Do you use a bookmark when reading a book?
By desireeo
@desireeo (595)
Philippines
March 23, 2009 4:39am CST
I love reading books but I have this very bad habit of just leaving them lying around when I'm finished with them. Well, I used to. I am trying to reform now and am trying to give them the care that they deserve. I love my books and there are websites that make you swap books with others. It is such a good idea but I don't know if you can actually get your books back when other members of the site are done with them because I can't depart from them. No matter how battered and torn the pages are.
Anyways, on to the real topic. My other bad habit which I can't seem to get rid of is folding the pages when I'm taking a break from reading. Bookmarks really irritate me and it feels so hygienic and too goody-two-shoes for me. Am I a freak or something for feeling so? I know, bookmarks are made for this kind of purpose so you will not ruin the pages but I can't seem to get this habit into my system. How about you?
19 people like this
80 responses
@dwcorona (187)
• United States
24 Mar 09
not always I just try to remember what page or chapter I'm on, if i have one handy I will use it but sometimes i set the book down and then just have to skim a few pages to see where I left off. I really should us one though it would be alot easier to know where I left off!
Danielle
2 people like this
@mano5chi (207)
• Spain
28 Mar 09
I know I am a bit exaggerated with this but books are very important to me in many ways. I try hard to preserve my books as if nobody had read them, even the mass market edition ones. I hate folding pages while I am reading so I always use a bookmarks when I am reading a book. In fact I have about a dozen of bookmarks all over my bedroom. Freaky thing, isn´t it?
@chertsy (3798)
• United States
20 Apr 09
You are the opposite of me, I get irritated when pages are folded in a book. It irritates me when I would loan a book out and it would come back with pages folded. I don't just use the typical bookmarks, I will use anything I find laying around me at the time that's flat. Like you, I don't like to lend my books out, especially my favorites. I don't know what condition of the book will be when I get it back. I tend to lay mine around when I'm reading it, but once done, it goes back into it's spot on the bookcase.
1 person likes this
@desireeo (595)
• Philippines
23 Mar 09
Hehehe. Good for you. I really want my daughter to inherit my love for books and I really want to share with her what I've read because I think it is very important for a person to instill in her the habit of reading. There's just so much that you can get from books.
1 person likes this
@eagle_f15 (1827)
• Malaysia
23 Mar 09
Oh yes I do use a bookmark for the books which I am reading. I don't fold the pages of my books then the pages would have dog ears after that. Actually I don't use a proper bookmark all the time. Sometimes I would just grab something like a piece of paper, or a ruler or something like a paper clip and put it in between the pages where I stop. A bookmark can be anything as long as it doesn't spoil the book. Oh I have not heard of book swapping in the internet. But I don't think I would do that as my story books are precious to me and each one is wrapped in plastic. The cover I mean and I only lend my books to friends who are book lovers and who know how to take care of them. Sorry but me very fussy. ehehhe
1 person likes this
@desireeo (595)
• Philippines
23 Mar 09
Oh, yeah. I do that sometimes, too. I mean, putting something in between the pages to mark where I stopped. Sometimes I would grab a pen or a small cloth. Especially, when I'm reading a hardcover book where the pages are thick and folding the pages seems like a big crime...Oh, don't worry. If you'll loan me some of your books, I promise to take care of them with my life...
@catdla1 (6005)
• United States
24 Mar 09
I read all the time. Thankfully, we have an excellent library system, so I'm able to read any book that catches my fancy. If our library doesn't have it, they will bring it in from another library...at no cost to me. When reading, I always use a bookmark. People who fold the page in (dogear) really irritate me, since eventually that piece of the page is going to tear. I really like people who use paper money as bookmarks. Once, one of the library books that I borrowed still had a $5 tucked into it...
.
.1 person likes this
@desireeo (595)
• Philippines
25 Mar 09
Hahaha! Lucky you. I wish that would happen to me, too. Unfortunately, we don't have any library here. Which is a big shame, in my opinion because it would have been a really big help for students. Especially, those who cannot afford to buy books..
