Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Do you take notes as you read? Do you make lists of characters, or highlight passages in an e-reader? Do you look up words or background information while reading, or right after you finish the book?

Do I take notes as I read - no

Do I make lists of characters - no, though it's useful sometimes if the author gives a list.

Do I highlight - no, and I don't annotate either, I really dislike that.

Do I look up at the time or afterwards: at the time

I sometimes take notes if I’m reading for a book club or if I find a line I want to remember for a review. Usually, I don’t because it slows me down from finishing anything. I’ve gotten really lazy about journaling this year. Yes, I highlight in ebooks. I’m not sure why since I never go back to highlighted passages and they are library books. Yes, I look up words and historical references, especially with ebooks. If I’m reading a print book, I hate to look up something on my phone because I get distracted and forget why I got on my phone! Sometimes I’ll just ask my husband since he does crossword puzzles and knows a lot more obscure words and history than I do. If he doesn’t know, I’ll look it up since he is then also interested in the answer.

I don't take notes, makes lists, or highlight. If inspired, I definitely do look up material related to what I'm reading, often sticking a bookmark in and going to my computer while what I want to know more about is fresh in my mind. Sometimes I'll do it after I finish the book, especially if what I'm wondering about concerns the whole story, such as how true to history a historical fiction book was.

I remember underlining a couple favorite lines in "Harriet the Spy" when I was about 9, and immediately feeling so guilty that in the 50+ years since then I have never touched pen to book for any reason. It was my own book, but my mom was a librarian and I think I was strongly indoctrinated to keep books pristine no matter what.

I never want to stop to take notes or look up words, but after I finish the book I might look up the historical facts, the location, etc.

I give talks on historical women and when I research those, I put sticky tabs in the paper books next to anything that looks promising. Sometimes it seems I have a tab on about every page! Then I go back through and remove some that are redundant or not that important, since my talk will be only 15-20 minutes long. Before I did that, I used to write down a lot of notes and page numbers.

I NEVER mark up a print book, even if it belongs to me. And I hate that Kindle now has a default where "most frequently marked passages" are underlined. You can switch that off, but it automatically comes back on.

I forgot that I also do what Robin said about putting sticky tabs on print pages. I just recently started doing this. I prefer to just read and not have to stop and write things down but I do like to go back and see what I thought was noteworthy or funny.

FYI

The first suggestions round is still going on. We need more suggestions.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Pam wrote: "I forgot that I also do what Robin said about putting sticky tabs on print pages. I just recently started doing this. I prefer to just read and not have to stop and write things down but I do like ..."

Yes, I use sticky notes occasionally, too.

I mostly read Kindle books. I highlight a lot, sometimes making notes on those highlights. When I DO read a physical book I usually use the Apple Notes app to take scans of pages, sometimes with notes. This can take quite some time, and takes up storage space on my phone. Since I usually don't actually go back to review these notes (in the Notes app OR on my Kindle), I wonder if I'm wasting my time, and my storage for the physical books. But not highlighting what seems important to me seems wrong also...

I don't make lists of characters because I tend to shy away from books with WAY too many characters. Maybe now that this idea has been brought to my attention (making my own list) I might try this, but I've already shied away from books that supply a character list, so probably not. On my Kindle I do often use the Search function to remind myself who the character is that belongs to a name I come across and don't remember.

The most prevalent practice I follow from the list above is looking things up. I do this ALL the time (as I read, not later). This really slows down my reading, but it's ok as I feel it strengthens it, too. The only problem is that sometimes I get distracted by other interesting tidbits of information, so I can go down a big rabbit hole. I finally remember that I was actually reading, so I go back to that, only to discover sometimes that I never actually looked up what I was intending to look up! So I have to trick myself by clicking on the Google search window before the Google feed has a chance to pop up and distract me! Occasionally my search for clarifying information in my book helps me in my life. I fairly recently looked up a plant that was described, only to find out that the name of this plant in my book was just another name for an invasive weed in my yard (sorrel = oxalis). In looking up more information about this plant, I discovered that gophers' favorite food is sorrel/oxalis! So, if I can get rid of the invasive oxalis, I can also get rid of the other nemesis in my yard—gophers!

Tracy wrote: "I mostly read Kindle books. I highlight a lot, sometimes making notes on those highlights. When I DO read a physical book I usually use the Apple Notes app to take scans of pages, sometimes with no..."

