Daily Diary discussion

Never thought much about this one til my daughter returned from a holiday with a present for me....a flash pewter job with pretty bits that dangle down the spine when the book is closed. I have always been one of those who grabbed the nearest thing to hand....empty envelopes, old shopping lists etc. I have even been known (quelle horreur!) to fold the page!!!
What do the rest of you do?

I use (free) bookmarks that I've picked up over the years. Of course, I lose bookmarks frequently, too (I think they ride shotgun with spare socks and head for the border).

So... when I cannot use a bookmark, I'll use someone's business card (they're always lying around) or sometimes a dollar bill (about worth as much as a bookmark these days) or sometimes a Kleenex (but only if the book blows.... get it?).

I try not to turn down corners or bend the spine back (esp. on paperbacks). If I'm reading for a book group discussion (which I used to do regularly when I belonged to an on-line book group), I use sticky notes. They can make your book look like a Chia Pet in a hurry, though.

Have I answered the question yet? As a teacher, I must comment that I am AMAZED by the number of kids who do NOT use bookmarks of any kind and just flip around to find the page they're on. This is insanity (though I cannot say this, I can only calmly recommend the utility of bookmarks -- of ANY lineage).

I've always liked the traditional bookmarks with quaint quotes and ribbons. Or something about my star sign... very cheesy i know :(. But hey, it's all part of the non-literary aesthetics of reading. Like the smell of a new book, or the feel and crackle of the soft yellowing pages of an old favourite...

As a parent, I notice that my son does not use any bookmarks at all, and just flips until he thinks he has found the page. Extremely annoying. My daughter loves bookmarks of all kinds - the ribbony ones, the High School Musical variety and the silver-plated grips - and uses them diligently :)

I'm one that loves bookmarks but never has them around when I need them. I am definalty the type to look at the page number before I close and then flip through until I find where I left off. I'm not sure why this is annoying to others, it works for me. If I do mark the page it's ususally with a postcard from a magazine or a random bit of paper.

Well, it's the mom in me who's gets annoyed, because flipping of the pages (by my eight year old) is usually accompanied by some kind of complaint about who moved the book when it was left open, face down, at apparently the correct page :) I try not to show my annoyance because then he may stop reading altogether!

I'm with you, Debbie - if it's flat and an appropriate size then I'll use it. And I have been known to fold down the corner of the page ...

I have some nice bookmarks...the little 'dangly' ones that hang outside the book spine, a Tiffany bookmark that was a present, etc. But what I use is a sticky note. I read a lot on the go (on the streetcar or train) so I sometimes need to stop mid-page or mid-paragraph. With a sticky note, I can place it right on the sentence I last read. Plus the book is normally being carried around in my purse so this way I don't need to worry that the bookmark falls out and I lose my place. But I do love the fancy ones, I can only use them on books that stay home.

Some bookmarks can be too "frilly" or "sissy," I think. Over-the-top. Pretentious. "Look at me!" type stuff.

It's like putting a sweater on a dog -- VERY embarrassing for the dog (esp. if he's seen by his K-9 pals). Frilly bookmarks can embarrass a book that way. I just can't imagine my copy of Bukowski's Ham on Rye with a frilly bookmark shouting tackily out of the top.

Does this make any sense? Does it make any dollars?

I like post-its and sticky notes too, Karen, but tend use them more on books that I read for work / study purposes.

Re: Frilly bookmarks - I notice that pre-teen girls tend to favour those... Obviously the idea is to be over the top and be noticed! Unlike the dog :)

I use anything at hand--recipe cards, envelopes, sticky notes, the band that wraps the silverware in restaurants, napkins, kleenex etc. My favorite is if the book is a hard cover in a dust jacket, then I just use the dust jacket flap. When there is nothing at hand I lay the book open face down---bad for the book but I can't stand flipping around trying to figure out where I left off. When my kids were growing up they knew moving one of my books and losing my place would warrent approximately the same punishment as setting our cat on fire.

I like the little renewal postcards that drop out of magazines or the sheet of paper from the library with the due dates on them.

Oh, I feel funny that I think this is a great topic. Most of the time I really think about "which" bookmark to use with each individual book. I never turn down the corners-I just don't think it's right...besides my librarian friends yell, even if I didn't do it.

Ribbons, bookmarks from the library, tissues(clean), handmade one's from my daughter, sticky notes...those are fab...bookmarks handed down from my lovely mother-in-law...bookmarks given by a friend, envelopes, postcards...

