As the title states, pretty much.
Just wondering what the thought processes are behind it.
Do you ever go back and look at annotations? Do they serve a purpose on re-reading? Are they kind of a “plus-metadata” version of a bookmark, so you can jump in and get a better idea of what’s been going on at a certain point?
I’m genuinely curious, because personally, it couldn’t be further from my mind to want to take a pencil or a pen to one of my books. I see the function in e-readers, which I read a lot more than physical books these days but I’m just so used to *not* doing it that it’s never occurred to me to use them, though I totally accept I might find them useful. How did you start doing it? Is it something that develops and matures over time?
I feel like if I get a clearer idea of why people do it, it might give me more incentive to use the function – it’s there in every e-reader I’ve owned more or less, so I do wonder if it’d be a useful thing for me to unlock, for want of a better word.
Thanks to anyone who responds, much appreciated.
by shokalion
2 Comments
On my ereader I sometimes highlight sentences if they have something to do with a project I’m working on or when I’m reading for a book club. In physical books I never do. I tried once because I thought it was the way you’re supposed to read and I was just drawing a blank what I had to mark. I still don’t really know what I would need to write in the margins when I’m reading something for fun. I only very recently learned how to annotate texts I don’t read for fun lol. So, I am also in the camp who doesn’t annotate.
I don’t usually annotate, but I occasionally do. So maybe there is not such a clear divide.
I can’t do it with e-readers, it’s simply annoying to do imo.
Annotating for me is useful when I try more than simply experiencing a book. I annotate words I do not understand or ideas I find worth remembering. For me that is not something to help with a potential reread but a tool to learn.