Reading in Public No. 64: Low effort, high reward strategies for better annotations
The three simple annotation additions that are improving my reading
I am in a welcome period of discovery when it comes to annotating my books. As an English graduate student and former teacher, I’m comfortable and confident annotating my books when there is a clear purpose. If I have to discuss the book in a seminar, write a paper on it, or teach a class on it, I know exactly how to go about my annotations. These days, I annotate similarly when I read a book for the FictionMatters Book Club or when I prepare to discuss a book on Novel Pairings, but typically, I haven’t annotated at all when I read books for pleasure.
I think that is perfectly fine! I don’t want to spend time annotating every book I read. But this year, my intention is to be a better reader of the books I do pick up. For me, reading better sometimes (though not always) means annotating. So now I’m in the process of discovering what annotations look like for me when I’m not necessarily preparing for anything specific, I just want to read a book well.
The other issue I have with annotating is that I can overthink it. I love seeing people’s beautiful, color-coded, perfectly aesthetic annotations on Instagram, but if I start annotating with a concern for what it’s going to look like, I’m setting myself up for failure. If I only annotate the beginning of a book, change my annotation style partway through, or even misspell in my marginalia, I can get frustrated with the whole project. To annotate well and effectively while keeping things manageable, I need to let these things go.
I’m still early in my discovery phase, but here are three very simple, very manageable things I’m doing to improve my annotations.
1. Use a small ruler for underlining.
I can’t take credit for this one. Last month, I saw close reader extraordinaire
suggest getting a six-inch ruler to add to your annotation supplies.Initially, I wasn’t interested in this because (as mentioned) if I get overly particular about how my annotations look, I stop doing them altogether. But I recently picked up a pack of tabs that came on a clear, six-inch ruler and figured I’d give it a try. What works for me here is that when I use it to underline, the process is ever so slightly slower, which allows me to truly reread the passage I’m underlining. I still don’t care much about the aesthetics of it (though those super straight lines do look nice), and I’m absolutely okay with underlining without the ruler if I don’t have it on me, but that added moment of rereading does exactly what annotating should do: it forces me to slow down and engage more deeply with the text.
2. Create a personal index in the front matter.
I’ve always been a proponent of taking notes in the front matter (title page, dedication, wherever there’s the most space) of books. While I like the idea of a book journal, I cannot be bothered to have one with me at all times during my reading. And while I love actual marginalia, I need to have one place where I can see my main takeaways without flipping back through the entire book. What I have started doing recently, is treating these notes, in part, as my personal index. I’m accustomed to jotting down motifs, themes, big ideas, etc. on the title page, but now I’ve started adding a list of page numbers if and as these things recur throughout the novel. This can also be a great way to keep track of characters or even important plot points. This is so simple, and I don’t know why I didn’t do it before! It’s similar to what I would do if I were writing a paper which would be to type quotations into a document and organize them by question or topic. This method requires no computer, no typing, no extra steps, but I still have easy access to quotes about some of the ideas I’m most interested in without having to search through my marked passages. It’s also great because it makes tabbing optional, and I, for one, do not have tabs on me at all times.
3. Write down questions.
As a teacher, I encouraged my students to focus on writing down questions in their annotations before engaging with answers or interpretations. There were two main reasons for that. First, it can be intimidating to jump straight to interpretation and analysis when students first engage with a complex text. Starting with questions is more approachable. Second, asking questions is expansive—it allows for an open mind rather than narrowing in on a single interpretation too soon. But I have not always been the best practitioner of my own advice. Too often I find myself looking for answers in a text instead of being open to my own questions. But when I am prepping for book club or a podcast episode, I do make note of my questions. And, here’s the thing: this process is always valuable, even when I don’t end up posing the questions in their intended forum. Writing down a question is the beginning of having a conversation with the text. Once the question is posed—even just to myself—it becomes part of my internal dialogue as I read, resulting in true engagement and more satisfying reading.
Tell me your thoughts! Do you annotate your books? Do you have any (preferably simple) methods that have made a difference in your reading life?
Extra Intel: I’ve been using these tabs. They’re fine…not quite as sticky as I’d like but the colors are nice and they do come with the little ruler. I’ve also recently switched from annotating in pencil (Blackwing of course!) to using a uniball 207 Signo Gel Ultra Micro Gel Pen, Extra-Fine 0.38. I think that was a recommendation from
. Personally, I think the paper in a book tells you if it prefers pen or pencil annotations, but this might become the only pen I ever use for annotations.Finally, I’ll note that I like to use the front matter for notes beyond annotations. If I listen to a podcast about the book, read any additional context, I make notes right alongside my ongoing annotations. I even like to take notes from book club meetings in the same space. I appreciate having everything contained. I often put a little tab on the page(s) where my notes are so I can flip to it as easily as possible.
For even more on annotations, and I taught an entire class about it for our Novel Pairings community. You can find that here!
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Happy reading!
Sara
I love your suggestion about using the front matter for notes because I can do this with library books and large post it notes. I always felt as a library user I couldn’t annotate, but once I started with large sticky notes in the front, then wanted to also use smaller sticky notes for margin notes. More note taking!
1 and 2 are exactly how I annotate my books, right down to the tabbed bookmark/straight edge. I like to use a pencil. I remember questions as a reading tool from school, I might have to circle back to this! I do not at all understand aesthetic annotation. I occasionally come across these videos and they're super satisfying to me as a reader, but also... it just seems to me like one more reading as an aesthetics thing, less reading to read. I'm sure the people who do it would push back on my opinion, and that's fine.