Forgotten Bookmarks: A Bookseller's Collection of Odd Things Lost Between the Pages

by Michael Popek

It's happened to all of us: we're reading a book, something interrupts us, and we grab the closest thing at hand to mark our spot. It could be a train ticket, a letter, an advertisement, a photograph, or a four-leaf clover. Eventually the book finds its way into the world-a library, a flea market, other people's bookshelves, or to a used bookstore. But what becomes of those forgotten bookmarks? What stories could they tell?

By day, Michael Popek works in his family's used bookstore. By night, he's the voyeuristic force behind www.forgottenbookmarks.com, where he shares the weird objects he has found among the stacks at his store.

Forgotten Bookmarks is a scrapbook of Popek's most interesting finds. Sure, there are actual bookmarks, but there are also pictures and ticket stubs, old recipes and notes, valentines, unsent letters, four-leaf clovers, and various sordid, heartbreaking, and bizarre keepsakes. Together this collection of lost treasures offers a glimpse into other readers' lives that they never intended for us to see.

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books, History, Humor, Art, Adult, Memoir

182 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

Michael Popek is the 42 year-old manager of a family-run used and rare bookstore in Oneonta, N.Y. He has been in the book business since junior high school, when his father bought a vanload of used books at an auction and decided to see if there was any money to be made off them. Since then, his family has built a successful used-book business that combines a brick-and-mortar location with an online presence that ships books all over the world.

As manager of the bookstore, Popek buys books from libraries, estates and individuals on a regular basis. His first Forgotten Bookmark, which he posted in June 2007, was a handwritten note found in a paperback copy of "The Blind Assasin" by Margaret Atwood. Since that post, more than 1200 items have been featured on the website.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

The little pieces of who we are that we leave behind...excellent look at the things we use as bookmarks! I have found a few myself; in used books that I have bought over the years. I once found a heartbreaking note in a copy of The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran - a poem begging his girlfriend for another chance after cheating on her. Felt sad for him that it turned up in a used bookstore - guess she did not want him anymore.

[reading is my hustle]

This is a book from the guy who blogs about the "weird" things he finds in books as a bookseller. Yet the things he chooses to highlight in this book are a bit boring. It is broken into sections and organized well but lacks contemporary entries. Working in a library we are often amazed at what we find in the books and none of it is boring. I think this takes itself way too seriously.

Here are some of the items I have found in books returned to the library where I work:

-teenage love letter filled with so much angst that I acted parts out for my coworkers (also laminated it b/c bubbly handwriting)

-religious tract with "corrections" made in a red felt tipped pen

-dental floss (ICK)

-a list of "white elephant" gifts for family gift exchange (hairnets for family of five, FABRIC cactus, subscription to Oprah magazine)

-envelope filled with nerds candy and care bear stickers (SCORE)

-Barbie dress that had seen better dayz(!)


Weird? No, but certainly fun to find...
Interesting? In an anecdotal way.
Book material? Nope.

[Robert Zimmermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as an early Christmas gift from my girlfriend the other day after hinting about it for awhile. After discovering Michael's "Forgotten Bookmarks" blog sometime over the summer, I wanted nothing more than to get this book. I always enjoyed logging into facebook or pulling up the blog and seeing another "bookmark" found that day. It is also great to see that I am not the only one interested in what is left in books from previous owners. Not too long before finding the blog, I created my own tumblr blog based similarly on finding things in books.

Getting back to the book itself, Popek has compiled a large assortment of photos, letters, receipts, as well as miscellaneous items that he has discovered in the books he has. I envy the selection available to him. I am only a book buyer, so the amount of books to look through for me is limited. With Michael being a book buyer and seller for a store, there is an almost endless supply at his disposal.
I have only gotten part of the way into the second section of the book entitled "Letters, Cards, and Correspondence." Even though that isn't much of the way through the entire book, I can honestly say this will be a favorite to keep going back to for years to come. The photo's section alone is worthy enough of it's own book. I especially enjoyed seeing the pictures from Martinique disaster. There is a lot to learn about history from books, and not all of it comes from the text itself. Before seeing these photos, I knew nothing about the volcanic explosion of Mt. Pelee. Now I'm intrigued and will most likely research more into the event.
In the coming days I expect to have similar experiences with this book. There is a lot to discover within these pages. I can't wait to finish it, but I may go through the pages slowly to savor the experience.