I try to remember page numbers but when I have a book in every room it's tough. Besides, my age, though not high, gives me the excuse to forget. It doesn't hurt me to re-read.

I am in the group who uses anything on hand. I've been given bookmarks as gifts and I enjoy them, but I lose them. When the show up I use them again until they disapper. If I don't have anything on hand I too look at the page number and try to remember it or I try to stop at the end of a chapter.

I have a special fondness for bookmarks and love to collect them from places I have been. I keep them all in one place on the bookshelf and I select a different one every time I start a book. I try to match it with the mood of the book or with the mood that I am in when I am starting a book.

I think choosing appropriate bookmarks for each book is a lovely idea, Diane.

I think so, too, but then, so is alphabetizing (or Dewey Decimalizing) my own bookcases. Lovely, but WAY too much work for the lazy likes of me!

If you Dewey'd your shelves, the books would be all different heights instead of descending from tallest to shortest, from left to right along the shelf....not aesthetically pleasing! (Not that I am anally retentive or anything)!
For goodness sake....does ANYONE do that???!!! Time they got a life!

There's little rhyme (and less reason) to my bookshelves. They're willy (to the left) and nilly (to the right), helter (on one side) and skelter (on t'other), dis (prefixes, anyone?) and sheveled (close to shelf-eld), to say the least (which I'm apparently not very good at).

I tend to file books by this rule: where there's room. I don't think that's taught in librarian school.

....and if there is no room, lying horizontally across the uneven tops of the vertically stacked!

I very rarely actually use bookmarks. I just remember (more-or-less) where I am when I close the book and pick up from there when I open it agian. If I forget where I was and end up reading a few pages over again, well, they probably needed re-reading anyway. If they didn't, I would have remembered reading them and picked up further on. If I leave a book for long enough that I completely lose track of where I was, then I probably should be starting from the beginning again anyway. At least, that's my take on it.

Oh no. I am a page folder. I love book marks and I even make them, but can never find them when I need them. I haven't folder pages in a while so maybe the books will forgive for my past mistakes. :-)

i love to collect bookmarks from different places i've been, or use bookmarks that people have made for me.
i also like to try and match the book to the bookmark. if there is a book or series that i really love, i will try to find a matching bookmark- i have a harry potter bookmark that i always use with my harry potter books.

Page Folder, by heart. but sometimes i use a scrap of paper.

scrap of paper often for me as well.

I have a wide variety of bookmarks and my favorites are any that have Gustav Klimt paintings on them because he is my favorite painter. I try to rotate and use some of the other bookmarks because I don't want to hurt their feelings (Smile).
When I am beginning a book I've anticipated or re-reading a book I love, I always reach for a Klimt bookmark.

A large number of my bookmarks, I pickup at Malice Domestic each year. My favorite authors, new authors, books that look interesting....

Having been a collector of various kinds of trading cards over the years, I like to use those as bookmarks. In particular, I have a large stack of fantasy art cards from the likes of Ken Kelly, Jeff Easley, Luis Royo, etc. I try to pick a card that fits at least the theme of the book I'm reading.

I have a tarot deck by Royo that is wonderful

I love bookmarks and purchase pretty or unusual ones, especially when I travel. So I always, always use them. Never have curled a page to keep my place. Guess I was taught as a child that's a huge no-no. If I happen to begin a book away from home with no bookmark available, I'll use a piece of scrap paper till I can replace it with a bookmark.
Enjoyed reading the comments here and different thoughts on this subject.

I use anything that's in front of me..but I do have bookmarks. And, yes, in class, I fold the page.

Bookmarks are so easily lost...I normally just use whatever is sitting around. I've been known to use paper towels, old receipts, and (rarely) an actual bookmark that I residcovered.

I always lose the fancy ones. For the past few months I've been using the sweet card my husband gave me for our anniversary.

i have so many bookmarks it's not funny. some have been given to me, some i get in the mail with books i have ordered and some i find here and there. my favorites are the one with my grandson's picture on it, and two ladybug bookmarks that i was given.

I usually use something close to hand but when I cant find anything,I usually out of habit fold the corners,Im disgusted at myself!

My favorite book mark is starting to fall apart. Luckily I got a really cool on in my stocking. It looks like different types of wood pressed together in thin strips. I love book marks and hate it when someone turns down the corner of the page.

