Just overheard a librarian say she judges people by their book marks

She said if you use a receipt or a dog ear you're probably reading for plot not prose, so now I'm hiding my corner folds before checkout next time.

3 comments

3 Comments

christopherwilson21d ago

Oh man, I gotta say this kinda hit me too. I used to dog ear everything and thought nothing of it, like "hey, it's my book, who cares?" But after reading that librarian's take, it made me stop and think. I mean, I've definitely read books where I flipped pages so fast I couldn't tell you anything except the basic plot. I guess I was more focused on finishing than actually enjoying the words on the page. Maybe it's time I switch to using a receipt or even a random napkin as a bookmark, just to slow myself down a little.

terryk1021d ago

Yeah the receipt thing actually hit different for me. I used to dog ear pages all the time because I didn't think much about it, but hearing her say that makes me realize I probably was just rushing through plot points and not really sitting with the language. I remember reading a thriller last year where I folded like 20 corners and honestly I couldn't tell you a single description of how the house looked, just that someone got killed in it. Meanwhile my buddy who uses bookmarks remembers all these tiny details about the weather and what the characters were wearing. Kind of makes me want to slow down and actually notice the writing instead of just trying to finish the book.

victor_jones9921d ago

But is it really about the bookmark or is it about how you read? @terryk10 I get what you're saying, but I dog ear pages all the time and I still notice small stuff, like how a character's shirt is described or the way a room smells. For me, dog earring is more about marking a spot I want to come back to later, not about rushing. I think the key is whether you're paying attention while you're reading, not whether you've got a piece of paper sticking out of the book.