How to Turn a Book into a Treasured Heirloom

(Cross-posted at Literary Compass)

Stefanie at So Many Books has just posted a review of ROMAN Reading and it's generating some great comments about marking in books. Here's one by Whatladder that I particularly like:

My husband claims that his favourite book ever is the copy of the Norton Anthology of Poetry I gave him that had all my pencilled notes in it.

What a terrific reminder of the value of marking in books. Besides helping you engage in the text, writing in a book also leaves a visible sign of your presence. When Whatladder's husband reads her marked up book of poetry, he's not just coming into contact with great writers, he's getting to know his wife more intimately. She's there in those pages--her ideas, her reactions, her spirit. I think it's beautifully romantic that her husband has recognized that.

Can you imagine a more meaningful and personal family heirloom than a library of books full of our own thoughts, comments and insights? Think of our children and grandchildren reading through them, getting to know their ancestors. I would love to have a set of books written in by my grandparents. We only get to know our parents and grandparents when they're older; what if we could read their minds when they were our age? What if I could know what my own father thought about life when he was twenty or thirty or forty? Leaving comments in books gives us that chance.

Let's take it a step further: What if your grandmother wrote comments in her copy of Pride and Prejudice, for example. And what if your mother inherited it and added her comments to her mother's? And now the book is yours. Not only do you have a treasured physical possession, you also have something far more valuable: your mother's and grandmother's intimate thoughts and emotions captured for a brief moment on paper. But there's more: Now you have the chance to add your own reflections, insights and reactions to the book for your daughter to read.

Here's an idea: Buy a book with one of your children or grandchildren in mind and read it, marking it up as you go. You can direct the comments directly to them, or you can simply mark it up as you would any piece of literature. After you've finished the book, wrap it up and give it to them as a present. Save it for graduation, or their wedding, or a significant birthday. Maybe give it to them on their confirmation or bar mitzvah, or at a baby shower.

For more about marking up a text, download my free ebook ROMAN Reading: 5 Practical Skills for Transforming Your Life through Literature.

How to Read Like a Classical Bookworm

Sylvia at Classical Bookworm has a post that every budding reader should see. She's reading Don Quixote right now, and in her post she explains how she's reading it. Here's a sample:

After finishing a chapter I write a quick prose summary of what happened, just two to four sentences. I've found that summarizing the action in my own words and in complete sentences makes it stick in my mind far better than point form notes. After that I review what I underlined and pick out what still seems important and write it down as notes or quotes, as appropriate.

And take a look at this fantastic picture:


Unlike me, Sylvia likes to use a mechanical pencil when she marks her books, and she also uses a moleskin journal for her notes, a terrific example of how readers find their own style and their own tools. Be sure to read the rest of the post. And see all of Sylvia's posts about Don Quixote at Tilting at Windmills.

5 Tips for Marking Up a Book

The best way to stay attentive and focused while you read is to mark or highlight the book. Don't be afraid to write on the pages (unless the book belongs to someone else!). There's an old saying, "Bibles that are falling apart usually belong to people who aren't." If your books look like new when you finish reading them, have you really read them? Here's a vivid metaphor to help you see the importance of marking:

When a wolf needs to mark its territory, it roams the area looking for raised objects like rocks or tree stumps. It then urinates on the objects to leave its scent for other wolves to find. When you read a book, you look for important words, phrases and ideas to circle, underline or otherwise highlight. When you leave your marks in a book you claim it as your own, just as a wolf claims its territory with its marks. You leave a sign to others that this is your book and these marks are your ideas. The most important person you're leaving the marks for is your future self. When you reread the book in later years you can see from the marks you left behind what kind of person you were when you first read it, and how much you've grown since then.

Here are five ways to improve marking in books:

1. Use a pen, not a highlighter. You can't write words or sentences with a highlighter, they're too thick. As I mentioned in ROMAN Reading, my preferred pen is the green Sanford Uniball with the microfine point.
2. Use the white spaces. Those empty spaces on the title pages and at the beginning and end of chapters are perfect for recording notes, outlines, summaries and various thoughts about what you're reading.
3. Use symbols and shortcuts. Try using an exclamation mark (!), asterisk (*) or question mark (?) in the margin to save time.
4. Mark entire paragraphs with brackets. If you want to mark an entire paragraph, don't underline the whole thing, just draw a bracket or a set of vertical lines along the side. That way you can still circle certain words or phrases within the paragraph.
   
5. Don't overmark! One reason to mark a book is to be able to find things again. If the entire book ends up being green, you've defeated the purpose.

Next time you read, be sure to mark your intellectual territory.