rpg101 said
Recently, I've been taking notes in the books I read. I underline important phrases, bracket main ideas, write notes/comments in the margins, etc. Eventually, I'll record the major stuff in a moleskin notebook and I"ll have a summarized version of the main points, helping me retain the most important/influential parts of the book.

However, I just got a book I ordered and now I realize the biggest flaw in this system is that I don't want to mark up a book in perfect condition.

Drakel said
get a journal and just write notes in it and cite each note on the journal. That way you still get those notes that you'd want to write in the book and still have it in its flawless condition,

Halo said Yeah, I know the feeling. It took me a long time to get used to writing in the margins of books during English classes, and even now it makes me cringe slightly. It's... like blasphemy. ;-;

idlehands said
If you're talking about college textbooks, they're so overpriced they deserve to be treated like a high dollar hooker. Minus the cigarette burns.

Toellner said In medic school, we were recommended to highlight things in our EMT books. Keep in mind this is a military school, so we would be underfed, overworked, and physically exhausted every day before we were forced into a warm classroom with a boring instructor for 5 hours.

I looked at my book a few months ago and laughed at how the highlighter lines would scramble all over the page as I passed in and out of conciseness with it in my hands..