page are nothing to do with the ideas and pictures they put in your mind - so marking the page does not mark what the page puts in your mind. But I don't imagine we can really disagree for long on this point.

[Virgil]

I absolutely write in the books I own. It is mine and I want to record my thoughts as I read. I re-read frequently, especially great works. It is invaluable to me to remember my thoughts at my initial reading. I not only am able to re-see off the bat my first observations and then I can focus on other observations.

[stlukesguild]

Not that I intend on sounding preachy, as we all only own a mere reproduced copy of a book, but I would think it unlikely for someone to buy an art print to mount on a wall, and write notes directly on the painting print of thoughts, such as 'note the coloring in this section' or 'this artist always signs in the bottom left corner.'

Actually, I make frequent notations about color, light, composition, etc... in my art books. Making notes in books has a long history. Old scrolls and medieval manuscripts often contain commentary added by later readers in the margins. On the other hand, I personally cringe at discovering underlined passages in a book I have purchased or wished to purchase. I have no interest in purchasing a book with some first year college student's scrawled notations and half-scribbled underlinings that show no respect for the book or the author. If I make notes in the margins of a book it is because I have thought enough of the work I am reading to wish to hold a dialog with the writer and I am not about to then dump that book at the used book store.

[JBI]

Generally not, though I sometimes do - but I always read with a large clipboard at hand, and scribble constantly onto that.

[eyemaker]

of course. I'm quite fond of doing some markings in my books- school textbooks in particular. My textbooks are actually a bit inhabited by "eyes", monstrous caricatures to name a few. :D

[pagebypage]

I don't, but not really because I consider it desecration. I don't subscribe to the idea of books as sacred objects. To me, the words matter, but the object doesn't very much.

The reason I don't write in a book is that, next time I read it, I don't want to be reminded of what I thought last time I read it.

Ditto that. Saved me some typing. thanks

[Dark Muse]

Genreally I only do it when reading a book for school and it took me a long time before I could bring myself to do it for school reasons. I use to feel it was like sacralige to write within a book but I got in the habbit of doing it eventually but even so when I do it is usually always within pencil. Sometimes I will heighlight things.

[Wilde woman]

Your favourite books are important experiences; and not to have quick future access to retrieve the most memorable parts - like a photo album of a holiday - well that would be terrible, wouldn't it?

Yes, exactly. Plus, if I did happen to reread it in the future, it's a nostalgic experience to see what I thought of it the first time around AND see how much I've developed as a reader since. It makes all the subsequent reading experiences that much more personal.


If I make notes in the margins of a book it is because I have thought enough of the work I am reading to wish to hold a dialog with the writer and I am not about to then dump that book at the used book store.

Exactly. I wouldn't mark in just any book; I usually don't in my light pleasure-reading books; I didn't mark in my Harry Potter books (or any other nice hard-covers). If I mark in a book it means that I really want to engage with the author's ideas. Having said that, I think it would be incredibly rude for someone to mark extensively in a book and then sell it. I never mark in the books I mean to re-sell or give away as gifts, only in the ones I know I'll keep forever.

I used to have an aversion against writing in my textbooks, but I gave into highlighting. Once I found out how helpful that was in helping me retain the content, I started marking extensively in my books....highlighting, underlining, annotating in the margins. It's really incredible how much more actively I read when I read with a pen in hand. I actually found the best bookmark is a pen. :D

[Tsuyoiko]

I've never written in books because I was brought up to treat them with respect, so although I don't see anything wrong in it, I still can't break the taboo my parents instilled in me.

I do enjoy reading second hand books with someone else's notes in them. I took over my office here from a professor of Russian Literature (that's serendipity!), and since he left his books behind I helped myself. It was interesting to see his notes, as they gave me a different perspective on the books. Sometimes I could work out from his notes what aspect of the novel he was particularly studying.

[PoeticPassions]

I absolutely write in the books I own. It is mine and I want to record my thoughts as I read. I re-read frequently, especially great works. It is invaluable to me to remember my thoughts at my initial reading. I not only am able to re-see off the bat my first observations and then I can focus on other observations.

Same here... plus I really like to underline lines that are breathtaking or that I will utilize in some other way, or that make me ponder for a long time. But I am also the type of person that has too many quotes memorized and can use them on many different occasions or for different situations. Yes, I am a word thief :) or a swindler of verse, if you so prefer...

[mona amon]

No, I don't have the habit of writing in books, mostly because they're almost all borrowed from the library, but I usually record my impressions in a diary after I finish the book.

