posted
I use bookmarks only for books I'm trying to keep particularly pristine - signed copies, first editions, books people have loaned me, etc. Otherwise I dogear.
But never, ever, do I leave a book open and face down.
And for many of the books I read, my Palm Pilot keeps track of my place for me
How do you save your place?
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
I couldn't do that. At any given time I've at least three books going -- one on the Palm, one in the bathroom, one in the bedroom, possibly one with me.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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BOOKMARK. Usually receipts or magazine subscription cards.
Dogears make me shudder, but then, to put it the way Anne Fadiman does in Ex Libris, I'm a "courtly lover" of books. I accept the validity of the "carnal lover" approach, just as long as those so inclined stay away from my library. Posts: 884 | Registered: Mar 2005
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posted
any piece of scrap paper i can find serves as bookmark. I used to do it by memory but found myself doing a lot of rereading that way.
Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
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posted
Bookmarks only (and I'm also in the "any ol' scrap of paper" crowd).
Dogearing a book is like kicking a puppy... and only slightly less of a sin than highlighting or underlining.
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
Occasionally I'll leave it face down, but mostly just remember the page number (or the general vicinity, and then re-read a couple of pages until I come to something I don't recognize).
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
I usually just remember the page I'm on or grab some piece of papertype substance to mark it.
I do fold pages over, but not to mark where I am. I fold it over when there's something I like or is interesting to me on the page. I also underline things in pencil AND write in the margins.
I'm a heathen. I know.
Posts: 1355 | Registered: Jul 2006
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posted
People who dogear books are going to the "special hell."
I'll be there too, because I talk during movies, but at least I won't be stuck next to the noisy ice machine for all eternity.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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posted
Ever since they stopped putting Camel Cash on my cig packs I haven't had a handy bookmark at all times, so I dog-ear now. Or, if I'm coming back soon, I'll leave it open, face down. That only turns out bad when I get distracted and come back 3 thunderstorms later to find a thoroughly soaked book (thankfully, very rarely). And, similar to cmc, I dog-ear the bottom of the page if there is something that I want to be able to come back to quickly and easily.
Also, highlighting, underlining and writing in the margins is pretty much a must for most of my books. I dunno, for some reason it makes me feel good to look at shelves full of very well used/loved books. I figure, if the book looks really ratty, that must mean I took it with me everywhere I went, so it must be a good'n. Besides, purchasing more books when mine no longer function well can only help the literary economy, right?
Posts: 2596 | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
You know, I have no problem with people who dogear or write in books they own. It's their book, they paid for it, and they can use it how they want.
The people that have a special section reserved for them in special hell are the people that write in library books. LIBRARY BOOKS! What's wrong with you people, honestly?
Also, people that talk in movies will not only be next to the noisy ice machine in the special hell, but will have spotlights shining in their window. Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
Bookmark. I've got a fair collection of football game ticket stubs that I use.
I agree most of the time about writing in library books. I do sometimes find odd conclusions or incorrect information in books and pencil in something relevant, but I don't write things like "Look at this" in the margins of a book I don't own.
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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I never dogear. I usually just remember my place. If it just for a minute or two, I will put it face down over something like a leg if I am sitting up reading and pause to talk to someone. Or on a pillow if I am reading in bad and the phone rings.
I do fall asleep with books, though and those will sometimes end up face down on the pillow. So will I.
Posts: 11187 | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
Bookmarks, always. Sometimes actual bookmarks (I have a lovely set of handmade book thongs from KarlEd and a small selection of Stephen King-themed ones that were drawn and laminated for me), sometimes just business cards or receipts. Depends on where I am when I have a new need for one and what is available at that moment.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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I only dog-ear books that don't belong to me. I mean, not other people's books, but library books or books I'm not planning on keeping. Otherwise I bookmark or remember the page; or quite often I just try to remember more or less where I was (but then sometimes it's hard to find the place again).
Posts: 910 | Registered: May 2000
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Most times I stop reading at the end of chapters, and so I just remember what chapter I'm on. In the event that there are no chapter numbers or if I stop in mid-chapter, I use a bookmark (I fall in the any scrap of paper will do category). I can't stand dogearring; the folds bother me to no end. I also don't like writing or highlighting in books. I had one teacher in high school for me (and the rest of the class) to do it, and I shuddered every time. How could I do such a thing to the book? I mean I can easily mark something interesting (via bookmark or sticky note tab thing) if I need to come back to it without writing all over the book. Of course as someone else said, it's their book if they bought it. They are free to treat it how they want.
EDIT: How do people feel about magazines? For the most part, I treat my magazines with the same quality that I treat my books. Then again, I keep most of my magazines, sort of a large collection. I like that they are all in good condition. I always cringe when I had someone one of my magazines and they proceed to fold it so the front cover and back cover are touching. You're killing the magazine, kids.
Posts: 1960 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
I never dogear, but I do sometimes leave books open. Mostly I just remember my page number, though.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Tante Shvester: I remember the page number.
