How I Annotate Books

WHERE TO FIND ME:

[zlicko]

A quote is the reason that I started annotating: Isn't it odd how much fatter a book gets when you've read it several times? As if something were left between the pages every time you read it. Feelings, thoughts, sounds, smells...and then, when you look at the book again many years later, you find yourself there, too, a slightly younger self, slightly different, as if the book had preserved you like a pressed flower...both strange and familiar.
(from the Inkheart series)

[nathantownsend]

I Love finding used books that have been annotated. I think it’s so facilitating to see things through the perspective of someone I’ve never even met.

[VictorianGentleman]

I was part of the "keep the books pristine" club, and there are some copies that I still wouldn't mark in, mostly my vintage ones, but I am getting more ok with annotating in my new books. I do like seeing what other people thought, or what passages they choose to mark as important when I stubble across an annotated book, so I figured if I like seeing this window into other people, why not leave my own marks on my books? I annotate very similarly to you, it is just me responding to things on page, getting my first thoughts down. I really got started because I hit a point in a book a couple of times that struck me so hard I felt compelled to mark that passage and record that feeling I had. I'm coming to love the idea of being able to go back and see what you thought on your first pass during a reread, to take yourself back to that moment. I actually have one book on my shelves that I absolutely hated, but I was forced to annotate it heavily for a class, so now it preserves its place in my collection not for its story but for the memory, and how it has essentially become a journal to my own hatred of it.

[daniel_arevalo_]

And this is yet another reason why I have been following this channel for years. I grew up believing that I was not good at reading because of how much I struggled with it in school. When I asked my second grade teacher for help she told me that “maybe reading is just not for you.” Fast forward to my late twenties when I had already found a new passion of writing during my prior military enlistment, I discovered this channel that encouraged me to understand that I was not a “bad” reader. But that I in fact loved reading and stories, I just absorbed them a bit differently. I never annotated my books before because I still held onto the lie that I was not as good of a reader as others who know how to break down a book well. Through this channel, I have discovered that I am a character-driven reader rather than a plot-driven reader. I don’t care where we go, how, or when. I just want to go with the character, grow with them, and spend time with them. I am about to begin a new book today and I am excited to try out this way of annotating! Thank you Merphy!

[koboldmartian]

I use pencil to annotate and even draw in! If I'm not vibing with a book I'll refrain from writing in it and by the end, I have one of those nice white bar erasers and go through the book to clear it out to donate.

For books I want to keep after I read it, I have a personal library stamp that I put into the cover of the books! Then I loan them out or reread etc. I do what you do and tell my friends who borrow the book to write in them as well

[AnnaSchumaker]

This reminds me of a book I read a while ago called "S." by Doug Dorst and JJ Abrams. Part of the story was written in the margins by two characters passing the book back and forth. I don't remember much about the story since I read it so long ago, but I do remember it was a fascinating read

[puzzlingread]

I love the idea of annotating as long as the original text is still legible. Also...0:26 it's 2024 😛

[Lelentos]

I can't imagine marking up a book, I like to think i'm holding a spellbook that summons a portal to another world and any mark or imperfection is a chance for that illusion to break. However, I do think i'd enjoy reading a friend or family member's annoted books to get inside their head if it's a book I already love.

[banaa]

Your passion for books and your kids is so heartwarming! I literally had goosebumps when you were talking about the crayon 💓

[monisharmuk]

I also like when the books look that they have been well read.

[sumitraspov]

ACTUALLY squealed when you showed that the caryon annotated book was guards! guards!, that makes total sense ❤️❤️❤️

[rafavizuetecastro]

I usually tend to transcribe a lot of quotes that I liked into a notebook. Later I switched to copy and pasting with the phone, it's less exhausting. So now all my notes are in my phone and I do print them into compilative notebooks.

[qbanboi]

I was listening and half watching.. and when that cup suddenly showed up on screen, I first thought "Oh shit.. When did Frieza show up?" lol

[ThePlayersAid]

Annotations in second hand books are my favourite form of time travel.

[andatodica]

Such a beautiful idea to exchange thoughts with friends through a book ❤.

[CobbyMorales]

I feel so identified with this video. I 100% write in the margins of the pages, "answer" to what the author said, and love the worn/used look in my books. ❤🎉

[Mathue]

I pretty annotate all my books and text books now. For text books in particular I appreciate it because someone else has a perspective and make notes about stuff that maybe I wouldn't. For my pleasure books it is like having a conversation with yourself or someone else and it's enhanced my reading enjoyment quite a bit

[rafavizuetecastro]

Thank you, Merphy, thank you so much. I've really found a friend, and those conversation type of videos are so great. Books are so awesome, it's so sad that so few people read nowadays (at least it feels like it). I really look up to you.

[CNBlaze-qjfg]

Excellent! What a great way to preserve your thoughts about the book from the first read. I have books I've read countless times and I have actually struggled to remember what my first assumptions were and wished for a time machine.
Or I could just grab a pencil. Probably less expensive. ;)

[_gamma.]

What’s your favorite annotations you’ve added to a book? I really like the idea, I’ll have to do it when I reread Under the Dome! I’d love to have an easier way to revisit some of the characters