Learn More by Writing in Your Books

In this video I give you three reasons why you should be writing in your books, or creating "marginalia". I then give some tips on developing your own method for marginalia and finish by showing you how I do it in different types of books.

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0:00 - History of Books
1:55 - Reason 1: Promote Active Reading for Understanding
4:05 - Reason 2: Quote Harvesting
5:15 - Reason 3: For Future People
7:52 - Develop Your Own Method
9:22 - Some Symbols to Use In the Margins
10:34 - How I Take Notes in Different Kinds of Books

[funeralmany]

It’s always fun getting a used book that’s been written in, it’s almost like you’re reading the previous owner’s mind and figuring out their first impressions as you read along

[aliciab]

One of my neighors was a Philosophy professor at Johns Hopkins and an author. He taught me something about books I've never forgotten. He said that reading a book should be done actively. We should think of reading as a dialog. He was an advocate of writing in your books.

Great video! 👍

[XrisBeltran]

Reading is the one of the most powerful tools a human can have. I had a history professor tell me something that blew my mind when I was 18. “It’s the quickest way to the 1% of something. If you read a good book about something like dolphins, then you’d be in the top 1% of people in existence on knowledge about dolphins”. I never forgot those words.

[comegetzome]

I’ve found that writing in a separate book like a common place book is better than writing directly on the book. At least from a fictional book. Self help books almost invite you to write on them. That being said, for fictional books I think the distraction of my notes would take away from the book. I used to highlight all my books & now I can’t read them without getting my eyes drawn to the shit I highlighted. I would rather be absorbed in the story. I simply write anything that sticks out to me in a separate book so I don’t disrupt the book.

[juliesettecase]

I will forever write in all of my books because of you! I can’t remember anything I read unless I do!

[Harlequin]

If you really want to write in books but still feel stuck or just want your book to stay pretty, consider taking baby steps with small Post-It note tabs that you can write a symbol or word on and just use a commonplace book if you're really eager to retain the information.

[FlamesWolf]

Best video I’ve seen on this topic. Love that you show examples

[LifeAndFaithTogether]

Many years ago, a famous scholar gifted most of his library to me. This collection of more than 1, 000 books included first editions dating back to the 1850s. The handwritten notes in the margins had become something like a dialogue among several generations scholars.

[yusrafatima]

English isn't my first language so growing up I had to learn and memorize the words, my grandfather taught me and would translate the words into our native language. So if you were a classmate of mine you would probably see the text book full of underlines and scribbles where once was an empty place. Of course my teachers highly discouraged me taking notes in the books rather than the notebook but it was me who set the trend in my entire class so making margin notes was a cool thing now

[LedgerAndLace]

So happy to have your video recommended! I can't not write when I'm reading. I make pen holder/boards as giant bookmarks. I use highlighters and then different pens (Pilot Precise V5s). I write the date I start a book on the inside, and do that each time in a different colour. Then when I go thru, I'll know which reading it was when I made those notes. I also use page flags; blue is for quotes, yellow is for concepts, etc. I mark tables, foot notes, resources, etc. on the top of the page, and then other page flags go on the side. Each time I go back to a book, reading is faster because I see all my notes, etc. I also have post-it notes that I use.

I don't write in rare or "keepsake" editions, but for regular books, they're more like an interactive journal to me. It's very much a "second brain" so that I can access the book for information & key concepts quickly. As Tiago Forte says, it really is a gift to your future self!

[starbeck]

I usually read non-fiction and have started to highlight more. Never wanted to write in books, but your video changed my mind. Ready to create some marginalia! Thanks.

[JimFarrand]

I tend to buy second hand books where I can, and honestly there's almost nothing more delightful than unexpectedly coming across a stranger's marginalia.

You might be years and miles apart from that other reader, and have no idea who they are, but not only are you connected by this physical object you are holding, you also have a window into some private thought they had, one that they maybe never thought they'd share with another person.

Do they agree with you? Is it a mundane reminder, or did they have some profound insight into the text that you missed, that they have unexpectedly and unwittingly gifted to you?

[brujismo.eclectico]

Hi Parker, Your video made me wonder why I don't write in my books. And I think the reason is because here in Chile, books are expensive, especially the ones that are on the academic line (my alma mater is philosophy, and I'm an anthropologist). I do marginalia and highlight my photocopied books and my ebooks with different colors, but never the actual books; they are kind of a luxury for me. But you are totally right; the learning of the content is better if you "put your hands on" the text, and the experience is totally different, and that's why I love my photocopied books more than the other ones. Now, I will follow your advice. Thank you for your amazing content!

[Matthewwithers]

As an avid reader the hardest thing g for me to do is break from the “keep books pristine” mindset

[zainurrahman]

thank you so much Parker, you really changed my life with this one. You really convinced me to ditch my note-taking digitally to going back to using my pen and paper, infact, I took key points from this video in my notebook for the first time in god knows how many days. Thank you once again

[louisestgermain]

I just discovered your channel - thanks for making this! If I'm studying a book I also heavily annotate so it's fun to see others' systems. One symbol I use a lot that might be interesting is a three-bar equal sign (instead of the normal 2 bars). Mathematically it means "by definition" or a mathematical identity, so I use it to indicate a definition (even when the book is not about math!). I look forward to watching more of your videos!

[lainfluencia]

It's been years since I cared about any youtube channel. Great stuff, we will follow closely! Keep up the good work mate!

[martinjohnson]

Thank you for this. When I was working at a bookstore one of my coworkers was a retired school principal. We had several discussions about underlining and writing in books and he convinced me to use a pencil if I was going to do it. I have been writing in books for years and I appreciated several ideas I pulled from this discussion.

I have one quibble with your history, however. Gutenberg's significant contribution was introducing movable type in the west. The Chinese had movable ceramic type as early as the 11th century and movable metal type in the mid 16th century, roughly the same time as Gutenberg released his. The Koreans, however, were using movable metal type by the mid 14th century.

There is no doubt that Gutenberg's invention changed the history of Western civilization.

[darkfaetarot]

I made notes in my political philosophy books 20+ years ago and I still love opening them and seeing my scribbles all down the side. They remind me of my passion from when I studying at university. I just recently aquired a well-loved, used and written-in book on Kabbalah and adore seeing someone else's notes in the margins, underlined, etc. I am currently sitting here with a book on Ceremonial Magick and the ruler and pencils, pens are out... I think I need to create a compendium to go with this particular work, so I will look at your video. Thank you for sharing your tips 📖

[qvnihdm]

These are such great videos! I am 68 and enjoy your great info Parker! Thank you! Kim