I do it heavily. In fact, I’ve considered getting another copy of Alaska because it is so battered.
LFA is one of those books that I’ve passed around to several friends and I’m not sure any others would appreciate it in the state that it’s in. I guess I have just justified purchasing another copy to myself

I dont like writing in my books mainly because I think it looks horrible, and I dont really think there is any need to do it…
I also use bookmarks and don’t dog ear them; although I do like it when the spine creases a bit, especially on larger, paperback books

The only books I annotate are poetry anthologies for my classes, so I know where in the poem each point is made. And only ever in pencil so I can erase it later.

But I would never annotate novels. I feel almost like that’s showing disrespect for the book, and I hate the look of it. The better condition I can keep my books in, the happier I am. Therefore I also rarely dog-ear (again, only out of necessity. Like, if I don’t think I’d remember the page number), and I love my bookmarks.

And never ever do I highlight. I understand why people do it, but for myself I think it’s terrible. I wouldn’t ever highlight any book. Ever.

Most of the books I own are in a used condition. I don’t highlight/ make notes in them, but I do dog ear or leave them open facedown if I can’t find a bookmark. I have a friend who likes to keep her books in perfect condition, and doesn’t like to let me borrow them because they always come looking slightly worse for wear. Personally I like to keep my books in a condition where they’re readable, but look loved.

I’ve been considering it for a while now. I think I need to learn that it’s okay to skip pages, put down a boring book, and to annotate and highlight whatever I like. I’m currently reading Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, and several times I’ve wanted to highlight a sentence because it was simply fantastic.

I buy two copies of books, one to read and keep perfect, and one to highlight and write little comments in. The copies I write in are battered, but they are my favorite. The others I read once, then give to friends to read.

I’ve only ever highlighted my philosophy textbook, but that’s a copied version (well, everyone gets a copy because that is cheaper and the book we use isn’t an actual published book) so I don’t feel too bad about it. I never ever highlight actual published and printed books.
Then again, I do like it when second-hand bought books are written in, highlighted.. anything. I like to see which parts caught the previous owner’s attention.
I think I might highlight other study books as well, if it weren’t for the fact that they are only borrowed and if I write in them/rip out pages/burn them I have to pay for them, and they are EXPENSIVE. So yeah, I don’t.
Dog-earing is something I never ever ever do. I never use bookmarks either, I usually remember the part I’m at.

I just can’t bring myself to do it, but I don’t even know the reason why.

I really dislike when someone lends me a book and it has like notes and highlights in it… I don’t even know why, just a pet peeve I guess.

If it’s a book I’ve already read and I go through it and there are notes and highlights it doesn’t bug me as much… but if it’s my first time reading it it’s a little annoying.

I can’t stand writing/highlighting in books, so I don’t do it. I feel like it’s a terrible thing to deface a book I guess. I’ll use sticky notes/tabs in textbooks for important things for a class, but I won’t actually write in books. I hate it when I accidentally fold a page in a book. It’s almost like it’s disrespectful? (that’s just my opinion though)

I always want to annotate books, but then I get nervous. like I’ll hurt the book’s feelings or something if i write on it. I got kind of upset when I had to annotate my copy of to kill a mockingbird and absolutely refused to put any mark on my copy of catcher in the rye (unpopular opinion time: it’s on my top 5 books). I try try to keep my books in the same condition i bought them in. my harry potter books look brand new even though I’ve read them a million times. I just like my books really neat.

if i have to mark any books, I just use millions of tiny bookmarks I cut out from spam mail envelopes. some of my books can barely sit up on my bookshelf because there are so many bookmarks in them. the bookmarks bother me, but it’s better than permanently defacing a book with pen/highlighter markings.

this is why I always buy my own books.

I don’t highlight/annotate my books. Not that I’m strictly against it. Highlight until your heart’s content…just not in my books. For me, it’s more that I like things to remain pristine and clean. The only exception to the rule is textbooks but even then it’s an extremely rare occasion. I suppose if I had two copies of a book I could highlight in one of them no problem. That would be really helpful with some things. Like I’d like a really nice copy of the complete works of John Keats so I can mark off my favorite quotes in the paperback version I have now.

@sofia20 I have to agree with @coolabedfilms and say that nothing will ever be as good as a physical book. However, e-readers definitely have their place. I currently live somewhere I have limited space for books an e-reader is good for conserving space. It’s also great for highlighting and taking notes too actually.

No. I don’t like writing on my books, especially using highlighters. I somehow think it would mess the book up. If I have to take down some notes on the book, I use a pencil and rub the mark off afterwards.

