Monday, January 14, 2013

Bookmark Fetishes

In light of my McEwan-borrowed Splash du Jour this morning, and the neat-o comments I found there [thank you Merisi, Isabella, and Melwyk] I thought I'd mention a few things about my own bookmark preferences. This Christmas I got a lovely set of Cat Lovers 2013 bookmarks… one amazingly cute cat for every month of the year which you detach from the booklet and use, presumably for that month.  
Thank you _____, for this gift.
I definitely will be using it throughout the year.
However, most of the time I like to use a bookmark of no value so that I can write little notes on it as I read. I cannot abide writing IN my books, even seeing the slightest asterisk in a book bothers me, so I use something I can write on from time to time.
Here's the weird part: My favourite bookmarks tend to be magazine inserts.
Those things that encourage you to subscribe, and fall out when you fan through a new mag. Usually, it will be a Harpers insert. [A subscription I enjoy also as a gift from the aforementioned bookmark giver, go figure!]
Now, you may ask… "If the purpose is to write things as you read, why not use a blank piece of paper?" 

Good question!
I DON'T KNOW!
I actually prefer these magazine inserts, I'm not kidding. It could be some manner of birth defect.
This weird penchant does bring to mind a professor/minister I know. He is an internationally known speaker, and author of many books. But he told me once that all of his sermon and lecture notes are written on [are you ready for this?]… blank envelopes!
Why in the biblical hell would a person prefer envelopes to plain sheets of paper?
You'd have to ask him, I guess. It's just what makes him comfortable. Or a habit -- a system that works for him. Admittedly, he told me this decades ago -- perhaps now, in the age of the iPad and Powerpoint, he is even using a laser pointer… I don't know.
Anyhoo -- I like magazine inserts.
How about you? What's your own bookmark fetish?
A couple of people have already responded in my former posting below -- let the rest of us in on what you prefer to keep your place as you indulge in the greatest habit known to mankind -- reading!

*****

6 comments:

Jeane said...

I like to write notes as I read sometimes, too- but I just use scraps of blank paper. Not very exciting.

Isabella K said...

I know exactly the cat bookmarks you got. Lucky! I tried to order some but everyone was out of stock.

Anonymous said...

I'm actually really fussy about my bookmarks. They have to be inspirational (to me) and they have to reference nature. No picture of houses or people, animals are my favorites. I'd love a bookmark with the meaning of my name on it but since I'm Française I have trouble finding my name in Ontario. I just stick to animals.
I once had a bookmark with "Beware, big words ahead" on it and I gave it to my hubby when he asked me to marry him. He didn't get it.
C.

Stefanie said...

I like my bookmarks to match my book in some way. It's mostly a mood or feeling match like a Dr. Seuss bookmark for a quirky or funny book and a dark artsy bookmark for a gothic novel, that kind of thing. I do have a few that have authors on them, Jane Austen for instance, and those get used only in books by or about said author. However, if it is a library book with a paper library receipt in it, I use that as my bookmark and generally end up writing notes on it.

Alyce said...

I can see why you'd use the inserts - they are the perfect size and thickness (whereas paper would stick out or be too flimsy unless folded and who wants to go to the trouble of folding it).

Your post reminded me that I received a set of van Gogh painting bookmarks for Christmas that I still need to separate from the booklet they came in. I tend to use whichever bookmark is handy. I have received some promo bookmarks that, oddly enough, get used often even though they are for books I haven't (and probably wouldn't) read. They are paranormal and ghost bookmarks. I should really swap them out for the van Gogh ones. :)

Erin in Boston said...

When I buy physical books at a bookseller I usually look to see if they sell postcards with interesting photos on them. They are usually my bookmarks of choice.