I recently visited a fine used book store in Norristown, PA. On a wall above the shelves they had assembled a collage of inserts found in the donated books (tickets, receipts, photographs, coupons, notes, ...). What a wonderful treasure! The name of the store: Recycle Read Repeat.
I was raised to treat books almost as holy. To write in them would have been sacrilege. The first time I did it, I almost expected to be struck by lightening. But I also delight in what readers have scribbled in the margins and tucked inside the pages when I find them. Sometimes I'm inclined to write a brief review or point out my favourite parts for the next reader. E-books may take up less space but they lack the potential for dialogue with the writer or other readers.
Loved this Joel. Your personal experience and love of books and booklore is fun to read and touching. We spend so much time with books and are up close with them; our experience becomes a form of intimacy.
Only in the last 10 years or so have I allowed myself to mark books so I can go back and reconnect, especially with important ideas. It helps me . . . "read, mark, learn and inwardly digest," an oft repeated line from my Mum!
You’re right about the intimacy. Some books work their way into your mind and never leave. Marginalia and bookmarks are all ways of maintaining that connection.
I'm frugal, and something just plain cheap. I use paint sample cards, choosing the color for each recipient book quite carefully. The colors add to my experience of connection. I've also used metal arrowed book markers at times. They seem so fancy to me.
All the creative pieces mentioned bring to mind the image of a crazy quilt, and make me think of missed opportunities to piece together one of my own. Still, I've loved my paint chips.
I came across this post via a link in a TGC newsletter. What a great read. Your Dad's Old Books bookmark brought back some nice memories - I spent many hours in there chatting with the owner and browsing his collection. I think his name was Penney. He knew my tastes, and every time I dropped by he would suggest something he had just acquired. Thanks to him, I have a nice collection of southern literature.
I love bookmarks but I'm notorious for not using them and I'll fall asleep reading at night and lose my place. I'm paranoid about leaving bookmarks (when I use them) in library books so whenever I return books to the library, I'm religiously dedicated to flipping through every book. Much to the annoyance of anyone in line behind me. I guess I figure, if they're true book people; they'll understand.
LOL. Yes, I bet they understand. I used to not use bookmarks; I just remembered the page numbers. At some point that stopped working for me. If I didn’t use bookmarks, I’d be hosed.
My personal favourites are boarding cards and travel tickets. It wasn’t intentional but after boarding a flight, it’s so easy to slip the boarding pass into the book and as a result, I’ve ended up with a lovely travel journal of books read while travelling, like a trail of literary breadcrumbs
As someone who is currently using a child's biking glove to hold a place in my latest historical fiction read, I really appreciated this.... I found a plane ticket from 1998 in a different book, used it as the bookmark, and I couldn't bring myself to throw it away when I was done.
I laughed when I read that because I’m reading the first volume of Sigrid Undset’s historical Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy, The Wreath, right now. The only bookmark available when I started? An extra bandaid my daughter brought me when she skinned her knee.
Now THIS is a good method for inspiring the love of reading in children... hiding the things they'll want later in the pages of good literature! Ha. Enjoy Lavransdatter - "enjoy" isn't the right word, but the trilogy was significant for me - looking forward to your thoughts on it!
Jul 4, 2023·edited Jul 8, 2023Liked by Joel J Miller
May I ask—Hudson Ohio? We lived nearby awhile. There was a book signing at a bookstore there.
Half layperson half scholarly reading, Nature and Renewal: Wild River Valley & Beyond by Dr. Dean Bennett is a fairly local book. We frequently visit Evans Notch. I bookmarked a few whole pages by scanning them. The book was borrowed through interlibrary loan. In some such margins before I accidentally began writing and had to replace it but got to keep the one borrowed. I’ve printed the scanned pages of Bennett's book and will be able to highlight these. Frixion is recommended here. You wrote, “you can make all your marginalia vanish with the application of a little heat. When I do feel the need to erase, I simply warm a spatula on my gas stove and touch the blade’s conductive surface the page. Voila! It never happened.”
Could use some of that here. I’ve actually been trying to figure out how to do something similar with Substack. I need a manual to understand how Substack works. Took a while to know how to edit comments here.
This was a fun read! I love the nostalgia of reading someone else's notes in a book or finding markers they left behind. I have some books that I won't part with simply because I wouldn't want someone to read the private notes to myself that I wrote in the margins. Thanks for sharing this post.
Thank you to @JuneGirvin for sharing this essay on bookmarks. I am a marker of books (only ones I own!) but this essay--with its invitation to variations on bookmark regalia--has reminded me how useful and personable they are. I adore the photo of Masugi's book and Joel reminds me of the college books I have of my dad's--who is now passed--one that have HIS UNDERLINING in them: simply priceless.
Thank you. I love this. I too have bookmarks that are markers of memory as much as markers of books. I love them and never cull them - you can not have too many.
I recently visited a fine used book store in Norristown, PA. On a wall above the shelves they had assembled a collage of inserts found in the donated books (tickets, receipts, photographs, coupons, notes, ...). What a wonderful treasure! The name of the store: Recycle Read Repeat.
That’s fantastic.
I was raised to treat books almost as holy. To write in them would have been sacrilege. The first time I did it, I almost expected to be struck by lightening. But I also delight in what readers have scribbled in the margins and tucked inside the pages when I find them. Sometimes I'm inclined to write a brief review or point out my favourite parts for the next reader. E-books may take up less space but they lack the potential for dialogue with the writer or other readers.
