Marginalia

The other day I was reading an article by Sam Anderson, where he shared the origins of one of his lifelong habits -- marking up his personal books -- as he slogged through a text entitled How To Read A Book. Here is what he had to say...

The author argued that you didn't truly own a book (spiritually, intellectually) until you had marked it up. This hit home for me -- it spoke to the little scribal monk who lives deep in the scriptorium of my soul -- and I quickly adopted the habit of marginalia: underlining memorable lines, writing keywords in blank spaces, jotting important page numbers inside of back covers. It was addictive and useful...

Now this was very good news for me, as I engage in a form of reading my good friend Bill Akins has referred to as 'guerilla warfare reading': any good book will have dog-eared pages, paper clips, written notes, highlights and underlining on almost every page. I re-read my favorite books, and it is always a thrill to underline a new portion of the text, or read through my previous comments. Like a good journal, the book shows me how I have grown, as well as instantly transporting me back to particular periods of my life.

So, mark away, dear children, until daddy takes the T-Bird away!