[ClaesGefvenberg]

I'm always scribbling in my books. Anyone else?Nope. I use mindmapping (http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15876) on a separate papers or the computer instead. That way I have all my notes concentrated to one or a few sheets of paper instead of spreading them out all through the book.

/Claes

[amalia1985]

I do write in the books I am planning to teach each time. I used to do a lot of writing on the margins of my books, especially when I was in university, and I still carry on this procedure, when time allows it.

[Chava]

Only textbooks, which I could not live without doodling in. Lots of question marks, and words underlined to remind me to loof them up for definitions later. I find it easier to go over course material that I have clearly already read through once, and the notes remind me of things I had forgotten.

I don't like sprawling text in my literature though it's not about respect for the artwork or anything, though I admire it, I just get distracted otherwise. And please please please... do not mistreat books by earing them, or doing what ever else to them? Just treat 'em good. :)

[Joreads]

No I can never bring myself to write in them.

[zanna]

This is an interesting discussion! Each one has a good point.

I have written in my books a time or two; certainly in my math book; I circle confusing parts, or do my own arithmetic off to the side, for example, which helps me understand.

The other time has been my reading in John McFee's Control of Nature; a book about geology and human interactions with nature. He is an interesting writer, and I've underlined particular turns of phrase, or written smiley faces next to parts I found funny, or sad faces next to worrisome bits, and so on. My little notes help me find important passages again later, when I'm trying to write an essay referencing his work.

Also, I have one of those fill-in-the-blank diary/journal books from when I was younger, and I like to pull that out every once in a while, to see how things have changed. There is a whole section on "have you/will you" do this or that, and it's cool to see the things I've done since the last time, and how my attitudes have changed. Not the same thing, but kinda-sorta related, lol.

[qspeechc]

I write in my textbooks, but I absolutely hate it when someone writes in a library book. Their comments and underlinings are usually dull, and anyway, I want to discover things for myself and form my own interpretations. Even after erasing pencil marks, one can usually still see the impression the pencil made on the page, or the lead itself. I vehemntly hate people who write in library books.

[LitNetIsGreat]

It is supposed to be very useful to write in the books your are reading/studying, (even better if you draw in them!) though I can't and don't write in a really good copy of a book.

[manolia]

Never!
Every time I see someone sketching words in a book, including with a pencil, dog-earing a page, or lying a book face down, bending and stretching the spine, I cringe.

Same here. Some times when i finish a book i put a heavy weight on it to streghten it up :lol:

[crystalmoonshin]

It depends on what book it is. If it's a textbook, I tend to not just write, but doodle a lot haha. I don't like doing nothing in class so whenever I get bored, I'd get my pen and draw fabulous animals like a vampire pig, a butterfly snake or whatever's on my head. It's a habit that started way way back when I was still in elementary and up until now, I still do it. And that's why I don't like lending my books to my classmates, I get embarrassed when they see my drawings and my crazy writings. Oh yeah, textbooks are great for practicing my katakana and hiragana, too!:)

[The Comedian]

I love to comment, underline, comment, paraphrase in my books. Heck, sometimes I draw pictures in them. I break the bindings too. And I dog ear pages.

When I'm done with a book and want it to look like a favorite pair of blue-jeans or a child's favorite stuffed animal: well-worn and well-loved.

I also like to go back and read the notes and comments that I made, mostly for nostalgia, but there is a lot of pleasure in that. The books I read do and have always helped to make me who I am or shown me a reflection of myself. Call it narcissism, but I look to in the mirror now and then.

[Bancini]

My books also end up getting beat up. But I tend to buy a lot of used books in the first place.

I've really gotten into audiobooks since having children. Hard to write in them....

[mmaria]

Oh, yes. I even "illustrate" them.

[kiki1982]

Never. I don't know what it is with me but I never do so. I want to have a whole idea before I think and underlining certain things cannot give me a general idea. Sometimes I go and read certain passages again, but I'll never highlight...

And Anyway, now with those e-books, we don't need to underline, because we can just go 'controll find' and find the thing we want. I used to underline for school ten years ago in the time before e-books because otherwise I ended up looking for a certain sentence for hours and hours. But mostly it turned out not to be underlined, so I wasn't totally effective in my tactics... :p

If I can't understand something in a work (Shakespeare f.i.) I go and look it up and write it down in a little book in case I need it again. If I write it in the book I am reading it doesn't serve me unless I read that book again, but what if I encounter the same word in another work and can't remember? Then the fact that I noted it in Shakespeare won't help me...