On another note, the day I received my copy of the book, my girlfriend and I took a drive out to Oneonta, NY to check out Popek's bookstore as well as to meet Michael Popek himself. The bookstore itself was well worth the thirty mile drive. We found a good amount of books for very reasonable prices. Meeting Michael was fun as well. I enjoy talking to people about books, and hearing about how the blog/book came to be from the author himself was a real treat. I strongly suggest anyone in the area, or whoever is up for a road trip, to visit Michael's bookstore. You will not be disappointed..

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be very entertaining. It makes me want to start leaving random "bookmarks" in books that I borrow or pass on.

[Traci · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful little find! I've had this on a to-be-read list forever, and while at work yesterday at our main branch, decided it was about time I check it out. If you love history, you'll love this book. Yes, there are some "modern" finds here, too, but the majority of the items presented here are from the early 1900s, if not earlier (some date back to the 1800s!).

Popek has done a wonderful job of simply showing what he's found. There is a picture of the item, sometimes a translation/typed version of what's written on the item, and a picture of the book in which the item was found. He doesn't try to interpret what was going on with the reader, nor does he make any comment about what he's found. The only time there are "extras" is when the item in question has something related to his general area or to a real-life famous person.

The letters are fascinating (and it's somewhat heartening to realize that our ancestors were just as guilty of "bad" writing as we are today). I think my favorite was the letter from a what appears to be a vendor of meats written during the Great Depression; he apologizes for "the delay" of his payment but feels "very much encouraged having paid five thousand dollars since May 1 in this year of great depression." Yes, you read that correctly - five thousand dollars. During the Great Depression, that might as well have been a million dollars! And how wonderful to read that this businessperson still feels guilt over being late with his payment. Just amazing when you consider how a lot of businesses are regarded these days.

If you have a chance to check out this book, take it. It's not a long read, mostly pictures and such, but well worth the time to look through and enjoy.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book intrigued me, having worked in a used book store before, and having been in the antiques business. It is a fascinating look into the past, at what ephemera gets left behind in books. The fun part was matching the "bookmark" with the book. For instance, in Freud's book Totem and Taboo, a customer card with rules and regulations for a strip club was found. This one made me laugh out loud. But then there are the heartbreaking letters to loved ones that never got sent, or the retyped "A Prayer for My Daughter," by Yeats, in Cutting: Understanding and Overcoming Self-Mutilation. I think this book reinforced to me the importance books can have in our lives, how we look to them in times of trouble and need. And how they can hold little gems, like Mrs. Eisenhower's recipe for fudge :-). Some of the finds are not so interesting, however, hence the 3 stars.

[Helen White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fab little book about some of the odd thing left in books s bookmarks. Highlights include the razor blades,hair net of human hair and a 1918 letter from a soldier during training. Quirky

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's everything you thought it would be. A collection of what's left inside books from a bookseller's collection from letters to receipts and more. I like that the letters and writing is typed out alongside it while the photocopy/reprint of the actual letters is there as well to make the connection. It's amazing and curious and wonderfully romantic just don't get within range of my nails to scratch your eyes out (one of my favorite lines from an angry letter!)

And of course the local connections were even more fantastic when reading about Albany and Utica establishments, advertisements, or letters to or from these locations.

Make this an extra large coffee table book and I'll buy two!

Hook: Historical, compelling, heartwarming, romantic, timeless, inspirational, familiar

[Jessica✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is just the type of book that makes you want to go through your own to see what you can find.
Which is exactly what I plan to do.🥰

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pictorial collection of items found in used books. Michael Popek runs a used bookshop in New York and started keeping a blog about the odd items he found in books, such as personal letters, photographs, drawings, poems, receipts, dog tags (!) and even some money. I spent an enjoyable 20 minutes paging through this book.

[Zulfiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do not scrapbook, neither do I like reading someone's, but this book offered such an interesting excursus into the lives of people who read books that I could not resist the temptation and checked it out ... and read it in one big sitting/lying down session.

Book readers know that we use nearly everything as a bookmark. I am currently using my accident report issued by Springdale police as an Infinite Jest bookmark. Luckily, this is my copy, and I have no intention donating it or reselling it, so I am relatively safe while I am alive:-) I am giving this as a example that readers do in fact use weird bookmarkalikes.

My personal digression apart, the book offered a delightful and occasionally melancholic excursion into the lives of people without their agreement. And this is where voyeurism becomes very noticeable:-) A variety of letters, poems, notes, recipes, cars, bills, hotel do-not-disturb signs, drawings, sketches, leaves, and even natural hair hairnets, all this and much more finds its way into library books, book bins, flea market, and antique stores.

These unique bookmarks are teasers of someone's lives, full of happiness, haunted by poverty and privation, lovesickness, hopes, desperation, gourmet tastes, and simply a zeal to live. The author is quite non-intrusive and provides only necessary comments without interpreting or analyzing the bookmarks and the books they were found in. Sometimes it is not the bookmark, but the content of the book that make a specific bookmark hilarious. The one that made me laugh out loudly is the advert used as a bookmark about a local dancing club that also contains the rules of civility in this specific club, namely, 'You are not allowed to touch the dancer', and then 'If you touch the dancer, you must leave the club'. All these relatively puritanical rules can be understood and accepted as the reflection of their epoch, but somehow this bookmark found its way into the book by Sigmund Freud Totem and Taboo. The bookmark is indeed about totems and taboos. A very Freudian bookmark, don't you think?

I enjoyed the book more than I anticipated, and this is always a big plus for book readers.

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This includes a cemetery girl photo, a photo of a woman reading, and a photo of a closed coffin, all found in old books, if you know me, you know I love this stuff! This is an amazing book that reminds me of all the interesting things I've found in old books! I could write a long review of this, but I'll just say, this book is fantastic and if you love old books, you have to read this! I hope there are more books like this! The past is fascinating and is more so when there's mystery and unanswered questions like when you find a piece of someone's yesterday such as an old photo or writing between the pages of a book YOU are reading.Once upon a time, they were reading it too.It's the tangible past.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Popek owns an antiquarian bookstore. In the process of sorting through books, he has found an assortment of unusual items that have been used as bookmarks—everything from photos, letters and postcards to recipes, baseball cards, and four leaf clovers! The items span a timeframe ranging from the 1800’s to the present. Over the years Mr. Popek has meticulously kept records of these, and has compiled this interesting book. Photos of the items and a short explanation of them provide a fascinating read!

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth a read, but read the actual copies of what was in the books if you can. The printed accompaniment isn’t always 100%. 3 solid stars. Very interesting.

[Gary Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

We’ve all done it without a thought. Before pausing in a book, we grab what is nearest and put it between the pages. Maybe it serves as a bookmark for our reading’s duration, or maybe we never pick up the book again. Either way, the erstwhile bookmark stays with the book. Then the book leaves us with that serendipitous bit still resting inside, only to eventually find its way to another owner.

Michael Popek’s Forgotten Bookmarks is an illustrated collection of what Popek has found tucked within books during his years as a bookseller: photos, receipts, recipes, letters, cap gun caps, baseball cards, dog tags, poems, and all manner of other things. Although many of the examples here are not all that interesting, this still fires the imagination as weconnect with readers from years or decades ago pausing in their reading and using whatever is at hand to mark a place.

Our reading lives are private (unless, of course, we’re on Goodreads), as are the ephemera and scraps of notes we have scattered around us in our personal lives. Forgotten Bookmarks reveals glimpses of the reading lives and a something a little more intimate about the earlier owners of the books he includes.

