I'm betting you're pretty near right--although I'd disprove that one, as I'm definitely a straight from the carton guy but I only dog-ear library books if I'm in a bad spot! I love the comparative venn diagram thing though. What I was thinking is that the range of responses to the dog-earing question pretty much shows that for every single action on earth, people are covering all the bases on how they do it. What I want to know is, what's the perfect venn diagram overlap for those who memorize their page numbers? I'm still chewing on that one!
We humans are a ball of weird contradictions! I couldn't remember a page number to save myself, but I memorize credit card numbers and my REI membership number. Yet another reason why we'll always be more interesting than ChatGPT.
This was very funny! I could hear her say it all. In my immature youth I dog-eared. Now I do something that is probably worse - I turn the book over where I left it spreadeagled and the binding has to do the work for me. There is never a real bookmark around when I need one. I’ve used pencils, paper clips, grocery slips, anything at hand.
I just realized that I do something else too - I use the front edge of the book cover to mark the spot. I fold it over the page that I am reading! Definitely on the messy end but I would never dog ear a library book. Just my own. My husband doesn’t mess with my books 📚 lol. He knows better after 20 years.
I usually use a bookmark, but if I don't have anything handy, I just memorize the page number.
The lady has a point, I think it would help the anti-dog-earing cause to let people know that the library is against dog-earring, but I just feel like if you're going to put up posters, there are bigger issues going on in the world. I don't think free bookmarks would make a difference. Anything flat can serve as a bookmark, and everyone knows that all bookmarks gravitate to some unknown location, which is full of pens, hair-ties, and unmatched socks, so there's really no point.
I love that there are two people who are capable of memorizing the page number! It amazes me. I’m with you on the posters—where do we stop, once we’ve got posters about dog-earring books?
Loaned books = any scrap of paper I find as bookmark, usually the reserved paper with my name on it and date I checked it out
Books I read for work = dollar bills, the higher the amount the more important it is that I read and understand; can't take the bill out until finished
Purchased books = random pictures of my children at various ages. Fun to find when I pick the book up years later
Wow, I love the idea of pictures of the kids! But I'm baffled at the fact that in this digital age, you've got photos sitting around. Maybe you're more of a softy than I thought.
For every school picture, sports team, etc. the only option I ever select is getting 4 x magnets. One goes on the fridge, one goes to in-laws, one goes to my parents, and one gets scanned into Google Photos and then used as bookmark. My family has made me into putty.
I take *a lot* of books out of different libraries (like, hundreds a year). I find that books from the Brooklyn Public Library tend to be dog-eared in proportion to their age (the longer they've been circulating, the more dog-ears)--predictable, I suppose. When I take books out of academic libraries, they are also dog eared, BUT there are also almost always pencil underlinings. Sometimes, I've even seen writing in pen! I've never done it myself, but I kind of love seeing what parts of books people gravitate towards. I can forgive pencil. Under no circumstances would I forgive pen.
That is so true! I never see notes in books from my local library, but at university libraries it was all the time. Now I’m going to pay even more attention to the traces that other readers leave. (I recall one time finding a booger wiped on a page--yuck!)
I loved reading about 'sensible shoes' lady! What a gem! 🤣
I used to dog-ear books. Not any more. And as I child I had a taste for paper - different publishers' paper would taste different. Very odd! I've always been an oddball for different flavours....! I would tear the unprinted parts of pages I'd read, and chew them.
Yes, I'm crackers! And these days, I assure you, I pay MUCH more respect to the books I'm reading!
If I have a bookmark - which could be anything: train tickets, post it note, square of toilet paper (clean and replaced with a proper bookmark asap of course) paper clip, etc - I’ll always use it, but if there’s nothing to hand I’m not averse to a small dog ear! Marking my place is more important than avoiding a bent corner.
Dogged Eared (is that how you spell it?) pages drives me crazy. Thankfully using an e-reader I don't have to be bothered by this anymore. This does remind me, however, that one of my new year's goals was to use the library more instead of buying e-books. So maybe I'd better get me a book mark.
Hey Tom, so glad to be hosting you as a guest on What’s Curation? this Friday.
I’ve got a snazzy new website and moved to a different platform. Folks can check my Substack for a taste of my writing, but are encouraged to visit www.whatscuration.com and sign up there to start getting emails.