I used to do that. Still do if I don't have a bookmark handy. Dogearing is just something I could never do.
A few jobs back, I got a whole slew of business cards. I've been using them as bookmarks ever since. Up until then, I was using playing cards. I had a deck that was missing a card (insert obligatory "not playing with a full deck" comment), so I figured it was 51 excellent bookmarks.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Sometimes I use a bookmark/scrap of paper, but mostly I remember my page (and I generally have at least three books going at once, and I generally have a lot of trouble memorizing/remembering numbers, but this, I have no problem with. )
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
I dogear, sometimes use bookmarks, and occasionally leave a book open face-down (though only for a few minutes). And I even talk in movies, but only when desperately needed when I miss some important plot point. But I do hate ice machines.
Am I doomed for all eternity? I don't write in library books, but I do dogear them, and leave them open face-down.
*(prepares for beating)*
Posts: 32 | Registered: Dec 2006
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But a lot of the books I read are library books, so I would never dog-ear a book that didn't belong to me. But I just don't like dog-eared books in general.
My daughter does the "turnupside down-and-break-the-spine" thing, and it drives me crazy and I scold her for it.
My son just remembers page numbers. Even if reading multiple books.
posted
I use bookmarks. Not real bookmarks, but not random scraps of paper either. I tend to make bookmarks out of little things that have sentimental value to me, like tickets to favorite concerts or football games, or Disneyland passes. I never dogear or put a book face down.
I will, however, write in books. Even library books. As far as I'm concerned, I'm enhancing a book's value when I write in it, not damaging it.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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Boon
unregistered
posted
We're homeschoolers, so we have at least 12 different books going at once, not including free reading (and I have at least 3-5 of those at once all the time). My daughter is very artistic, so I usually laminate her "unwanted" pictures and cut them into strips to use as bookmarks. She even sells some of them.
We don't dog-ear anything, ever, nor do we write in books. We do keep slips of paper in them if we find something interesting we want to make note of, so sometimes a book will have twice as many pages as the publisher intended.
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I just remember where I left off. Of course, I can't remember the exact page number, but I can remember more or less what was going on and open to the right general area.
I think dogears would get annoying and fluff up the book too much after three or four.
Posts: 781 | Registered: Apr 2005
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I got out of the habit of bookmarking when my sons were toddlers. If they saw a bookmark sticking out of a book on my bedside table (or wherever) they would pull it out. *sigh*
I bought a nice book thong at an art show, but my cat clawed the beads off of it. So, I either remember or I use the slip they give me at the library.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Shmuel: BOOKMARK. Usually receipts or magazine subscription cards.
Dogears make me shudder, but then, to put it the way Anne Fadiman does in Ex Libris, I'm a "courtly lover" of books. I accept the validity of the "carnal lover" approach, just as long as those so inclined stay away from my library.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, NO! While of course people have the right to do as they wish with books they have bought and paid for, it makes me cry deep inside when I see dogeared books. I'm with Lyr -- some people are going to the special hell for that.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
I bookmark with dust jackets. It's like they're built-in bookmarks.
The only books I don't leave face-down are paperbacks. Most of the hardcovers I have, even brand new, will open and stay open on the current page.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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I bookmark books and rarely leave them open (if the phone rings or something I might). I do dogear recipes or important articles in magazines, but they're likely going to the recycling center in a month or so anyway (or the cat shred pile).
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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I usely just remeber the genral area and can find my exact spot within a few seconds. i sometimes book mark. But I hate dogears.
Posts: 38 | Registered: Nov 2006
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I leave books open and put little scraps of paper which I proceed to lose in books. But I dogeared a paperback copy of Lost Boy because it had this line in it that made me cry. I would not dogear hardcover books however.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Ill never dogear somebody else's books, but I will dogear my own if they are paper back. I use the jacket to remember my place if its hardback. If I just happen to have a bookmark handy Ill use it, but more often then not that is not the case.
I can only leave a book face down and open if I merely putting it down a few seconds, I couldn't stand the idea of it being left in that position for any lengthy period of time.
Lisa: Writing in books makes me shutter as well, I can't even do it to the text books I buy, I can however do it to my set of scriptures as the notes are invaluable and the book will never be in anybody else's possession for any real period of time except me.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Never dogear. Never write. I usually remember my page number. I only read one leisure book at a time. I like getting involved with the same characters every night.
Posts: 1314 | Registered: Jan 2006
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For some reason, I only dogear softcovers, but only ones that I own. I figure that if I ruin it and have to buy a new copy, it's only giving the author even more revenue.
Though now that I think about it, I seem to remember reading something about how authors aren't paid royalties the same way for soft-covers as for hard-covers...so my theory may be bunk anyway.
Posts: 1099 | Registered: Apr 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Launchywiggin: I only read one leisure book at a time. I like getting involved with the same characters every night.
Do you carry it everywhere with you? When I do that, I misplace my books. So I usually have one going for the living room/kitchen/ dining room, one for the bathroom (mostly to read in the tub), one for the bedroom, one for the car...
