Active Reading: Annotating What You Read

Question: Why should I write in books? How can I write in books when it’s somebody else’s book or the library’s?

Answer: Annotating is a good way to summarize ideas briefly. When you can’t write in the book, try a “sticky.”

Summarize but No Comments
I like to write in books. But years of doing it have taught me some things. First, when I annotate, I do not comment. I find that my comments grow stale and besides they’re too long. Later, when I take up the book again, I don’t feel like reading them. Comments are soon out of date.

I annotate by paraphrasing or summarizing briefly the interesting ideas I meet in books or periodicals. Those paraphrases and summaries, especially if they are brief, remind me quickly of the ideas I have encountered. I never grow tired of ideas in the book or periodical, but I quickly tire of my comments.

Underlining
By the way, I also underline. When I have finished the book, I go back to select from my underlinings what I call the “significant sentences” to use as quotes when I write or speak. I try to keep those quotes as brief as possible, a sentence or two at most. No one likes to read long quotes.

Somebody Else’s Book
When the book is a loaner from a friend or a library, I use a system I found in a professional article, long since lost, that enables me to keep track of ideas or quotes without writing in the book.

Mentally, divide the page into five sections, A, B, C, D and E from top to bottom. When you find an idea you want to record, put a sticky on the page with the page number and the section of the page where you found the quote or idea, A at the top, C in the middle and E at the end with B somewhere between the top (A) and the Middle (C) or (D) between the middle (C) and (E), the end: (page) 135 A or (page) 271 E. If the book or periodical is in columns, attach “1” for column 1 or “2” for column 2: (page) 35 1A or 2D.

You can easily go back to locate the idea and can record it in your notebook or on your computer.

There are those who think it is a crime to write in books. Today, “interactive” is a buzz word that shows people are actively involved in media. Annotating is a way of interacting with books or periodicals. The only crime against writing in books is if the books are someone else’s. But then you can use a “sticky.” Annotations help to keep ideas fresh in your mind when you take up the book or periodical again at a later time.