In information books I also never underline... That stopped when I left uni... I now have time to look it up, read the chapter again if need be, so I don't see the need to underline...

[sofia82]

Yes, I write on my books specially academic ones, if i don't have anything written in the book I cannot study well sometimes I had to buy a new one of the same book :D

[kelby_lake]

I feel evil if I write in books.

[Pecksie]

Never.

[bree]

I always write in my books. I like to buy second hand books that are written in too so I can see another person's perspective on it aswell.

[kiki1982]

It is ironic, but today I wrote in my copy of Ivanhoe! Just the day after I declared never to write in books...

The Spanish word Scott was not totally what he translated it to be, so I put a reference in that gives the translation...

I hadn't done this for about... 10 years?

[Dr. Hill]

I desecrated my copy of Notes From Underground today.

[semi-fly]

On occasion I have written in a few political science textbooks, but I don't believe I've ever written in a literature book.

[warm]

For school, yes, definitely. It helps with 'closed reading', as my teachers like to say.

[Drkshadow03]

I write in books all the time, and I keep a "reading" journal (see my blog). My girlfriend thought it the weirdest thing when she first heard I wrote in all my books. I suppose I could do the Post-it thing, but that would seem like so much extra work or prep.

I don't really care if it is a nice hardcopy or a cheap paperback, I simply write in my books if I think the notes will be helpful to me or I can't help writing a comment. Sometimes I'll paraphrase a whole stanza in a poem. Sometimes I'll simply writing one word comments about the theme. Sometimes I'll remark on the literary technique with a simple note like "allusion to X" or "alliteration" or whatever. Sometimes I'll remark on the feelings it inspired in me with comments like "this filled me with a deep sense of sadness" or "this passage was beautiful." Sometimes I'll note how the issues a certain section raises reminds me of a particular contemporary issue. Sometimes I'll write deeper analysis that are themselves multiple sentences of analysis rather than just a single word. Really all depends.

You could flip through some of my books and every page will be a mess of jotted ink, while other books I write nothing. And everything in between. It really depends.


Unlike everyone else, I actually don't mind getting used editions with a few notes in the margins by previous readers. I like seeing other people's perspectives on a work. It's one of the reasons I come here. So why would I dislike it in a book I own?

[Pollopicu]

Yes and no.

I used to. Not anymore. I've been so embarrassed by my own notes years later, that I vowed not to do it again. You should see the notes in my book "codependent no more". oh my God I want to die..

but now I only write my name, date and location I bought the book. I think it's very important for people in the future to see who the book once belonged to. I love when I buy an old book and see the previous owners name.

[DanielBenoit]

It's both a sin and a temptation. I almost always underline things, but with my special 1909 edition of the Complete Works of Shakespeare (which is sacred :lol:), I have another edition to scribble all over, so I can leave that one untouched.

[Rogers_68]

I will underline passages that I really like in novels. I usually don't write out my thoughts in the book, though. I usually have used/worn copies of novels so that I can do such things as write in them and carry them in my backpack without worry.

I write in my Bible frequently, both underlining passages and writing basic thoughts.

If something I read really gets me thinking I'll rewrite the passage in my journal and expound from there.

[NickAdams]

I don't; not because it's a nerd habit or I think its sacrilege, although I have rare books: I just don't know when to stop. The pages of my college text books glow in the dark! I highlight everything!

[mystery_spell]

No, I don't write in my books. My college textbooks, yes, I write in, but not in books that I read just for the pleasure of reading.

[bluosean]

what mystery_spell said, exactly.

[Nick Capozzoli]

Well, I don't write in any book that I don't own, as a matter of
respect for the property of others. I wouldn't write in some books
that I do own, like valuable editions, because that might detract
from their value.

We should consider that there are famous examples of marginal
comments made by readers of printed books and manuscripts, where
these marginalia have been deemed to be important, sometimes
more important than the text commented upon.

Fermat's "Last Theorem" was never published by Fermat. It exists
in his comment on a page of Diophantus that says that he has
a wonderful proof that there are no integer solutions to the
equation a to the nth power plus b to the nth power equals c
to the nth power, where a,b, c, and n are integers and n is greater
than 2...unfortunately, he states that the margin is too small
to contain his proof...

So perhaps we should have books with larger margins!

Then there is Eliot's Wasteland typescript withPound's
written "corrections" and comments.

So feel free to write on copies of books you own.

