{Discussion} Do You Tab and/or Annotate Your Books?

How do you feel about tabbing and/or marking your physical books? I know for some people this may be fairly controversial. It could even be considered sacrilegious to mark a book in any way! However, I recently have been reading a lot of blog posts that are in favor of annotating in at least some way while you read. What do you think?

I saw a video recently where a Booktuber explained her tabbing system. She also freely talks about writing in the margins of her favorite books.

Now I am aware of at least one other blogger who uses tabs when reading (but I cannot recall who it is), and several others who take notes in various different ways (via notebook or phone, etc.). Personally though? I have tried a little bit of everything.

I found that if I wrote things down as I read I

• got more out of the story (or at least more talking points for the review)

BUT

• it took me longer to finish the book
• and sometimes would alter my experience, taking away from the immersive nature of stories.

I also used to write in the margins of my text books,

• but truthfully, it hurts my heart to even think about marking one of my novels.

I JUST started using tabs though, so I don’t know how I feel about it yet.

• I like the idea of having easy access to talking points for my reviews

BUT

• I am not sure how I feel about having tabs sticking out of all my books.
• I also think that I would prefer to have a system in place (can you say, color coordination?) but haven’t nailed one down yet.

Do you use tabs in your books? If you do, where do you get your tabs? What is your system? Do you have it color coordinated or just use whatever color you are feeling today?

Do you use a different type of notation/annotation system when it comes to reading? I want to hear all about it!

Let’s discuss!