Favorite bookmarks?

No prob, T.

There was pub in Eugene I used to go to with friends, and they had book shelves with books by the mile. We used to have fun picking out novels and reading the first sentences. Actually, I felt a little cruel doing that, knowing some poor author had probably sweated blood to write the book and get it published. Only to have it mocked by a bunch of drunken smart-asses!

Wow, ossobuco, the Rex looks like the hotel Paladin lived in whenever he was in San Francisco, living the good life and waiting for the call to do good works out in the territory!

The most chilling aspect of a Bought By the Foot library is that innocent passerbys are expected to ooze Rapt Admiration both for Books as Decor and for the enterprising and resourceful owner.

Equally chilling is the difficulty of selling a house with "too many" built in bookshelves. One wall is fine. One wall will accomodate a china collection or an angel collection or a display of Civil War artifacts.....

Two walls of shelves are not a plus point for most potential home buyers.

That is chilling.

Paladin, I sort of remember him, but not the hotel..

"Have Gun Will Travel" shows up on the Hallmark Channel on Saturday early afternoons. Paladin was based in SF, staying at a posh hotel and dressing the part of a refined gentleman. Then he'd get the call to right an injustice and he'd appear in his gunfighter garb, all black. He was way cool and existential!

Back to books: Books by the mile are pretty obvious, no? Look for more than a few seconds, and you start to realize that few of the titles or authors are recognizable. At least that's been my experience...

Some of you are really going to dislike this one: While I refuse to dog-ear the pages, I never worry about what gets on my books as I'm reading them and I do make notes in the margins AND crease the spines. When I'm reading an anthology I mark the stories I most wish to read with paper clips so I can find them faster when I'm so inclined. Perhaps this is due to a passage in a book I read years ago. The book itself was absolute trash (formulaic and predictable) and it's title I've long since forgotten, but one part of it has stuck with me for all these years: The lady walks into the gentleman's library convinced he has never read a book in his life and that the titles are just for show. The walls are neatly lined with books from floor to ceiling. She begins to open certain volumes to find they've been marred by dirty fingerprints (from holding the books open to read), coffee stains, dog ears, etc. Needless to say, her opinion of the gentleman has changed drastically due to her visit to his library.

While I like the price of used books, I dislike that many volumes contain notes or underlines from previous readers especially in books generally assigned by teachers.

As far as choosing bookmarks....hmmm. I recently cleaned out the bookshelves in the living room and pulled bookmarks out of the finished volumes. I found receipts from the purchases of the books, post-it notes, bookmarks handed out by bookstores, and one bookmark I purchased because I liked the quote. I love the index card idea because I sometimes find references to other authors or to mythology, etc. that I want to research and end up searching for pen and paper in the middle of my reading.

Terry, I've also gone to the book shelves and found odd pieces of paper sticking out. Sometimes I've found receipts from decades ago, notes I made in college, random memorabilia. Priceless stuff, at least for the moment...

I use bookmarks I've purchased for myself, bookmarks that were given as gifts, bookmarks from the local library and pieces of whatever paper is handy. But some of my bookmarks are in pristine condition. They are just too pretty to use!

I don't dog ear. Can't bear to do it.

It's odd I know, but if the book is something I'm REALLY excited about (or one I've purchased rather than borrowed from the library) I feel it deserves a bookmark and not just the any-old-piece-of-paper treatment.

Caprice, I'm with you on special bookmarks for special books. I like to choose the bookmark before I start reading a book. It's a nice ritual, eh?

My favourite bookmark says 'never eat a hole' and on the back states that it does 'not protect from mad people with pointy sticks.' hmm...i choose bookmark before i start reading too...depends on mood and why im readig the book for me

There's nothing quite like opening a brand new book for the first time and diving right in. I manage to keep things pristine for the first bit....but paperbacks especially start to suffer if I take my book with me everywhere.

I have a collection of over thirty bookmarks...I love them, adn its something you can pick up from every place that you visit. I only have a couple that I use at the minute, and I don't tend to take any of my good ones out of the house as they have all been either gifts or represent certain memories. I tend mostly to use my little metal fairy one with my initial on which my mum bought me.

It must be nice to have a bookmark with that warm association, carrie...I have old ones, too. They bring back memories...

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Glad I found this thread. Very interesting to see what others use.

I, myself cannot dog-ear books. There must be some strict librarian in my past that I can't get past! But, I have to say that I love to curl up with a book and have some savory treats at the same time. So often those treats end up no the books. I agree that it give them character.

I love to see what others have on their bookshelves. I, too, abhor the fake books and the shelves lined with volumes of books that have never been read. I have a wonderful time when I discover books that have been poured over and marked up. It can be distracting but it also show the charater of the person that has read the book before me.

oh, I forgot to say that my dh is a photographer and we've made bookmarks with slices of his pictures. On the back we have provided space for the reader to take notes. I have to say that is one of my favoite ideas and of course his bookmarks would now be my favorites!