P.S. My Marginalia, or How I Write in Books

For those of us who love books, writing in the margins offers a way to be in conversation.

For those of us who love books, writing in the margins offers a way to be in conversation. Often, we are in conversation with the text itself, with ideas that evoke something in us—recognition, anger, compassion, etc. We are also in conversation with an author who might have lived hundreds of years ago. Reading makes me feel less alone; I experience this worldly connection¹ when I recognize my own thoughts and patterns in books written before I was born. Writing in the margins feels like grasping an abstract idea. Putting a flag down, claiming: I was here! These words meant something to me. I want to think more deeply about them.

My well-loved copy of Middlemarch, with flags

In this postscript, I’m excited to share with you my four-step process for taking notes in my books!

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These post-scripts offer paid subscribers a deeper dive into the notes I cover in Noted’s regular posts. You can read my full posts on marginalia for free here. If you look forward to reading Noted, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. You’ll get additional weekly content, and you’ll help keep this newsletter going! As always, if you cannot afford a paid subscription, send me an email: notedbee@gmail.com. I’ll comp you, no questions asked.