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Icarus: I will, however, write in books. Even library books. As far as I'm concerned, I'm enhancing a book's value when I write in it, not damaging it.
Icky, you know I like you a lot, but it's the special hell for you!
That's one of the worst things about getting an article out of a journal in a library. The particularly important ones have underlining and writing all over them, to the point where you can hardly see the original text! And then there's the Korean comments in the margins, as well as the comments that are just absurd and the ones that think they're being funny. When I get an article from the library, all I want is that article in a readable form.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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I'll generally remember which page I'm on, but lately I've been taking such long hiatuses from books that I can't remember. Like Bando, I'll dogear softcovers that I own unless some sort of paper object is readily available. If I use bookmarks, they tend to be receipts.
If the books are for class, I'll underline and write in the margins in pen. I want to make sure I always have those notes. For these, I'll also dogear pages with important passages for quick reference.
Posts: 866 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Icarus: I will, however, write in books. Even library books. As far as I'm concerned, I'm enhancing a book's value when I write in it, not damaging it.
Oh. But you seem like such a nice guy! (Many years ago I was on a campaign to get a friend of mine to read Lord of the Rings. However, he was incapable of reading anything without a yellow marker in his hand. He finally gave in to my campaign, and said, "OK, lend me your books and I'll read them." That's when I had to admit defeat, because he would not promise to keep his highlighter out of them.)
Posts: 3149 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
I constantly dog-ear, page fold, leave open face-down, etc. My books look like hell. I just usually can't be arsed to find a bookmark.
This is, of course, assuming the book is mine: if it belongs to someone else, it gets a bookmark of some sort every time.
Posts: 4313 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: Lisa: Writing in books makes me shutter as well, I can't even do it to the text books I buy, I can however do it to my set of scriptures as the notes are invaluable and the book will never be in anybody else's possession for any real period of time except me.
I was once in a Talmud class. The Talmud is in Hebrew and Aramaic, and most of us in the class weren't anywhere near conversant in either one of those. But the idea was to pick it up as we went.
So the rabbi teaching the class would read through a section, translating as he went. Then he'd pick about 3-4 of us, one after the other, and have us read it back, translating as we went. It wasn't actually the worst technique, and all the Talmud learning I've done since then has been built on that initial exposure. But other kids in my class would scribble the translation in the margins as the rabbi read it the first time. It drove me crazy. I just couldn't do it, which meant not only that I had to remember what he'd said without writing (which actually added to my comprehension of the subject matter and the reasoning involved), but it meant that I had to pay attention, which really irked me. I mean, this was high school, after all. Paying attention wasn't my thing.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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I fall into the camp that says you're going to a special hell if you dogear books. And while I can see how it would be handy to have notes in the margins of reference books you own yourself, I can never quite bring myself to do it.
I use bookmarks, but at the same time I think there's something kind of silly about people who buy bookmarks. As far as I'm concerned, bookstores give you a free bookmark with every purchase--it's called a receipt.
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Originally posted by erosomniac: I constantly dog-ear, page fold, leave open face-down, etc. My books look like hell. I just usually can't be arsed to find a bookmark.
This is, of course, assuming the book is mine: if it belongs to someone else, it gets a bookmark of some sort every time.
Used to be, you couldn't even tell that my paperback books had been read. Even really thick ones. I never even creased the spines. I've gotten a little lazier in my old age.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: Lisa: Writing in books makes me shutter as well, I can't even do it to the text books I buy, I can however do it to my set of scriptures as the notes are invaluable and the book will never be in anybody else's possession for any real period of time except me.
I was once in a Talmud class. The Talmud is in Hebrew and Aramaic, and most of us in the class weren't anywhere near conversant in either one of those. But the idea was to pick it up as we went.
So the rabbi teaching the class would read through a section, translating as he went. Then he'd pick about 3-4 of us, one after the other, and have us read it back, translating as we went. It wasn't actually the worst technique, and all the Talmud learning I've done since then has been built on that initial exposure. But other kids in my class would scribble the translation in the margins as the rabbi read it the first time. It drove me crazy. I just couldn't do it, which meant not only that I had to remember what he'd said without writing (which actually added to my comprehension of the subject matter and the reasoning involved), but it meant that I had to pay attention, which really irked me. I mean, this was high school, after all. Paying attention wasn't my thing.
Starting out I used to underline verses I liked or found to be insightful and then after a while realized I had a book with underlined passages but I could not remember why they had been underlined in the first place.
Eventually I started circling the verse number rather then underlining, but sometimes omitting lines and just writing in the margins. Sometimes I had a fresh set of scriptures so that I could copy over the pertinent notes while leaving the ones that I no longer thing matter.
As a missionary I might even write out Chinese characters for notes as they can occasionally present an idea in less space then English could.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
I always bookmark...though I never actually use real bookmarks. I always use receipts, or pieces of paper...whatever is handy when I go to set down the book.
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