Friday Question #25: Do you take notes while you read?

Happy Friday, BookishFirst Readers!

Everyone has a different process for writing their book reviews and we want to know more about how you craft your reviews. Do you take notes while you read to help you write your review?

I do! Then I know what I thought about characters at certain points, see if any suspicions I had came to pass, and overall I find that writing my reviews is easier with notes.

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If it’s a book for review, I do a lot of times, just because I read multiple books at once and it helps to keep my thoughts straight. In general, I also jot down quotes that I love :relaxed:

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Definitely take notes and jot down thoughts since I read multiple books at a time. If it’s an ebook, I use the highlight feature on my kindle to highlight paragraphs or quotes in the book.

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For sure need some general notes to keep track of how my feelings change as the book progresses. I use the memo app on my phone whether it a book in print or an ebook weirdly.

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I usually take mental notes for myself that help me write my reviews. But now I think about it, it seems like a good idea. I might start doing that.

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Absolutely try to especially when starting the book so I can keep track of main characters and events. It helps if I’m reading more than one book.

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I usually just write my review as soon as I finish the book, so I get my authentic first feelings down. I highlight quotes if I’m reading an e-copy, but it’s not very often that I take actual notes. I usually only ever write something down if a way to describe the book pops into my head while I’m reading. Then, I will jot that down in my phone notes, but I don’t consistently do this.

This is an awesome thread though. Is making me more thoughtful about my review process.

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I use Goodreads to add status updates while I read so I have my favorite quotes, thoughts at specific moments, and so on. That helps a lot!

What a timely question because I literally just started taking notes a few weeks ago (though taking notes is a bit of a misnomer in my case, since I use the notes app on my phone.) I’ve also started using those little sticky tabs/arrows and both have been so helpful when I finally write my reviews.

If it’s an ebook, I just highlight on my kindle or iPad. I honestly wish I’d started much sooner than I did, it feels as if I pay better attention now since I’m concerned with notes :upside_down_face:

I definitely do not take notes when I read. I read for pleasure, not to write a book report after. No offense to all who do I just can’t imagine having the time to read and take notes, it would totally distract me from the book. I do however take notes often whenever I read non fiction books because I’m one of those weird people who live science and the human mind/body so if I’m reading non function it’s usually because I want to learn about a topic and therefore taking notes is worth it.

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Sometimes because I read more than one book at a time most often. The advantage of ebooks is adding highlights and comments is super easy and easily searched when writing my review.

Yes! Especially on ereaders, I highlight and make notes to make it easier on myself but also because I can record what moved me as I was reading!

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Sometimes! Especially, if I’m asked to give feedback or I am the leader of my book discussion grouo

I don’t take notes. I do make sure to write my review as soon as I finish the book so it’s still fresh in my memory.

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I take notes, research any credits and references. Of course this leads me to add onto my TBR list!!

I don’t take notes, but I definitely try to write a review within a few days of finishing, and I try not to include spoilers. Because books don’t resonate the same to each reader I don’t like to make things super specific to my likes or dislikes, but more of my overall impression of the book.

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If I am reading on my Kindle I will take notes but for books I can easily find the information that I want so notes aren’t usually necessary.

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I actually do take notes for books I want to review. I write down things that either make me like the book or not. I also write down certain strength or weaknesses I find in the book, so that I remember to bring those out in my review.

Most of the time I don’t unless there is a specific quote that really stands out to me or I think of specific words I really want to use to describe a character or the writing style. I have a little bit of a memory issue sometimes and while the majority of what I need for my review usually sticks with me, I can’t always remember specific words I want to use so those I write down.

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