I am writing this post on the sofa at my childhood home, right next to the good old book shelves I constantly talk about. Someone (me) is planning to do absolutely nothing but read for the next week and I wanted to quickly discuss reading notes with you today. Please bear with me, I’ve only had about 3 hours of sleep and have traveled since 3.30am this morning. So this post might be a bit all over the place. Sorry (not sorry).
When I first started to review books, dare I say more in depth, I wrote very-very messy notes. I would have a piece of paper with me where ever I went and once finished I folded it up, added the date I completed the read and stuck it in the book. As soon as I had written the review, of course. The scribbling allowed me to re-visit the main bits of the story I read and were, really, very helpful. I liked that I managed to capture my feelings in real time.
The more time went by however, the less notes I took and eventually stopped them all together. Now I use little note stickers as bookmarks instead and they seem to be working really well. I think it’s a lot neater to use the sticky notes but this means that I no longer record my emotions at certain parts of the narrative as and when. Could I do a bit of both?
In the big rush this morning, where I literally packed my bags before I left the house, I forgot to bring them and I’m NOT happy! So I will need to revert back to messy notes whilst I’m away. I think?
Do you take notes when reading? Do they help you understand the books you read better?
YES! I have a binder filled with two packs of paper. I keep a clip with my binder, so I can pull a piece of paper out, clip it to the front of the binder with a piece of paper, and use it like a clipboard so I can take HUGE amounts of notes for everything I read. I really enjoy this process because it makes me think while I’m reading. I don’t go anywhere without my binder! 🙂
Now, THAT’S some serious note taking if I ever seen one 🙂 x