For a flavor of Forgotten Bookmarks, take a look at www.forgottenbookmarks.com.

Cross-posted on What's Not Wrong?

[Cindy (BKind2Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find this book hard to rate. On one hand, it’s small and easy to read. This is a collection of the unusual finds that the author, a used bookseller, has found in the books. There are bookmarks, naturally, but there are also photos, letters, advertisements, receipts, cards, leaves, razor blades (!), and other ephemera. It is collected in a way that also shows us the book that these various found objects were found in. Most of the time there is little, if any, relationship between the book and the bookmark. Yet, there are those times when, whether by accident or intention, the book and bookmark seem destined for each other: a penciled sheet of music in a 1911 Glee and Chorus Book or a Yeats poem “A Prayer for My Daughter” in a 1998 Cutting: Understanding & Overcoming Self-Mutilation or a family portrait found in an 1880 Bible. But there’s the other hand - these are fascinating bits of history in many ways and we get very little in the way of details. The reproductions of the letters is poor - and I realize that there are usually, but not always, an attempt at a printed transcription (and even there - couldn’t the publisher use a readable font??) - and even some of miscellany is too small (less than half a page) to see the details in the advertisement or receipt, while other items like two 1957 dog tags and the book they were found in merit an entire page. All in all, it just came off as interesting, but very uneven.

[Shelley Diamond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoever put this together did it as a labor of love for these odd objects of ephemera. I was impressed by the high quality of the photographs and the very serious presentation of each piece. In contrast, look at any issue of Found magazine, which presents similar items in a casual informal way.

The items are grouped by type, such as photos, letters, poems, receipts, etc. and you see both the item discovered and a photo of the book in which it was found. Each item is strange in itself and then seeing what book it was in gives you a glimpse of the person who was reading the book and left the item. It's a fascinating mystery to explore.

Perhaps someone reading this book will see an item that they can claim. I looked to see if I myself was the owner of anything in this collection. Sadly, no, nothing I have left in a book has been cataloged and valued in this way. It certainly makes me more conscious of what I have left in a book before I sell it or trade it in...

[Melinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

As an avid bookmark collector and a fan of Popek's website I was given this book for Christmas. Michael Popek is a used and rare bookseller and he posts photos and explanations of the emphemera he finds in the books he obtains. This book is a compilation of some of those finds. Fascinating and fun!

[Amy Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable book. It lets you have the feeling on snooping on other peoples lives while not actually doing anything wrong. I enjoyed reading other peoples letters and getting to make the back story up for myself. People sure do leave odd things in books!

[Amy Hobby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cool! Thank you Jenifer!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book charming and intriguing. If you have ever wanted to be a "fly on the wall" this is the book for you.

[Adia · Rating 3 out of 5]

some of the featured bookmarks were interesting, but others left me thinking that i myself have probably left weirder things in books.

[Andrea Blythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Popek has been involved with his parents used book store for most of his life. Over the years, he's found a multitude of bookmarks left behind in the used books sold to his store, from old photographs to letters, receipts, gift cards, and advertisements to razor blades. He describes the experience of finding these things as leaving him with "a lingering wonder, a sense of misplaced nostalgia, a touch of the voyeuristic thrill that comes from peeping into someone else's life."

Popek has shared this experience by publishing photographs and scans of a few of his bookmark finds along with photos of the books in which they were found. It's fascinating to see what's left behind inside what books, so much so that I read through the entire book in a matter of hours (okay, it's not so hard since it's mostly photographs). Sometimes the pairing of found bookmark is perfect (like an old baseball card found inside a book about baseball) sometimes the finds are ironic or contradictory (I can't remember an example at the moment, sorry). But it's definitely a fun glimpse into the strange worlds of other's lives.

