I really like the idea of tabbing afterwards, I might give it a try! I had abandoned tabbing my books altogether for the very same reason you mention: you think something is worth tabbing so you start doing it, only to realise later on that it was irrelevant. Thanks for the idea 🙂
I'd like to know how you use the initial journal, since you read more than one book at a time. Do you keep an index, or does each book get its own notebook/journal? Would appreciate it if you could share those types of details! Loved the post!
I’m trying to make journaling a habit and completely unsure how to carve out book journaling. Right now my personal journal is a merry mix of whining and random observations and navel-gazing and to-do lists. With occasional book quotes and leftover feeelings after reading for the day.
I’m also trying to be more regular about annotating (marginalia zindabad with some sticky notes, not sure how to use tabs yet (going back and going through the book and sticking tabs in will just not happen)). So I’ve been watching random YouTube videos these last few weeks and then this essay pops up in my notifications! It’s a sign! Not sure of what though!
Aww I’m glad it helps! So no I don’t tab everything and yes I colour code for sure. That’s a large reason why I don’t tab as I go as I flip through and decide on what I want to tab up, what themes I want to stick with. You know how those themes you think you see and they just don’t materialise? Yeah, that’s why I can’t tab as I go!
It's always so fun to peek at someone else's process. Like you, my margins are filled with notes and the text is littered with underlines once I've finished a book. I tab as I read with zero regard color coding. I know, the horror. The little plastic flags stay at an angle until I revisit them at the end or when I complete a section if the book is fairly dense.
Quotes accompanied by my commentary find their way into Obsidian. I prefer this part to be digital so that I can create links and connections to other books and articles. My ability to locate an idea or obscure essay increases with a search feature. At this point, I pull the vast majority of tabs leaving only the best of the best aspects or arguments in the book. I also square them with the text to indicate that I've captured what I wish to revisit.
I too note the start and end date in the book. If I read a book multiple times, I switch pen colors to indicate when I had which thoughts or found something significant. I'm amazed how much can change in a few years.
I love this. I do a similar process for steps 1&2, so I’m super excited to try your tab technique. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get all my thoughts into a cohesive pattern to be able to write a real review and this is a great way to manage themes, motifs, quotes, etc.
Since reading Adler, I’m really enjoying this more intentional and thorough reading of a book. And while I don’t necessarily think I would do it for every book because at the rate I’m going, I wouldn’t read much a year, it’s been so gratifying to be able to pull so much from the text that I would have missed had I read my old way (which was for consumption).
I especially appreciated your thoughts on sitting on a book after you read it. I’ve been doing this process with Taiwan Travelogue and in the beginning I worried I’d lose interest (after reading) to keep up the deeper dive. But what I’ve found is that I’m catching missed clues or small nuances that I just couldn’t capture in the initial read. The second review is helping me see all the “Easter eggs” and solidifying some thoughts I’d had while expanding others.
Partly life gets in the way, but as I get more engaged with this style of reading, I am constantly impressed by how much you do. I know this is a new skill for me, so of course I’ll be slower, but sometimes the hardest part is slowing down and not get so impatient. I’m not used to this and I want to chuck it all out and just finish the book! But then I get to a line or an idea and my brain is instantly going in 100 directions and I want to capture it all. So, then I am reminded that it’s not a race and going slow is okay. (Lastly, I love that you dog ear and annotate. Same!)
I also keep book journals! I usually wait until I finish the book, but I’ve begun to think I ought to journal throughout for longer ones. That way I can capture more complex notes. Thanks for the inspiration of this post! It’s not about reading faster, but reading deeper.
I really like the idea of tabbing afterwards, I might give it a try! I had abandoned tabbing my books altogether for the very same reason you mention: you think something is worth tabbing so you start doing it, only to realise later on that it was irrelevant. Thanks for the idea 🙂
Not a problem! Let me know how you get on!
This was so good!!
Thank you!
I'd like to know how you use the initial journal, since you read more than one book at a time. Do you keep an index, or does each book get its own notebook/journal? Would appreciate it if you could share those types of details! Loved the post!
Ooooooo I can for sure do that - part 2 perhaps?
That would be wonderful! Thank you!
I’m trying to make journaling a habit and completely unsure how to carve out book journaling. Right now my personal journal is a merry mix of whining and random observations and navel-gazing and to-do lists. With occasional book quotes and leftover feeelings after reading for the day.
I’m also trying to be more regular about annotating (marginalia zindabad with some sticky notes, not sure how to use tabs yet (going back and going through the book and sticking tabs in will just not happen)). So I’ve been watching random YouTube videos these last few weeks and then this essay pops up in my notifications! It’s a sign! Not sure of what though!
A sign indeed!!
Thank you! I like to see how others do it. It always help me improve my process.
One question: you tab every spot you write in the margins? Do you color code your tabs?
Oops that was two…
Aww I’m glad it helps! So no I don’t tab everything and yes I colour code for sure. That’s a large reason why I don’t tab as I go as I flip through and decide on what I want to tab up, what themes I want to stick with. You know how those themes you think you see and they just don’t materialise? Yeah, that’s why I can’t tab as I go!
It's always so fun to peek at someone else's process. Like you, my margins are filled with notes and the text is littered with underlines once I've finished a book. I tab as I read with zero regard color coding. I know, the horror. The little plastic flags stay at an angle until I revisit them at the end or when I complete a section if the book is fairly dense.
Quotes accompanied by my commentary find their way into Obsidian. I prefer this part to be digital so that I can create links and connections to other books and articles. My ability to locate an idea or obscure essay increases with a search feature. At this point, I pull the vast majority of tabs leaving only the best of the best aspects or arguments in the book. I also square them with the text to indicate that I've captured what I wish to revisit.
I too note the start and end date in the book. If I read a book multiple times, I switch pen colors to indicate when I had which thoughts or found something significant. I'm amazed how much can change in a few years.
I love this. I do a similar process for steps 1&2, so I’m super excited to try your tab technique. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get all my thoughts into a cohesive pattern to be able to write a real review and this is a great way to manage themes, motifs, quotes, etc.
Since reading Adler, I’m really enjoying this more intentional and thorough reading of a book. And while I don’t necessarily think I would do it for every book because at the rate I’m going, I wouldn’t read much a year, it’s been so gratifying to be able to pull so much from the text that I would have missed had I read my old way (which was for consumption).
I especially appreciated your thoughts on sitting on a book after you read it. I’ve been doing this process with Taiwan Travelogue and in the beginning I worried I’d lose interest (after reading) to keep up the deeper dive. But what I’ve found is that I’m catching missed clues or small nuances that I just couldn’t capture in the initial read. The second review is helping me see all the “Easter eggs” and solidifying some thoughts I’d had while expanding others.
Partly life gets in the way, but as I get more engaged with this style of reading, I am constantly impressed by how much you do. I know this is a new skill for me, so of course I’ll be slower, but sometimes the hardest part is slowing down and not get so impatient. I’m not used to this and I want to chuck it all out and just finish the book! But then I get to a line or an idea and my brain is instantly going in 100 directions and I want to capture it all. So, then I am reminded that it’s not a race and going slow is okay. (Lastly, I love that you dog ear and annotate. Same!)
I also keep book journals! I usually wait until I finish the book, but I’ve begun to think I ought to journal throughout for longer ones. That way I can capture more complex notes. Thanks for the inspiration of this post! It’s not about reading faster, but reading deeper.