How to annotate (without damaging your books)

Do you want to start annotating your books but you don't know where to begin, or does the thought of actually writing in them make you want to cry? Well, this video is for you!

Hi friends!

I thought it was about time for an updated "How I Annotate" video, but this one is geared more towards beginners to annotating and to people who don't love the idea of writing in their books!
I'd love to know how *you* annotate, so feel free to share your own techniques and tips in a comment!
If you're a beginner, just remember that there are no rules, so just have fun with it :)

Sending you my warmest wishes,
Carolyn Marie :)

Intro: 00:00
Supplies: 01:51
How to annotate: 12:48

Products mentioned:

Pencil cases:

Sticky tabs:

Sticky highlight strips:

Highlighters:

Post-its:

Pens:

Pencils:

Happy Annotating :)

My Social Media: CarolynMarieReads

***Want to write to me or send something?
Carolyn Castagna
P. O. Box 773
Greenlawn NY 11740
United States
***Please don't feel like you need to send me anything, but if you'd like to I would be honored!!!*** :)

***About me -
I'm a freelance illustrator and writer who recently graduated from college at the Fashion Institute of Technology with my Bachelors of Fine Arts in Illustration with a minor in English/Writing.
My greatest passion in life is combining my love of illustrating, writing, and reading!

Happy Reading :)

#booktube #reading #annotations

[miriam_bruh]

As someone who is not a native English speaker, I have just one general annotating "rule": Every sticky note that goes sideways is just normal annotating, but the sticky notes showing "on top" of the book are for English words I had to look up or nice phrases I want to implement in my own vocabulary :)

[femsfables]

a big reason for why i annotate my books are the memories! there's nothing quite like flipping through a book you read a while ago and reading your first thoughts and opinions 💌

[nannybells]

i love writing in books and i love that so many people are starting to do it more. the idea of gifting an annotated book is so lovely, it makes me happy to see it!!

[kaworra]

my number one tip to get the most experience out of reading and annotating, is to read the book first, minimal annotations, and then fully annotate when you are rereading the book. having the time to process what you’ve read without the experience being choppy is so useful when you are annotating. it’s almost like reading the book for the first time from a different point of view + plus, you get to read the book again and find details you might’ve missed before!

[jasminesmith]

When I annotate, I color code my tabs differently for each book! So, I pick a sheet of tabs that all generally match the book cover and then I pick which 6 tabs I think will look the best together and I choose a meaning for each one depending on what the book is and what themes I expect to find in it 🥰 Then I make a tab "glossary/key" at the front of the book and start reading!

[Strombolisoup]

as a beignner annotater who wants to begin, i found this very helpful and will be watching more of your videos.

[Tania.atlasinajar]

This video could not have come at a better time! Love the idea of finally getting back to annotating my books! 📚

[tamaragrottker]

When I was a kid, there used to be stationary stories. You could by different kinds of pens, pencils, papers, etc. Always amazing. Now stationary stores are relegated to big box stores with limited supplies, and where you cannot try out the pens. I wonder if there is a correlation between people who love to read and people who love pens and sticky notes? You are very inspiring. Thank you for the tips!

[anitas]

This was very helpful for a beginner Carolyn! Thank you. I did not have the opportunity to study literature at university. I would love to have another video some time on the elements of literature that you are looking for and thinking about when you read. For example, you (and others I watch) often mention foreshadowing and quotes and other things that you annotate. Why? I realize this is basic literary analysis 101 but maybe others besides me would be interested. I love your educational videos like this one, and the “Classics 101” with the handout. I’m very grateful to be able to learn these basic literature education topics that I missed as a STEM major.

[stephanievillot]

It usually depends on the book for me, I heavily annotated Anna Kerenina and went through 3 sets of tabs and with Wuthering Heights I laid off a bit and that helped me finish the book a bit faster. I feel that with annotations it’s kind of a bit like a diary I feel a bit weird when my friends see them haha.

[dariapoirier]

Another great way to annotate without writing in your book, is to get see-through sticky notes! They come in different sizes, they are almost fully transparent and you can write on them and underline parts of the page without actually writing directly on the page!

[izzatyzaini]

I love annotating! I do love the midliner highlighter too BUT they can bleed through on certain type of paper (e.g. the Vintage classic russian series), so what I would normally do before I start annotating, I would test the highlighter on the blank pages at the end of the book to see whether it bleed through or not ☺

[rachelcarpenter]

Great timing! I just found out I got accepted to an MFA program for creative writing (fiction) in the fall, and one of my major goals for before I leave is to get better at reading and remembering what I read, so that I can crush it in my literature classes. I don't like writing in my books so I loved your tips!

[WithoutAnAnchor]

There's nothing more satisfying than finishing a book and looking at all the tabs and annotations! I have different 'rules' depending on what I'm reading - for classics and fantasy (i.e. books where it takes a bit more attention to get to grips with as they tend to be more dense), I have very genre-specific colour coding - for example, world-building for fantasy or historical context for classics - but in general for other fiction, I tend to have specific colours for things like character, setting, quotes, moments that made me laugh, moments that made me cry, etc.! However, I tend not to colour-code non-fiction and just use whatever leftover colours I haven't used many of from sets of tabs that I was using for other books! x

[real]

3:56 - 4:14 Matching the colour of sticky tabs with a colour of cover - well, that's next level of being a book lover. :-)

[AllyEmReads]

I have sooo much anxiety about annotating bc I have a lot of consumerism anxiety, so every time I think I want to annotate a book, the little voice in my head goes "but what if you want to unhaul and resell this book later? you won't be able to if it's full of highlights and notes. think of the money!" and I chicken out every time 😅 but I'm thinking about getting those transparent sticky notes to use for annotations, because that way you can still read the text through them 🤷

[m_meeks]

i annotate differently depending on why im reading! If I'm reading a book for fun, I tend to use 2 color tabs (the color mainly matches the cover), one color I use for anything I liked, and the other i use for my favorite parts/quotes. I also use a pen (normally the muji 0.38 gel ink) and one or two highlighters, again matching the cover.
If I'm analyzing a book, I colorcode like crazy! Different colored tabs with specific meanings (it changes for almost every book, so I put a key/legend somewhere on the first few pages), and I match my highlighters to my tabs. I used to only use 1-2 highlighters when analyzing, but I highlight a lot and end up going through highlighters very quickly if its a long book - also i think it looks prettier when there's multiple colors.
I ocassinally use regular sticky notes if I feel like I wont have enough space in the margins to write my thoughts, and I use paper tabs to write out definitions of words I don't know so I can easily move them if I need to.
I also put tabs at the top, but I do that if I'm referring to the whole page instead of a paragraph or two.
I love seeing how other people annotate since its such a personal process!

[dailycarolina.]

One thing i do with the sticky notes is that i cut each in half so they can last longer

[denakaye]

I love to annitate because it helps me feel an ownership to the book.I only just started buying books during covid.Owning books is special to me.

[LE-wcdr]

I love tabbing the best. Favorite phrases, words that I need to look up, things that turn a light on in my mind, cherished parts.