I have shared my love of reading before, how much I adore getting lost in the shelves at bookstores and how I collect books.
My nightstand has been taken over by must reads.
I’m always reading something and this year I have made a [successful] conscious effort to read more. A purist at heart when it comes to books, I can’t believe I’m actually considering adding a Nook or Kindle to my holiday wish list.
I’ve gotten a lot better about passing my good reads on to family and friends, but I can’t seem to let go of my favorites and after I have read something, I hang on to it for far too long because of a habit I have…
As a lover of quotes and words in general and how some authors have a magical ability to string them together, for as long as I can remember I have written in my books.
I underline passages and sentences that speak to me and are relevant to my life and then add them to a document I have on my computer.
My father did the same thing.
In fact, it brought me to tears when my sister, husband and I were cleaning out my parents house and discovered a box full of dogeared pages and post-it notes and lots of of pen marks in books he had read and needed to transfer quotes from to his own document. Like father like daughter, I suppose…
Here are a few of my latest and these are all books that I highly recommend!
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
Ten Years Later: Six People Who Faced Adversity and Transformed Their Lives by Hoda Kotb
The Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult
How To Kill A Rock Star by Tiffanie DeBartolo
Have you read any good books lately?
Have you ever come across a book with passages underlined or notes written in the margins by someone else, like a family member? Did it add to or detract from your reading experience?
If you have an e-reader, which one do you prefer and why?
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I don’t write in my books, I treat them like limited edition comic books. 🙂
Reading Robin Black’s “If I Loved You, I Would Tell You This” and Anne Lamott’s “Some Assembly Required”.
I have never written in a book that wasn’t for school. But I do run across things when I’m reading that catch me as something I want to remember but forget….
I’m scared to write in books! I barely wrote IN my text books (but I did add a lot of post its and stuff.). The only book i consistently mark up is my bible.
I don’t read much cuz it’s hard to lug around and turn the pages with the kids. But I really want a kindle for my bday or christmas cuz I feel i’d read more that way. I have an ipad but it’s huge and heavy and i’m afraid to drop it on Luke’s head while nursing. LOL
I will have to get a kindle because it’s hard to get the books I want overseas. But I do like the paper.
I haven’t read any of the books you mentioned. What am I reading right now … ? Oh, a book I got at BlogHer – Accused. It’s not bad. I’m going to have to delve into classics for the kids I’m about to start tutoring. That will be less fun.
I LOVE to read but I don’t write in books. I just can’t. I’ve gotten very good at passing my books along these last few years. I think of it as paying it forward. As I am reading a book I think “which friend will love this as much as I do?” I pass it on and tell her to give it to someone else when she is done. I love that you found so many of your dad’s favorite lines underlines. When I was younger I kept notebooks full of quotes and lines from my favorite books and movies.
Oh I was just thinking about this as I drove past the libraru I never go to and the bookstore I haunt. I love to write in books and re-read what I love and write the quotes down in other books so I have to buy them!
I write in them. And underline. And (don’t kill me library!) I fold down the pages in library books if I don’t have a notebook nearby, so I can revisit later. I LOVE finding other people’s notes but am embarrassed about them seeing mine. Weird. (Also? Where’d You Go Bernadette has been on my must-read list for ages.)
I don’t always write in them, but I do like highlighting the phrases or paragraphs that resonate the most with me. 😀 I only brought a few books with me to Costa Rica, I still have 3 left to read -one of them is hard to finish because I feel it is not appealing that much to me. But I will finish that book… 😀
I only wrote in my law school textbooks.
LOVE books. Where’d you go, Bernadette is on my list. I loved Lone Wolf. And I do the same thing…highlight parts I love!!
I bought a copy of Eat, Pray, Love on clearance at a used book store and in the back it had a note scrawled from a dad to his daughter about how he loved it and he hopes it helps her find her way. Apparently it didn’t, because she hocked it to the used bookstore!
I cannot and never could write in or mark on or dog-ear a book. Probably because all my early books were from the library. The first books I owned were treasured and I still treasure books. I like my Kindle, but I love touching and smelling and looking at books. They look much better on the shelf. I’m currently reading “Cloudsplitter” by Russell Banks. It is an awesome read. I will keep an unmarked copy of this book forever.
I snap a picture of my kindle screen on my iphone to transfer to my computer at a later time. Reading is the best!
Tonya? This is a really wonderful post! I love the why behind you write in books!
(I have a nook and I love it, but there are a lot more free/inexpensive/library copy books on kindle!)
I’m reading the Chaos Walking series. I resisted an ereader for a long time, but now that I’ve got one, I would never go back.
Yep, you are just like daddy! I guess I have never written in books much because I was always borrowing a book from someone else (AKA you) and never felt right about underlining things in them. I have borrowed so MANY of your books so I they are always written in. 🙂 Myself and my other book club members enjoyed reading your copy of “Gone Girl”. It was interesting to see how yet another person thought about certain sentences in the book.
Please do keep giving me your faves to read and I’ll keep reading ’em!
I sometimes write in my books. But I have to admit that I am a slow reader and haven’t read a whole book in quite some time. I have a list of books (over 100) that I keep in an excel file on my computer. I write titles on post-its and magazine subscription cards and add, add, add to the list. I wonder if I’ll ever read them all.