1 person likes this
@feathers26 (865)
• Philippines
24 Mar 09
I use bookmark when reading a book,
for me to know I stopped reading.
1 person likes this
@russeka (34)
• Australia
24 Mar 09
i love reading. its a way to escape reality and go to places that we would rather be. i know that i would rather be in some places than not. the books that are more interesting to me are the ones that are read more often and are a little more battered than others.
when i was younger i was a big fan of bookmarks and would have a new one for each new book that i was reading. but slowly they started disappearing, and other means were used to remember by page numbers.
i never folded the page corners but always left the book opened on the flatest surface that i could find. or i would use anything that was in reach to mark the page. paper, marking sheets, dockets, pens, really qanything
only now have i started to use bookmarks again and dont know how i survived without them.
@penny64 (1106)
• Australia
24 Mar 09
I don't use a bookmark or fold the pages. I just seem to be able to remember which page number I'm up to.
The best bookmark I ever saw was magnetic, so it stayed in the book no matter what you did with it. Much better than those bookmarks which fall out or get lost inside the book!
I don't think I could swap books - I can read the same book after a year or so, and enjoy it just as much, if not more, the second or third time.
1 person likes this
@savypat (20216)
• United States
24 Mar 09
As a child I was taught to take very good care of my books and to never bend pages or mark in them. So i don't but I do use some very strange things as bookmarks, whatever is handy, like the grocery list and then I can't find where I put it.
1 person likes this
@lala501 (1532)
• United States
24 Mar 09
I usually just use a bookmark but if I don't have one in reach then I fold the page. In fact I just learned this habit from a friend while we were both reading books but i couldn't find a bookmark to use so she suggested it to me. I can't say I'm really fond of folding the pages because I am so used to using bookmarks but if there is a time when I don't have a bookmark in reach then I will resort to folding the pages.
1 person likes this
@MizzLadyB08 (1174)
• United States
24 Mar 09
Yes. I use a bookmark when reading a book because I might lose my place and can not remember where I was in the book. Bookmarks are very helpful in keeping your place so that you can go back to it.
1 person likes this
@gxyywhyzy (450)
• China
24 Mar 09
This is a good method to remember the knowledge of the book.i often use it.i think this is a good habit.
1 person likes this
@pentaluda0878 (118)
• United States
24 Mar 09
I normally leave my books laying open, which with paperbacks is terrible for the spine probably is with hard back books too. Sometimes I'll use a bookmark but leaving a book open is much faster and I lose my bookmarks. DH just remembers what page he is on, I find this odd since he can't remember that I told him to take out the trash but that's a man for ya.
@feathers26 (865)
• Philippines
24 Mar 09
yes, I use bookmark when reading a book.
this is a way for me to learn which I stop,
@inked4life (4224)
• United States
23 Mar 09
I try to take care of my books as I usually take them to a second hand shop where I'll get a wee bit more money if they are in good condition. As for the bookmark issue, I have taken to keeping the receipt from the book that I buy and just using that as the bookmark. I hate getting a used book with a whole bunch of pages turnd over as markers.
1 person likes this
@jammyt (2818)
• Philippines
24 Mar 09
I used to but I always ended up losing them. So I learned the art of folding a tiny corner of the page where I left off. That way, I don't need to bring anything else. I also recently bought a bookmark that serves like a "belt" so it just clings on to the book and can be moved to another page when one is reading....
1 person likes this
@dorisday1971 (5657)
• Philippines
24 Mar 09
I don't use bookmarks anymore, I just fold the page. Before I had many bookmarks but i keep on forgetting the plast page that I have read as the bookmark is always taken by my daughter.
1 person likes this
@Archie0 (5652)
•
23 Mar 09
Well i love to read books, i am so impatient that many times i start reading with two books at a time, and i need to use bookmarks for their specifications because i get very confused then, where i stopped previously and it may make me just go mad in both. that is why i always use bookmarks to keep my page and my reading identical.