I don’t do it very much. I have a book packed of quotes, poems, songs, and passages from books I like. So if there is a particular passage, I’m more likely to copy it into my book. I dog ear my pages like crazy though. And I’m not the least bothered by people who do write in their books. I feel like books are like food. Weird, I know. But some people like salt and pepper, or have specific ways they eat their food… books are the same. We shouldn’t be offended by someone who uses salt, or highlighters xD haha

i underline/annotate books if they’re my own. i usually underline my favorite parts with a pencil and then write the page number on the first page of the book. that way i can look at the book and know where my favorite parts are. sometimes i write thoughts or quotes or songlyrics that come to my mind when reading the book.
but i hate it when people highlight library books. or do anything else to them than read them. leaving notes is fine, like post-its etc. but not actually writing on the book. i work in a library and i get so sad when i see how people treat books. it’s like oops i dropped the book in a giant coffee mug but instead of saying anything about it, i just return it and hope they won’t notice. but most people still treat the books with respect.

I have the same opinion… for me nothing will ever be better than a physical books, although I realize there are advantages to ebooks.

I just can’t annotate a novel, ESPECIALLY with bright highlighters. I have to do it all the time in school and I just feel that it ruins the condition of the book and bleeds through the pages and in general makes the book look awful.
Every once in a while, though, I will underline a quote in black pen. It has to be an amazing quote, and it can’t be a particularly new book, either.

I don’t highlight, but I occasionally underline things in pencil. Only in pencil though, never pen.

Oh, and I was reading one of Stephanie Meyer’s books recently and I kept a tally of the amount of times she used the word “chagrin.” But that’s the only time I’ve ever written in a book.

I’ve only ever highlighted and written in two books, those being Looking for Alaska and the Fault in our Stars (both of which I have two copies of – one that’s still in perfect condition and one awash with annotations and notes). Normally I don’t like to do it since it feels like I’m defacing the book, and anyway I generally like to keep my stuff looking pristine if possible, but I made exceptions because there were too many parts I wanted to look back at and too many quotes or little bits of text I wanted to remember.

That said, when I’m lent a book or have bought a second hand copy it really annoys me seeing scribbles down the side of the page that detract from the actual writing. 

i like reading annotations and seeing things people have highlighted and notes in margins. but the only time i’ve ever done that myself are in my harry potter books — and i’m very “no you can’t read them” with people who want to see my copies, because i’ve scribbled in the margins with comments and things that are personal to my relationship with the books. so i’ve learned from that and i don’t do that in any other book, unless it’s my kindle — i like quoting things in my kindle because all of the things you highlight show up in one nifty section where you can reread them all.

so, yeah. i love reading books where people have highlighted and annotated, but i don’t do it myself because i feel as if i can’t let other people read those backs. i also don’t dog ear pages unless it’s to keep my place, because that feels like the same thing to me — a personal relationship that will limit who i can share the book with. i also don’t reread most books, just because most of the time rereading something holds no interest to me. i know what’s going to happen, so there’s no point. xDD

so that’s my opinion!

I don’t really highlight books as I like to rediscover passages when I re read the books. But, I do for school books as like @Catherine said it helps you focus on the text.
I don’t think i’ll highlight TFiOS though because i’ll lend it to other people.

I used to not annotate my books. I felt like I was defacing something sacred. But then I wanted to be able to easily reference stuff. So usually, I have my NICE copy (hardback) and my annotated copy (paper back). And if I don’t want to buy two copies, I just use sticky notes instead of underlining or highlighting.

I like to annotate books for school. Like, some people do a separate page of notes, but I highlight and underline, and if the margins are too small, then I break out my sticky notes. And I don’t believe in bookmarks. Dog-ears are how I keep my page. People hate it,though. They’re like fhisdhfkhaeifhae why you dog-ear?!? But bookmarks fall out and get lost. And if there is something cool in a book, then I’ll highlight it. And people look at me funny when they use my books.

I don’t write notes or highlight passages in my books, but I have nothing against it. Obviously I’d never do it to a book I borrow, but I think maybe it would annoy people I let borrow my books. I think people should have the opportunity to find their own favourite parts and opinions for the story. If I read a highlighted or written-on copy, I’d probably adopt the opinion that’s already written down.

Like a lot of people here, I don’t do this in books I read for my own enjoyment (with limited exceptions) but I do it in books and journal articles that I read for school/research. Also, I have a blog where we reread books that we read as kids (BSC, Sweet Valley High, etc.) and I have taken to writing stuff in there sometimes and flagging the page… a sign that I maybe take this project WAY too seriously.