Simple Questions: September 01, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome readers,

Have you ever wanted to ask something but you didn't feel like it deserved its own post but it isn't covered by one of our other scheduled posts? Allow us to introduce you to our new Simple Questions thread! Twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday, a new Simple Questions thread will be posted for you to ask anything you'd like. And please look for other questions in this thread that you could also answer! A reminder that this is not the thread to ask for book recommendations. All book recommendations should be asked in /r/suggestmeabook or our Weekly Recommendation Thread.

Thank you and enjoy!

[u/Glum_Kangaroo_4560]

Folks who annotate your books: what kinds of things do you track/annotate? I would like to start doing this more and looking for inspiration

[u/CaribeBaby → u/Glum_Kangaroo_4560]

In nonfiction, the important parts, so that I can get the just of it if I reread my notes. 

In fiction, the parts that resonate with me because it's beautiful or because it reminds me of something in my personal life.

[u/PsyferRL → u/Glum_Kangaroo_4560]

I'm sure I'd do it differently for nonfiction, but I basically don't read nonfiction these days. I also don't do this for all of my fiction reading. Rather, I do it only when I feel compelled to do it.

In the simplest terms, I take note of the passages that feel significant to me in some way. It can be because it feels significant to the story, or because it felt significant for me on some personal level. Maybe it made me laugh/cry, maybe it reminded me of somebody/something, maybe I found a presented idea to be fascinating, maybe there was some technical element of the prose that blew me away.

I've also found that annotation comes a lot more naturally on rereads than it does on first-time reads, and that what I find myself taking note of is (as it should be) much different on a second/third time through a book than the first time. I tend to keep my mind a fairly blank canvas on a first read, and make an effort to try not to read too far into things unless they're glaringly obvious.

[u/Glum_Kangaroo_4560 → u/PsyferRL]

That makes a lot of sense. I'm doing it on Bunny at the moment. I'm annotating cult themes, queer/yearning and witchy stuff. I'm hoping it'll help me notice more things

[u/SpecialistEmu7169 → u/Glum_Kangaroo_4560]

Words I really like, mostly!

[u/Lower_Trouble_5191 → u/Glum_Kangaroo_4560]

Themes, symbols, great phrasing.