[mal4mac]

I highlight passages of writers I want to re-read when I do not want to re-read all of them. Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, for example, are certainly worth re-reading. But they do tend to labour points or indulge in too much repetition (especially Schopenhauer!) The same goes for most modern popular science and philosophy writers, except many are not worth re-reading at all :D

[Madame X]

Well, I don't write in any book that I don't own, as a matter of
respect for the property of others. I wouldn't write in some books
that I do own, like valuable editions, because that might detract
from their value.

We should consider that there are famous examples of marginal
comments made by readers of printed books and manuscripts, where
these marginalia have been deemed to be important, sometimes
more important than the text commented upon.

Fermat's "Last Theorem" was never published by Fermat. It exists
in his comment on a page of Diophantus that says that he has
a wonderful proof that there are no integer solutions to the
equation a to the nth power plus b to the nth power equals c
to the nth power, where a,b, c, and n are integers and n is greater
than 2...unfortunately, he states that the margin is too small
to contain his proof...

So perhaps we should have books with larger margins!

Then there is Eliot's Wasteland typescript withPound's
written "corrections" and comments.

So feel free to write on copies of books you own.

Interesting format; plenty of margin. What do you call it: L’exposition? :D

[Little_Miss_:)]

I normally don't mark my books, not when I'm reading for myself anyway. I reread my books constantly, (never the same book too close together though - luckily I own enough books to avoid this) and I like to get a different meaning out of it everytime. I don't like the look of a book that has been written on; it seems messy and it distracts me from the text. I do value books very highly, having grown up with them playing a huge role in my life, and I don't like to think of the perfect typed, lined pages with scribbles all over them.

I don't particularly like writing in school books either - when I want to make notes I use a flag to mark the page with some kind of symbol on it, then write my notes down on a blank piece of paper.

I'm a very tidy sort of person, and my writing can get messy if it has to squeeze in between lines or be written in the margin somewhere, so I prefer to write my notes on a new piece of lined paper, where everything is referenced and *cringe* colour-coded. *blush*

[higley]

My Bible is scribbled on in parts (not extensively, I still feel weirdly apprehensive about jotting stuff in them, though a lot of people do it, and I usually forget why I underlined something anyway) and some of the books I once read for school, although 99 percent are not so I can resell the ones I don't want to keep.

[Drkshadow03]

My Bible is scribbled on in parts (not extensively, I still feel weirdly apprehensive about jotting stuff in them, though a lot of people do it, and I usually forget why I underlined something anyway) and some of the books I once read for school, although 99 percent are not so I can resell the ones I don't want to keep.

See that's the ONE book I feel uncomfortable writing in the margins. Actually, the same goes for the Koran, New Testament, or any religious text. I feel uncomfortable writing in a religious text. Everything else is fair game, however.

But one of the used bookstores I sometimes trade books in won't take books with writing in it. So it then becomes a decision of whether I am likely to keep the book or not.

[mono]

My Bible is scribbled on in parts (not extensively, I still feel weirdly apprehensive about jotting stuff in them, though a lot of people do it, and I usually forget why I underlined something anyway) and some of the books I once read for school, although 99 percent are not so I can resell the ones I don't want to keep.
This reminds me of some of the used books I purchase. Sure, I never write in my own books, but sometimes it seems interesting to read what other readers have underlined, noted, inscribed, etc. Some kind of literature instructor must have once owned my copy of Walt Whitman's complete poetry, as on every few pages, primarily of Whitman's more popular works, there exist notes about what to "emphasize" to students, a few students' quoted critiques, etc. In a way, it gives not only Whitman's poetry an applaud, but also gives a history to the book itself; sometimes, however, it can get a bit distracting.
Even in some of my more aged rare books I collect, I love reading any inscriptions of past owners. In my first edition copy of Kant's Anthropologie in pragmatischer Hinsicht (1798), for example, its 1799 owner inscribed his/her name on the front cover in a brown-sepia-toned ink, with beautiful penmanship, A.H. Göckely.

[Zeniyama]

I've tried marking up books in the past, but have found that it only distracts me from my reading. It just doesn't look right to have asterisks, underlined words, and margin notes polluting the page.

[mal4mac]

See that's the ONE book I feel uncomfortable writing in the margins. Actually, the same goes for the Koran, New Testament, or any religious text. I feel uncomfortable writing in a religious text. Everything else is fair game, however.

Why are you so uncomfortable about marginal notes for religious texts? I can't think of any text that needs marginal notes more than "the" Bible! (Most of them saying "skip this...")