I usually try to find a bookmark for every book. I like to write when I read the book on the mark. I like knowing when I last read it and how well I can remember it. :)

I just cant fold a page, I'm one of those obsessed people with their books. I love the smell and look of 'um. *sighs* books :)

Dog-earring book pages irritates me, so I have a ton of bookmarks. I have a few "fancy" ones given to me, but prefer to use the typical flat bookmarks without ribbon or tassels that can be too easily removed from a book. I have a large number of bookmarks touting one author or another, or upcoming releases by friends or favorite writers, picked up at conferences or sent by friends who have been. My current bookmark was received in last week's mail for a friend's THE BIKINI DIARIES. Used bookshops like Frugal Muse and Half Price Books (I buy both new and used) always include one of their own bookmarks with purchases, so I have handfuls of those too. Wouldn't it be nice if the bigger chain bookstores did that as well?

i actually collect bookmarks - i LOVE them. one of the hardest decisions i have to make when picking up a new book is which bookmark to use. i have a ton of them and i just keep finding more i love. if you want some really cool ones, you should check out www.etsy.com. i just got two of the CUTEST bookmarks i have ever seen off there.

Rachel - no wonder we are friends....I feel the same way about bookmarks as you do. I have to 'choose' one to go with the book I am reading. Thanks for the tip on the website. I'll take a look.

"Well, it's the mom in me who's gets annoyed, because flipping of the pages (by my eight year old)"

haha im 11 & my brother & BFF constantly do that...it is annoying

my daughter has a twilight book mark which I'm always finding on the ground. :(

I use bookmarks that sometimes are added to the books. My favourite bookmarks are old month tickets that were small pieces of plastic with a picture on one side and information about type of ticket on the other (now I have a special electronic card which I subcharge each time the validity of ticket expires - or few days earlier to not be caught by ticket controllers).

I often use the library ticket giving me the due dates for my books as the bookmark.

I LOVE bookmarks almost as much as my books! If I buy a (or more than one!) book at a bookstore, I just have to buy a new bookmark too. I keep them in a bookcase in my room, and decide which one I will use when I begin a new book. There are so many fun ones out there!

I love the kiddy bookmarks with cute sayings on them. Like "Gopher a good read" etc... But sometimes I'm working on a book and I just grab the nearest flat item. Index cards, scrap paper, kleenex, paper clips, candy wrappers ... anything really.
I also fold pages.

I don't see the horror in folding pages though. As long as the book is mine, I mark it up like crazy. With pencil, if that is any consolation, I underline and star. I dog-ear pages that contain passages I like. Then when I'm feeling down or just bored or whatever, I can pick up the book and flip through and read my favorite parts.

Today at work, a young girl came in with her dad to be seen by the doctor. I looked down at her book, and a 1.00 bill was marking her page. I told her I liked her marker, as Dad was handing me a 20.00 bill for the co-pay. Dad said, yeah, she took that from me because she left her marker at home. I laughed and said, you should have grabbed the 20.00!! He said, well, this is a marker she will never lose, its money!

Today at work, a young girl came in with her dad to be seen by the doctor. I looked down at her book, and a 1.00 bill was marking her page. I told her I liked her marker, as Dad was handing me a 20.00 bill for the co-pay. Dad said, yeah, she took that from me because she left her marker at home. I laughed and said, you should have grabbed the 20.00!! He said, well, this is a marker she will never lose, its money!

I could never bring myself to turn down the corner of a page. My husband the geek memorizes the page number...or will just lay his paperbacks face down. I always feel weird doing that too, especially with a library book.

I've been given bookmarks before, but they're never around when I need one. I will grab an envelope or any flat paper or a clean Q-tip or Kleenex on my nightstand. Just as long as I can mark my place. I can't stand to try to flip to where I left off. I'm really bad at judging and get ticked when I have to keep flipping pages.

I'm a grab-the-nearest-piece-of-paper-for-a-bookmark kind of person.

Rarely do I earmark the page but I have done it.

THe weirdest thing I grabbed was an elastic pony tail holder. I think I even did that to my godson. I had just bought a book for him and he needed a bookmark once we got to our location. I didn't have anything in my car but a pony tail holder. He eventually returned it to me, too!

I usually just grab the nearest piece of paper. I don't really like the metal ones because those slide out way too easily. I've used a bandaid (in its wrapper) before.