I assume that making notes and highlighting helps you take in and remember the book, even if you never look at the notes later. Maybe you are a visual or kinesthetic learner - that is, the look of the notes/highlights or the physical action of writing or highlighting is helpful. I'm largely an audio, learner when I read I "hear" the words in my head, and I will recap things to myself silently - or out loud if nobody is around (my husband doesn't count, he is used to hearing me talk to myself and just ignoring it!)

The modern era is great in allowing notes without messing up a physical book,

Do you take notes as you read? Only for my book club pick.

Do you make lists of characters, or highlight passages in an e-reader? I make a food list for my book club text thread . I occasionally use sticky tabs for recall to use when I’m asked for book recommendations.

Do you look up words or background information while reading, or right after you finish the book? It depends where I’m reading , at home I love hollering at Alexa for a word definition or historical context and when for example , Schubert is mentioned in the book I’m reading, I’ll have her play his music .

@Robin H-R: thanks for validating the highlighting that I do that seems to have no good reason behind it (in terms of later use). What you say makes sense. 😊

It also allows me to “discuss a passage with someone” without constantly pulling my husband into a book he has no interest in reading.

Do you take notes as you read? Sometimes

Do you make lists of characters yes, I do
or highlight passages in an e-reader? I use tabs. while reading my book

Do you look up words or background information while reading, or right after you finish the book? while reading

I don't often take notes while I read but I have been known to grab a piece of scrap paper and work out a tricky family tree if I'm having trouble keeping track. Or I might do the same to lay out a timeline while reading a mystery.

If I come across a word I don't know, I look it up and then add it to a little notebook I keep for the purpose. Same thing for a particularly good quote. I have a lot of notebooks.

Do you take notes as you read?
If I am reading for fun, no. If I am doing research, absolutely.

Do you make lists of characters, or highlight passages in an e-reader?
No. I don't use an e-reader. If I am doing research with a physical book that I own, I might mark it up.

Do you look up words or background information while reading, or right after you finish the book?
All the time.

I have started a book journal this year to track all my thoughts. I will highlight in an e-reader, but NEVER in a physical book. And I have to look up information in the moment. I wouldn’t be able to focus on my reading with the knowledge gap hovering!

Do you take notes as you read? If it's for a book club I will use sticky notes to mark quotes, ideas, etc. I don't write in books
Do you make lists of characters, or highlight passages in an e-reader? No character lists, but I will highlight for a bookclub as above
Do you look up words or background information while reading, or right after you finish the book? yes, sometimes during the book sometimes after. I rarely run into words I don't know but if I do I look them up immediately because it drives me nuts that I don't know a word. I ran across anfractuosity in Remembrance of Things Past: Volume I - Swann's Way & Within a Budding Grove and it was not in any online or physical dictionaries. I could figure out what it meat but wanted confirmation. Years later Bill Bryson finally confirmed the meaning in Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words: A Writer's Guide to Getting It Right

Do you take notes as you read?

I used to all the time, but I stopped doing it a few years back because it felt like it was bogging my reading down. Unless I have a major thought worth remember.

Do you make lists of characters, or highlight passages in an e-reader?

Lists of characters? I've never even considered doing that tbh. I do like highlighting passages in my kindle, and even in physical books if they really stand out.

Do you look up words or background information while reading, or right after you finish the book?

Never really unless it's something I'm studying. I normally just trust in my ability to figure out words based on context. If there's something I'm curious to look further into I'll look it up right away, because I'll forget otherwise.

I only take notes when it is something I'm studying/helping my son. (He is not into reading and need to pass World Literature this past spring. Paradise Lost required a ton of notes. (I have no problem marking up my own copies for this purpose).

I have never made a character list. I rarely remember what a character's name is. I see it or hear it, but it doesn't stick in my head. Which is kinda of strange since IRL, I'm very good with remembering people names.

I only highlight in e-books if I'm pausing in the middle of a chapter, so I can quickly find my place again.

I do look up words when I'm reading an ebook, though half the time no information is provided. If I have been reading a lot of ebooks, I start tapping on my print version trying to look thing up which unfortunately doesn't work.

I don’t usually take notes, but sometimes I get inspired by something I read and write something down (not usually a direct quote but an idea) that I might use when I write a song later.

I don't take notes, and I definitely don't write in books. I read a lot of realistic fiction and historical fiction, so there's often things to look up. I save it until after I'm done reading, though, to avoid the risk of spoilers.