Of course, I had to leave my own "forgotten" book mark between the pages when I returned it to the library. Just the receipt for the books I checked out with this one. I'm curious what the person will think of my contribution, though I'll never know as I didn't leave any identifying contact information. Hehe. (^_^)

If you want instant gratification, you can check out his blog, which also host his daily finds of forgotten bookmarks.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to find a supply of old books and go through them for the same kind of treasures that this book seller found in books he purchased. People use interesting things as bookmarks. He found letters dating back over 200 years, photos of all ages including daguerretypes (misspelled, but oh, well), contracts, birth certificates, recipes, advertisements and so much more. One I loved was a handwritten invitation that says
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
At 7:30 prompt on Wednesday evening be prepared to meet your doom. You are to be dressed in the following manner, and woe betide if you even the smallest point is neglected.
1. Have your hair curled in twelve curls, each tied at the top with wrapping cord.
2. Wear your "jeweled" dog collar.
3. On your right foot, wear a tan stocking and a black shoe. On your left foot wear a black stocking and a tan shoe.
4. Wear a white petticoat which is exactly two and seven-eights inches longer than your dress shirt.
5. Wear a white waist, blue shirt, and a red belt.
6. Have a man's red handkerchief pinned by one corner to your belt.
7. Suspended by a cord wear our society emplem (skull and crossbones) around your neck.
Be prepared to sing "Oh Where and Oh Were is my Little Dog Gone?" and "Where is my Wandering Boy tonight?"
Mum is the word!
You will be called for at 7:30 Wed. Oct. 12, 1910

I want to know what happened at the party--and to the people who wrote letters telling someone off or letters of declaration of love. It was all so interesting!

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a bookworm, I found this book to be an enjoyable way to spend an evening. Although I have seen the author's blog before, I am not an avid reader of it and thus I did not have the same criticisms of the items included in the book that others seem to have. As a historian, I loved seeing how the random ephemera of our lives can be preserved accidentally, although my favorites are when the "bookmark" had an obvious connection to the material. While I like that Popek allows the reader to interpret the items for themselves, I do wish he had taken more care with transcribing the handwritten materials. Even from the smaller pictures I saw several instances were Popek clearly missed or misread words. It's also one of those books that is a pleasurable read, but only once. I don't see myself ever re-reading this book.

[Sheena · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not as interesting as I thought it would be. I expected it to have more funny and crazy stuff rather than old photos and papers. The recipes were cool because I love cooking but I felt it was kind of boring otherwise except a few random things throughout. I work for my Mom here and there, who sells used books, and the stuff I've found in books has been pretty freaking cool. Maybe I need to add a blog post here and there of the cool stuff I've found! This book is worth looking through once, but I'm glad I got it from the library and didn't spend any money on it.

http://www.hoteatsandcoolreads.com/20...

[Tineke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting. Especially loved the photographs and it kind of makes me sad to know those people are long dead. I hope they've had a fullfilling life (my melancholy may also be because I finished Still Alice yesterday). I had hoped to have some more contemporary entries and more information on what happened to the letter writers (as far as possible).
I once found an old-ish card from a father who had visited Belgium and wrote to his daughter in the UK about what he visited in Belgium. I like to fantasize about the bond those two people have with each other.
I also found the connection between page 88 and 135.

[Melissa Joulwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really fun book to slip through. I read the whole thing in about and hour, and it was really charming. I was realized surprised by the personal photos people left in books that ended up at the author's bookshop—so sad! I guess they were using them as bookmarks and forgot them? There was also a shockingly angry letter that made me feel like I was eavesdropping on an illicit conversation, and a delightful handwritten invitation to a party in 1910.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

With certain things in this book I couldn't help but think about the person it belonged to and what made them leave that certain thing in the book.
I loved looking at all the old pictures and ads, especially the date on most of them. It's so weird to think that they still exist after all this time.

Strangest thing I found in a book: pamphlet on how to cook a chicken.

[Carlos · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring ...
Not one interesting thing discussed here, could have been presented in a more interesting way . But I'll give 2 stars because the content is consistent with the title, now I know why these people "forgot" those bookmarks, they were useless .