Confession time: I write in my books. I correct typos. I take notes. I underline, star, bracket, and otherwise mark up the pages of my most-loved books. Galleys, hardcovers, used books, anything. Well, obviously not borrowed books, whether it be from the library or another reader. That's just plain rude.
Half of you will probably stop reading at this point. That or start steaming out the ears. Any booklover can tell you that writing in books is a polarizing topic. It's like Catcher in the Rye and Miracle Whip: love it or hate it. Do it or disdain those who do.
I'd argue, though, that my notes and marginalia are a sign of love. The more I like a book, the more marks it carries. Each mark is a passage I want to remember, a sentence I want to quote, an idea I want to revisit. Books are meant to be opened, read, shared, thought about and commented on. Why not start with the pages themselves?
I mentioned this habit in passing to a co-worker and friend when he offered to lend me a book, and I replied that I preferred to purchase my own copy so I could take notes in it as I read. I was met with an incredulous stare. "You write in your books?" It was more than incredulous. It was outraged. Polarization in action.
Naturally I took the question to Twitter, where responses varied from "Yes, absolutely!" to "Only my textbooks and reading for a class or work" to "It's the most annoying thing about a used book to me, to find comments from past readers in the margins."
So now I pose the question to you: Love it or hate it? Notes or no notes? Underlines or highlighter? Pen or pencil?
---
Thoughts from other bookworms:
Book Reviews by Bobbie
The Zen Leaf
Stuck in a Book
Literary Musings
---
Underlined passage from Among Others:
"There are some awful things in the world, it's true, but there are also some great books. When I grow up I would like to write something that someone could read sitting on a bench on a day that isn't all that warm and they could sit reading it and totally forget where they were or what time it was so that they were more inside the book than inside their own head." (p. 52)
