Note: No Notes?

I have found that there are two types of readers, those who mark up their books as they read, and those who keep their books as pristine as possible. Personally, I fall into the latter category. I do everything in my power to keep my book intact -- I use a bookmark instead of dog-earing the pages, I don’t bend the spine, and I make sure no writing utensil ever comes near those pages. Admittedly, I wasn’t always like this. When I was younger, I used to make margin notes all the time, underlining passages I liked, drawing hearts near favourite sections, and writing about little connections I had made around the edges. I loved this process and you can see sixth grade scribbles in numerous books in my library. I was quick to stop this process after a few years for the same reason that many people keep it up -- I went back and re-read my notes. Of course, the difference in thinking between a sixth grader and an eighth grader is substantial, and teenage me was mortified at the ridiculous comments that defaced the pages. Realizing that high school me would probably be just as critical of my eighth-grade thinking (and so on and so on), I decided to save myself that future embarrassment and cease writing, highlighting, or otherwise marking up books from that point forward. Dramatic? Perhaps, but it became an ingrained habit, and one that I haven’t changed. 

Now there is a silver lining to this -- every time I re-read a book, I re-discover it and make new connections mostly unhindered by previous associations. It also means that I can loan out my books without any fear of someone else reading (and judging) my private musings. But I do feel as though I have lost something, too. While I probably won’t gain much insight from the ideas of sixth grade me, I do wonder what insights I’ve had and forgotten in my adult years. My reading and thinking skills are developed now, and probably haven’t changed that much in the last 5-10 years. My experiences have changed, though, and, as I’ve talked about in other blog posts, re-reading a book at different stages of your life is like a whole new encounter. Being able to contrast those with my past notes might be interesting, and I no longer have that opportunity. 

It also means that I can’t flip through a book and find that quote that really resonated with me. I’ve read many quote-worthy novels, and for most of them have no record of what lines I liked. I’ve started to rectify that by keeping a running word document where I can record quotes as I read. To a certain extent, it allows me to take notes without marking up my physical copy. It’s a bit of a pain, because it means I have to stop reading, open my laptop, and type it in, rather than just quickly highlighting it and continuing to read seamlessly. It isn’t a perfect system, but it is a start. Scrolling through those quotes gives me a glimpse into my reading experiences and a quick stroll down memory lane. It also puts all of my quotes into one place that I can easily refer back to when I need a good quote (for inspiration, birthday cards, speeches, etc.). 

When I was in university, I resumed making notes in texts for study purposes, and in my head I made the distinction that it was acceptable to mark up non-fiction (textbooks and articles), but not fiction. Even as an English major, where the majority of our mandatory reading was fiction, I refused to take pen to paper. The extent of my thinking that you will see in those novels are sticky notes marking important passages for essays. I now enjoy reading my little side notes when I refer back to those articles, though, so it has me questioning my strictly pristine policy with my reading. Should I break out the highlighter when I read, or should I let the text speak for itself? 

I would love to hear from you about this!