How I annotate
Here it is dear readers, the post detailing “how I annotate”! I just want to preface this by saying that I have only recently started to annotate. The first fully annotated book that I have finished is Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I am currently in the process of annotating The Secret History by Donna Tartt and If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio. There is quite a difference, I find, between me annotating a book I have read previously and one I haven’t even finished before but I will talk about that later on.
Supplies
So, the supplies! Well, this is the fun part, I think, finding the right supplies. There is no right or wrong answer, you could use pieces of paper and rip them and then stick them in your book using tape/washi tape or you could go out of your way to buy some fun supplies. The whole point of annotating is so that it’s fun and enriching, if annotating a book you’re enjoying feels iffy or you’re enjoying it less, maybe put off the annotating for a bit and simply read. You can always write down the page numbers of what you wanted to annotate to not forget (a booktuber named Chloe from chloereads actually does this, here’s her annotating video). But anyway, here are the supplies I use:
A black pen (I really love the Sharpie S Gel 0.7 and the Studio Gel 0.5mm)
A highlighter or two (usually with similar colours) I use the Midliner highlighters but have found that weirdly, they mess with the pen ink so I am on the hunt for newer highlighters.
Sticky tabs I got from Amazon - they’re similar to the brighter coloured ones most people show but I chose the more vintage coloured ones, they match my vibe more.
Post-it notes (I use ones I got from Dollarama, just the generic ones. I am on the lookout for more aesthetic-looking post-it notes and I may buy a pack of clear ones to try out.)
I know a lot of people use coloured pens as well and really colour code everything but I don’t exactly do that. This system works for me because I personally think that if I worry about what colour means, I always risk running out of one coloured sticky tab/run out of ink for one of the pens which is why I try to stay as simple and minimalistic as possible. Also, if I worry too much about colours and such, for me it takes away the experience of enjoying annotating the book because I am so focused on colours and such. In addition, I am very impulsive and change my mind every 5 seconds.
Colour Coding System
As I said before, I am very flexible in my colour coding in the sense that…there is no colour coding system. I tried to focus on certain things when I started reading A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, it became too much of me remembering what colour goes with what and less time actually paying attention to the story. What you can see I did with Six of Crows is I started on one end of the colours of the sticky tabs (blues) and just made my way through to the end (reds). This makes it look like an ombre effect, going from blue to red and honestly, it looks really nice. The sort of muted/vintage colour very much fits the vibe of Six of Crows I think too, but I also can’t stand the bright coloured sticky tabs (lol soz).
It really depends on the book and how much brainpower I want to dedicate to make sure I use the right colours for specific things. In terms of Six of Crows, it’s quite a hefty book so I knew I would probably run out of specific colours if they were assigned to something specific.
In terms of If We Were Villains, the red-hued sticky tabs are for all the times that the characters quote Shakespeare. If the conversation continues for the whole page and it’s from the same play. For example, when James and Alexander are practicing for the play Julius Caesar, the lines from the play start at the top of the page and continue throughout to the top of the next page and so, I only have one red-hued sticky note for that scene. From the other end, I use the blue-hued tabs for lines I have underlined and these include quotes I liked and my own little notes (especially stuff like foreshadowing).
What do I underline/highlight?
Now, this is the fun part: what do I underline or highlight? For the example of Six of Crows, I actually didn’t highlight at all, only underlining with a black pen. I underlined points that I thought were brilliantly written, dialogues and descriptions I liked and wrote down my thoughts alongside them. So, considering it’s Six of Crows, I underlined a lot of things. I really love this book with my whole heart and even if it was a re-read, it felt like I was reading for the first time again. Do I understand how the hell the heist was pulled off? All I know is that there was a tank involved. That’s pretty accurate for the end of the book at least.
One book I am reading and annotating is If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio. I did start highlighting it. I think a majority of the highlighting is the Shakespeare passages and me actually searching them up to see, out of curiosity, what the context and play is to get a deeper understanding.
So, in conclusion, I underline and highlight things depending on the book and how I feel about the book. For Six of Crows, it was a simpler style; pen, sticky tabs and post-it but for IWWV, it’s a more complex; pen, highlighter, and sticky tabs.
What do I tab?
This is a simple question with an even simpler answer: I tab whatever I have highlighted/underlined. A lot of the time, if I underline/highlight many things on one page. I would just put a sticky tab at the top. If a conversation starts at the bottom of the page and then continues to the next page, I will put another sticky tab at the beginning of that conversation.
How I choose a book to annotate
Well so far I have chosen books that I have read before; Six of Crows and If We Were Villains. I started annotating the Secret History for a friend (then got… sidetracked) but I have started TSH before just never finished it.
Another book that I have never finished is A Gentleman in Moscow, I chose to start annotating it because it just seemed like a book with lots of memorable moments and quotes as well as perhaps moments where I would have to read between the lines and want to jot down my thoughts because I am Russian and A Gentleman in Moscow is set in Russia.
In short, I honestly decide via the vibes the book gives. It’s pretty obvious that IWWV and TSH are in the “dark academia” genre so naturally, as someone who is into this vibe, I would instantly start annotating the two. Six of Crows was chosen because I am swapping it with my cousin (she’s giving me her annotated copy of SoC). Other books I’d like to annotate are:
The Atlas Six (will probably get a paperback to annotate because the hardback is too pretty)
The Architect’s Apprentice by Elif Shafak
Vicious by V.E. Schwab (continuing the DA vibe over here)
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (the cover I have def screams DA vibes)
We Hunt the Flame (I usually don’t annotate fantasy, Six of Crows being an exception of course, but this one has enemies-to-lovers, so I need to annotate it)
Crooked Kingdom: I feel like this goes without saying but I really loved Crooked Kingdom when I read it (except for the cursed chapter 40) and I want to also annotate it but I am keeping this one for myself and not sending it to my cousin (we agreed on it beforehand)
Annotating Q&A (courtesy of those that asked via IG stories)
Do you colour-coordinated for sticky notes?
For sticky notes, I don’t colour-coordinate at all (I don’t colour-coordinate in general tbh) but I do try to stick with one colour for the whole book. As I said before, I don’t really use sticky notes as much as the sticky tabs and am actively on the hunt for vintage-coloured sticky notes to match my vintage/dark academia aesthetic.
What makes a quote/scene worthy of annotating for you
I feel like this is different again, for each book I read but a lot of the time it is moments between characters, something additional about the character or dialogue. In Six of Crows, a lot of my tabs are dialogue, especially ones with Kaz involved because I just think they’re so brilliantly written. I also often take note of just musings, those evidently coming from the author through the character.
How long have you been annotating?
Honestly? Ever since I started annotating Six of Crows, so around February. I don’t think I have ever quite actively annotated except maybe writing thoughts on sticky notes and placing them in the books.
How does it compare to reading without annotating?
I feel like I remember more when I am actively conversing, in a sense, with the text. I am highlighting and noting things down, noting my thoughts or theories down and it helps me remember. Although, to be honest, I really don’t know if anyone could try to explain the heist in Six of Crows and succeed, whether or not they annotate it but that’s just because heists are a fickle thing and Bardugo is a great writer (I will literally read anything that woman writes. I have King of Scars on hold and I already read Ninth House and am quite excited for the sequel tbh.)
I hope this has helped you in figuring out my way of annotating and helped you on your journey to annotating!
Love,
Mila