Sometimes the treasures are in the scribbles!
Loved this Joel. Your personal experience and love of books and booklore is fun to read and touching. We spend so much time with books and are up close with them; our experience becomes a form of intimacy.
Only in the last 10 years or so have I allowed myself to mark books so I can go back and reconnect, especially with important ideas. It helps me . . . "read, mark, learn and inwardly digest," an oft repeated line from my Mum!
You’re right about the intimacy. Some books work their way into your mind and never leave. Marginalia and bookmarks are all ways of maintaining that connection.
Bookmarks. (My heart flutters with a sigh.)
I'm frugal, and something just plain cheap. I use paint sample cards, choosing the color for each recipient book quite carefully. The colors add to my experience of connection. I've also used metal arrowed book markers at times. They seem so fancy to me.
All the creative pieces mentioned bring to mind the image of a crazy quilt, and make me think of missed opportunities to piece together one of my own. Still, I've loved my paint chips.
Paint chips are a wonderful choice!
I came across this post via a link in a TGC newsletter. What a great read. Your Dad's Old Books bookmark brought back some nice memories - I spent many hours in there chatting with the owner and browsing his collection. I think his name was Penney. He knew my tastes, and every time I dropped by he would suggest something he had just acquired. Thanks to him, I have a nice collection of southern literature.
That’s wonderful! It’s so singular how some books come into our lives—how we find them, how they find us. Thanks for reading and sharing your story!
I love bookmarks but I'm notorious for not using them and I'll fall asleep reading at night and lose my place. I'm paranoid about leaving bookmarks (when I use them) in library books so whenever I return books to the library, I'm religiously dedicated to flipping through every book. Much to the annoyance of anyone in line behind me. I guess I figure, if they're true book people; they'll understand.
LOL. Yes, I bet they understand. I used to not use bookmarks; I just remembered the page numbers. At some point that stopped working for me. If I didn’t use bookmarks, I’d be hosed.
My personal favourites are boarding cards and travel tickets. It wasn’t intentional but after boarding a flight, it’s so easy to slip the boarding pass into the book and as a result, I’ve ended up with a lovely travel journal of books read while travelling, like a trail of literary breadcrumbs
Wonderful, yes.
As someone who is currently using a child's biking glove to hold a place in my latest historical fiction read, I really appreciated this.... I found a plane ticket from 1998 in a different book, used it as the bookmark, and I couldn't bring myself to throw it away when I was done.
I laughed when I read that because I’m reading the first volume of Sigrid Undset’s historical Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy, The Wreath, right now. The only bookmark available when I started? An extra bandaid my daughter brought me when she skinned her knee.
Now THIS is a good method for inspiring the love of reading in children... hiding the things they'll want later in the pages of good literature! Ha. Enjoy Lavransdatter - "enjoy" isn't the right word, but the trilogy was significant for me - looking forward to your thoughts on it!
Joel - What a Great Read! I've reread this several times. Thanks
Michael, I’m humbled. Thank you!
May I ask—Hudson Ohio? We lived nearby awhile. There was a book signing at a bookstore there.
Half layperson half scholarly reading, Nature and Renewal: Wild River Valley & Beyond by Dr. Dean Bennett is a fairly local book. We frequently visit Evans Notch. I bookmarked a few whole pages by scanning them. The book was borrowed through interlibrary loan. In some such margins before I accidentally began writing and had to replace it but got to keep the one borrowed. I’ve printed the scanned pages of Bennett's book and will be able to highlight these. Frixion is recommended here. You wrote, “you can make all your marginalia vanish with the application of a little heat. When I do feel the need to erase, I simply warm a spatula on my gas stove and touch the blade’s conductive surface the page. Voila! It never happened.”
Could use some of that here. I’ve actually been trying to figure out how to do something similar with Substack. I need a manual to understand how Substack works. Took a while to know how to edit comments here.
I happened to be in Cleveland for a visit and thought I’d check out a local bookstore. The Learned Owl looked like a winner.
Great post. I send our parishioners birthday cards and include a bookmark. Maybe the are hanging out in books to be discovered later.
We can hope. That’s excellent.
I love the whole essay, but found the photos of bookmarks particularly fascinating.
Thanks, Ray! Glad you liked it!
LEAVE the marginalia!
...take the cannoli.
Sage advice.
This was a fun read! I love the nostalgia of reading someone else's notes in a book or finding markers they left behind. I have some books that I won't part with simply because I wouldn't want someone to read the private notes to myself that I wrote in the margins. Thanks for sharing this post.
I’ve got marginalia in books from way back that now cause me to cringe :)
LOL! I could say the same.
Thank you to @JuneGirvin for sharing this essay on bookmarks. I am a marker of books (only ones I own!) but this essay--with its invitation to variations on bookmark regalia--has reminded me how useful and personable they are. I adore the photo of Masugi's book and Joel reminds me of the college books I have of my dad's--who is now passed--one that have HIS UNDERLINING in them: simply priceless.
The memento of you dad is wonderful. Such a gift.
Thank you. I love this. I too have bookmarks that are markers of memory as much as markers of books. I love them and never cull them - you can not have too many.
Agreed!