I use whatever is around… a receipt, a square of TP, a cat’s whisker once. I have a bunch of bookmarks but they’re never around when I need them (and I always forget to grab one when I grab a book off the bookshelf).
A sticker of cute dogs in space suits and the caption “we want fully automated intergalactic luxury gay space communism” because it reminds me of Ian M. Banks - also gets a laugh out of people 😁
Many years ago, I fell from the stairs due to a diabetic episode. I was kept in a coma for a few days. When I woke up I had this id bracelet on my arm. I still use it as a bookmark till this day.
Generally. Whatever piece of paper I have handy, even if that's a piece of toilet paper.
However, if it's what I call a "loaner" copy, I dogear. There's some books that I (for whatever reason) end up loaning out more than most, so I keep a few cheap paperback copies around. Those are what I reach for, for bathroom reading as well. Since I know they'll get loaned out and never returned, I just don't care about losing corners here and there. But I don't dogear big folds, just enough to mark the page. So if the section gets torn off, the text is still there.
I've had dozens of dedicated bookmarks over the years, and they disappear like bic pens and socks. So I gave up on them and just use whatever thin paper is handy.
I have a probably too large and pedantic collection of cardboard bookmarks, some bought in remote cities, some given to me as gifts, some that went included inside other books. I even have a real chinese Yuan/Rembimbi bill that I got from a friend, long dead.
Sometimes I even use napkins and buy receipts and pieces of torn newspaper.
How do you find the courage to do that? For me that would feel like a crime punishable by death.
I hate seeing people abuse their books in horrendous ways, but maybe I'm just overly OCD.
Id never do it on a borrowed/library book, but for personal books why not? You arent exactly doing significant damage to it and it's rather unlikely that any given random book is going to significantly hold it's value or be worthwhile on a historical timeframe or anything like that. Books are made to be read, and I kind of like how well loved books get dog eared and spine-creased over time.
Book Darts! I’m typically reading for research and writing and the book darts are great for coming back to the right sentence when I’ve stopped off. I’ll leave them in long-term if I’m swapping between edited volumes—I’ve got a tin of 100, so it’s no problem if I leave a few within books here and there. I typically add one to the first page whenever a new book comes home. If I haven’t got one already placed or I start reading while out and about I dog-ear.
Came here to say this, thinking I'd be the only one. If I can't remember the exact page I enjoy thumbing through and skimming sections til I get to where I left off. Most of the time though I just open up to where I left off and continue
I got a couple fancy plastic bookmarks with some books I pre-ordered, and I use those mostly now. Otherwise I just use the receipt from buying the book
This is what I use. My cat decided that every other type of bookmark was a toy--I would pick up my book each evening and had to find my place all over again. The magnetic bookmarks were the only ones she didn't pull out of my books
I fold any piece of paper into one of those dog-ear corner bookmarks. I've got dozens around, made of everything from sticky notes to receipts to a parking ticket. They way I do it has a line going down the middle on one side that I use to show me which side of the page I'm on.
I just have a bunch of bookmarks laying around from bookstores that I buy my books from, but I'll use receipts as well if I can't find any bookmarks lol
I keep bookmarks whenever I get them, also picture postcards etc. I have some that I've bought, others I've made (e.g. knitted or embroidered). Mainly I use strips of thin white card that I razor off an A4 sheet.
I usually use a receipt. Right now I'm flying fancy, though, using a round, two-inch-diameter sticker, back still attached, that I got from the Danish Pipe Shop with my last order. It was the only two-dimensional object in the vicinity when I last needed a bookmark. Its small size makes it kinda impractical, but I can't really muster the energy to do anything about it.
My mother actually had a grand collection of bookmarks that she collected during her life, and that I inherited, but I never really felt compelled to use them.