Hello everyone!! I am having a slow morning this morning, and it felt like the perfect time for this post.
For the past year I have been keeping a reading journal and “annotating” books, and I have gotten a few comments and questions about it all. I was inspired by a couple of different vloggers on YouTube: Elizabeth at The Plant Based Bride, Cups and Thoughts, and Katie is Reading.
Now all of these vloggers have much more involved and creative setups than I do, and also annotate quite a bit more than I do, but I wanted to share their setups and also Elizabeth’s annotation video as examples of how amazing this can all be, and how detailed you can get. Maybe one day I will be at their level but for now I am happy with what I am doing. It brings me joy and makes me happy and that is what matters. Do I sometimes start pages over, or rethink what I am doing? Yes, I do, but I also don’t compare what I do to these vloggers. For one, I don’t have nearly the number of supplies that they do, and I don’t think that matters. I think if you want to do this, you just need some sort of journal or notebook, maybe some markers, and if you feel the need for more, you can even check the dollar store near you. Ours has started carrying crafting supplies, including stickers and washi tape. Some of you might have a lot of supplies at home already. Whatever you have, you can do this. If you have a printer, you could print book covers, or different images. You could go old school and cut pictures out of old magazines even. The important part is to have FUN!
As far as my reading journal goes, I have a few sticker collections that I have picked up, and markers (that don’t bleed) and just regular journals that I got off Amazon. I did recently purchase some winter washi tape, and I am also using all of these items with my letter writing as well! I am slowly adding to my supplies, but like I said it is not something you need to run out and stock up on unless you want to.
These are just some examples of different pages I did for books I have read. Some are mainly quotes, others I have written more in depth thoughts and questions I had about the book.
As far as annotating, I am not that critical nor do I make that many notes in the book itself. My method is to just flag the passage or quote that I like, and when I finish reading, I look back through, and write my thoughts down from there, or not. If you watch Elizabeth’s video though, she has a fantastic video chock full of information about annotating. She is one of the vloggers I watch who actually challenges me to read more critically. I feel smarter after watching her book vlogs, honestly. They remind me of being back in my literature classes in college, and as a lit minor, I had a lot of those!
So I know I said you don’t need to buy stuff if you don’t want to, but I wanted to share some supplies in case you are interested in what I have around and use.
This section contains Amazon Affiliate links and I would receive a small commission if you were to purchase something.
Blank Notebook || Peter Pauper Press Stickers (they have so many and they are so cute!) || Winter Washi Tape || Winter Stickers || Markers
However you choose to do this, if you do, just remember, it is all about fun and relaxing, not comparison to others or having all the things.
And that is it from me today! I hope that whatever you do, you do something that makes you smile!
Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs.. 
Fantastic idea and so creative. You are correct with your suggestions of…just have fun. It would be different for each of us but wow, what a blast! I wriote in my planner everyday and keep track of appointments, books I am reading, etc. But what you have is creative and Fun!
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It really is such a personal project – the sky is the limit on what someone could do!
I try to track fun things in my planner too!
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Such a helpful post! I thought of you while listening to The Enchanted Greenhouse; I rarely feel the urge to write down quotes from a fictional book I’m reading or listening to but I wanted to this morning (only I was driving so I couldn’t!).
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Lol! That is so cool!! Sometimes I just love the way something is written so much that I want to write it down, like I take a picture or save something for later. 🙂
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I love this! It looks like so much fun
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Thanks Kristie! I really enjoy it, and I find myself excited to read more books so I can journal about them. LOL. Like a little reward!
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The way you talked about it at the Crafternoon showed you are really having fun with this and that’s what counts. You can always do more or less and have so many possibilities to do it. Enjoy!
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It really is something you could do very minimal or very elaborate. I do love doing it! I loved stickers as a kid and apparently I still do!
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I love the idea of this so much! I can see how it would also lend itself to really digging deep into themes, characterization, plot development, etc. And, it’s just so cool to look at! I might need to start something like this.
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
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Yes! You definitely could do all of that! It is really engaging way to read books, and I find myself really paying closer attention to what I am reading and how I am thinking about it. And then you can add in creative flourishes too!
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I have a reading journal, too, and it I need that little caddy the annotating blogger got at an antique shop!!!
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I need to go back and see what it looks like now! Lol. I really like her videos but she can be very critical of books. I like that about her though, I feel like I learn from her.
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I’ve always been impressed with your book quotes pages. These are really good ideas and I appreciate the video links too. I have never written down a quote (at least, not that I can remember; I probably did somewhere along the way) but it’s a wonderful idea. And words can come back to haunt you with their perspective, their sweetness or their deeper meaning. It’s nice having them “at hand.”
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Thank you Jeanie!! I bet you could do some beautiful pages, with watercolor and painting!
And yes – I love to hold on to words the way I do pictures or art. It is nice to be able to go back to. 🙂
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I bought a specific book journal this year and did okay at first but it has fallen away already. I need to go back add some thoughts. I will watch some of the videos to get some ideas. Lovely post!
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So neat!
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I want official WashiTape stickers so bad. I’m going to try to get some soon. As you know, I just like doing whatever with my reading journal. Also, I think I might steal this idea from you for a blog post and link back to your post..because I am lame like that. But no…really….I want to link back to yours to show how pretty journals can look or how they can just be fun to design!
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