While I very rarely do this for contemporary novels or the "easier" reads, I am all over it with classics and difficult texts. It's how I make sense of things. The problem is that now I'm doing a lot of classic reading on my nook: all those free books. An eReader is not ideal for this activity. My nook - Lali if you were wondering what I named her - has the capability: I can highlight passages, bookmark pages, type up little notes to myself. But it's just not the same.
Obviously, I could just grab a notebook and take notes there while reading on Lali, but that has never really been an option for me. I don't read at a table, pen and notebook in front of me. I curl up on a couch and get comfy. So what's your point, you may ask? Well, honestly, nothing. I'm just doing a bit of bitching. :)
I love my nook. Lali has saved me on vacations, offered me the opportunity to spontaneously buy the second book in the series immediately after reading the first, and of course provided me with the joys of Sudoku at my fingertips. This is just one of those problems that reminds me how much I prefer printed books. How easy it is to flip back and forth between pages, to highlight specific passages and easily access them, to write in those wonderful margins.
I'm not a huge note-taker so my Kindle provides all the scribbling I need. I'm not sure how the Nook works, but with the Kindle, all the notes are held in a place separate from the actual text, so I can totally see where it would be a problem if you do it alot. I think that is just one reasons of many why e-readers will never completely take over the world.
ReplyDeleteI love writing notes as well, especially in classics as you mentioned. I do keep a small Moleskine notebook on the sofa with me when I read from my Kindle, as I find it just a lot easier, than highlighting on the device.
ReplyDeleteThat is my biggest gripe with e-readers as well. I love to annotate while I'm reading. I've tried to keep a reader's notebook with me, but it's a hit or miss. Sometimes I'm in a position where I can write and take notes, and other times I'm just too darn lazy. Writing in the books is the best for me.
ReplyDeleteInteresting - I can't bear the thought of writing in books, perhaps some kind of memory of my dad telling me never to do it (EVER!) subconsciously represses me! That was a top reason for me buying an eReader (I have a Sony Touch..) because the notes show on the pages and are stored in a separate place so that you can 'click' on a certain note and go straight to the page you wrote it on. It's not perfect but it's a heck of a lot better than the notebook I never wrote in...
ReplyDeleteAhh you are right. I never put notes in my Kindle either, though I rarely put notes in real books either :)
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those that won't write in her books so the fact that I can highlight, bookmark and make notes in my Kindle is probably my favorite feature.
ReplyDeleteI also write a lot in my books, mostly small notes in the margins and a sort of master list of page numbers and key passages inside the back cover. Like Diane and Christina, I use a journal for notes when I read books on my reader. It works fine but I'm also a little lazy with it... and I really miss riffling through paper pages of a book to make a quick review of what I read.
ReplyDeleteI love the - what's your point-I'm just bitching! I love doing that. My husband just doesn't understand the joy of it. Re books, I make margin notes also, at least on non-fiction. I've seen so many people complain about that though with e-readers that I can't imagine they're not working on it.
ReplyDeleteI have a side notebook for all my marginalia. I don't often keep books, so it's sort of a way for me to collect quotes and jot thoughts on the book without having to carry around each individual book for my entire life. I'm pretty much just in the habit of carrying the notebook, so it hasn't been an issue for me to switch to an eReader and continue the habit. When I don't have it nearby I can usually find scraps of paper to mark the pages and/or make notes and transfer them to the notebook later.
ReplyDeleteI love that you write in books, I think everyone should do it at least once. This is coming from a librarian. Don't do it in library books though, I will personally come and glare at you.
I sometimes take notes, but not always. I have wondered what is going to happen when I want to write a note while reading the Kindle, and have thought about getting a notebook for that purpose alone. These are some good observations, and I totally know where you are coming from.
ReplyDeleteMy brain isn't processing this. It is too busy screaming "AHHHH PEN IN BOOK NO NO BAD BAD".
ReplyDeleteI have Kindle for Mac to read digital books, and I'm enjoying the notetaking feature—it features a sidebar where you can flip through what you've highlighted and made notes on.
ReplyDelete(I can't look at that first picture. I just… I just can't. ;) )
Oh shudder! ebooks and note taking!
ReplyDeleteI love sticking lots of different colour sticky notes in my book. I couldn't give up that addiction.
That's actually one of my main reasons for being hesitant about e-readers. Then again, I can't write in library books either and make do with post-it notes just fine.
ReplyDeleteI get this. I have a problem making notes in my Nook too (because I'm scared i won't find them) but I do it anyway because it would drive me crazy not to. For regular books, I am also an active reader but can't imagine (gasp!) writing on the pages. My mom does the same thing you do, so she will never loan me books because they turn into a diary of sorts for her. I use small post its and end up with tons of little papers sticking off of the pages of the book (some with notes, some just marking passages).
ReplyDeleteI've never been an annotator so I can't say that this aspect bothers me. However, I love that you can highlight passages and export them to the computer so I don't have to type them. It seems like you should be able to find the notes easily ... that would be strange if you couldn't.
ReplyDeleteOk I love the idea of summarizing each chapter on the last page!! I'm not one to write in my books, but I do use an index card bookmark and the occasional post-it to take notes. I chose my Sony Reader over the other eReader options specifically because of its touch screen, which makes note-taking SO much easier. That being said, I do rather dislike the ease of flipping through a book that can't really happen with eBooks. The free classics make up for it, though, I think.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think this is something tha tneeds to be improved in ereaders rather than an intrinsic advantage of books - it ought to be EASIER to mark up an ebook, no scrunching your awful handwriting into a tiny margin or using illegible abbreviations and curling around the corners (okay, so maybe I'm talking about me, not you...). The problem, to me, is that philosophically right now ereaders are built aroudn controlling your reading experience, because the first requirement is that it be hard to 'steal books'. So everything else gets lost in that. How do you annotate your movies, may I ask?
ReplyDeleteI've been having the same problem as you Trish. I don't often write in books unless I'm sure I'm going to keep them so I used post-its a lot to mark passages. I have a Kobo and it doesn't have any note-taking capabilities so I have to use a notebook or make notes on random scraps of papers. *sigh* It is easier to have a paper book but I still enjoy using my ereader.
ReplyDeleteI recently got my kindle and have absolutely no complaints. I cannot imagine writing notes in a perfect book (just cannot do it) and I have to rush to find a pen and post it each time.
ReplyDeleteThe kindle notes, bookmarking and highlighting feature are just being so nice to me. But ofcourse I still would love to read from a book than a device that sometimes does not make that connection with me :)
That little keyboard IS frustrating! I've had my Nook since June and I still have issues typing on it. I love my Nook and all, but I still love paper books, too :)
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteThe best approaches to annotate your eBooks on any platform in a way that you can send out your annotations and use them somewhere else.In case you're reading a PDF eBook,there's huge amounts of extraordinary tools to get the most out of annotations,however generally,regardless of the fact that you're utilizing iBooks or Kindle,there's still approaches to copy your annotations and use them wherever you need.
ReplyDelete@Lisa Moore.