Annotations have been a topic for debate for far too long among the literati without any conclusive solution to it. But today, The Bombay Circle Press is here to put an end to this madness for once and for all.
The reading community has been divided amongst the people who like their books neat and clean without a single mark, and the people who love to leave their thoughts and comments in the margin, just like Jesse or Rory from Gilmore Girls. The former set of people treat their books as a sacred document that is to be preserved till humanity lasts while the latter treat it like their course books from school with important material highlighted and annotated everywhere.
Annotating a book has its pros and cons. It makes your reading time more streamlined with your thoughts and possibly improves focus. Even if you pick up the same book after years, you can read your annotations and reflect on how you have grown and how your thought process has changed. Bonus points if you share your annotated copy with a friend and they annotate it back, voila, you have a special memory with that friend and a conversation in the middle of the pages, hidden away from the world, living and breathing on its own.
However, the cons of annotating do vary. There are many collectibles and first editions of novels that could be damaged in the annotating process. If you annotate with pens or highlighters, there is a high chance that in a few years time, the ink or the oil from the ink will bleed through the pages, and ultimately ruin the print of the book. So, if you do wish to annotate a novel safely and neatly, your safest bet is to use Post-it notes or pencils (which can blur or smudge out with time). Post-it notes do not ruin the pages of the book with their glue and give you a lot of space to clearly write, without cramming in the margins.
Now, for those people who wish to never annotate their novels. The easiest way to keep a track of your reading is through an online record. You can make an excel sheet and organize it in terms of genres, your ratings, and reviews. You can also create a Goodreads or Storygraph account to keep a track of your reading.
To conclude, in this world full of judgement, we simply wish, to each their own. Of course one should responsibly annotate, especially special editions, but it is ultimately the reader’s choice and freedom to exercise their annotating rights.
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