This past May, after a gruelling semester of reading six novels, I was unable to pick up a book to read on my own time. Focusing on anything longer than two pages was a definite challenge.
Finally, it passed, and I was able to pick up a book after the several failed attempts to do so.
What I decided to read was Grant’s copy of The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen. After a dozen or so pages, I came across a yellow post-it with a little note written in it to his sister that he, or someone else, had decided to use as a bookmark. I thought it was very neat to see such a minor little note be kept as a bookmark.
Which is why I got a kick out of the site Forgotten Bookmarks. It’s run by a guy who worked at a used bookstore, and who would find little pieces of history tucked in between the pages.
I mostly seem to use scraps of paper as bookmarks, but I have in the past used photos, or notes, and I wonder how many of them are still in the books I’ve read, and how many will be found by lovers of used books in the future.
(via metafilter)
Amy Breen
3 Responses to “The little things you leave behind”
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This is nice. I once found a maple leaf bound up in a book of Sir Walter Scott I purchased at some book sale years ago. The leaf looked most as old as the well-worn century-old book itself.
This is one of the joys of used bookstores or flea markets.
I always notice little notes people write in the front of a book — the date, or who it’s for, etc. especially if it’s a gift.
This is really cool. Because of my suckery, though, I use an actual bookmark. Though my pages are filled with notes.