I'm back to explain my "other" vote in your poll. I wanted there to be an "all of the above option". I am guilty of dog-earring in a pinch. Although, I recently checked out a book from the library that was dog-eared excessively, and I was grumbling to myself about "manners and the state of the world and kids these days." Plus, I was annoyed that the dog-ears didn't reveal any particularly dog-ear worthy pages to me. I'm all for dog-earring something provocative for the next guy, but otherwise I'm a bookmarker. And will bookmark with literally anything flat that's lying around. Gum wrappers might be the lowest form I've utilized. Those annoying "special offer" promotion cards that fall out of magazines are great, too.
What a sweet lady. I don't want to use the "O" word since it might apply to me. I used to volunteer repairing books at the library (Pre-2020) and people damage books in the worst ways...
Mostly I read with a Kindle or listen to audiobooks so it saves my place for me. Another advantage of electronics. If I'm reading a library book I always use a bookmark of some kind. But if it's my own book, I've been known to dog ear the occasional corner.
Nice, Tom, as we use the same library I could picture the scene ... it has a lot of posters! But let me take this opportunity to pitch Libby, the library's digital app for checking out audio books ... my entry under 'other' if I were to respond to the poll.
I'm pretty sure that the venn diagram of people who dogear books and people who drink milk straight from the carton is just a perfect circle.
I'm betting you're pretty near right--although I'd disprove that one, as I'm definitely a straight from the carton guy but I only dog-ear library books if I'm in a bad spot! I love the comparative venn diagram thing though. What I was thinking is that the range of responses to the dog-earing question pretty much shows that for every single action on earth, people are covering all the bases on how they do it. What I want to know is, what's the perfect venn diagram overlap for those who memorize their page numbers? I'm still chewing on that one!
I'm a page-number memorizer only (and quite paradoxically) when I'm too lazy to go find a bookmark. Classic case of working harder-not-smarter.
We humans are a ball of weird contradictions! I couldn't remember a page number to save myself, but I memorize credit card numbers and my REI membership number. Yet another reason why we'll always be more interesting than ChatGPT.
This was very funny! I could hear her say it all. In my immature youth I dog-eared. Now I do something that is probably worse - I turn the book over where I left it spreadeagled and the binding has to do the work for me. There is never a real bookmark around when I need one. I’ve used pencils, paper clips, grocery slips, anything at hand.
Love it--so you're out there with Brian Reindel on the messy edge of bookmarking. Does your husband come along and put things in order?
I just realized that I do something else too - I use the front edge of the book cover to mark the spot. I fold it over the page that I am reading! Definitely on the messy end but I would never dog ear a library book. Just my own. My husband doesn’t mess with my books 📚 lol. He knows better after 20 years.
I usually use a bookmark, but if I don't have anything handy, I just memorize the page number.
The lady has a point, I think it would help the anti-dog-earing cause to let people know that the library is against dog-earring, but I just feel like if you're going to put up posters, there are bigger issues going on in the world. I don't think free bookmarks would make a difference. Anything flat can serve as a bookmark, and everyone knows that all bookmarks gravitate to some unknown location, which is full of pens, hair-ties, and unmatched socks, so there's really no point.
I love that there are two people who are capable of memorizing the page number! It amazes me. I’m with you on the posters—where do we stop, once we’ve got posters about dog-earring books?
We can stop just before we insert lasers into books that cut off the head of anyone about to dog-ear a book.
But a little shock would be okay? 😀
Heheheh!
Loaned books = any scrap of paper I find as bookmark, usually the reserved paper with my name on it and date I checked it out
Books I read for work = dollar bills, the higher the amount the more important it is that I read and understand; can't take the bill out until finished
Purchased books = random pictures of my children at various ages. Fun to find when I pick the book up years later
Wow, I love the idea of pictures of the kids! But I'm baffled at the fact that in this digital age, you've got photos sitting around. Maybe you're more of a softy than I thought.
For every school picture, sports team, etc. the only option I ever select is getting 4 x magnets. One goes on the fridge, one goes to in-laws, one goes to my parents, and one gets scanned into Google Photos and then used as bookmark. My family has made me into putty.
I take *a lot* of books out of different libraries (like, hundreds a year). I find that books from the Brooklyn Public Library tend to be dog-eared in proportion to their age (the longer they've been circulating, the more dog-ears)--predictable, I suppose. When I take books out of academic libraries, they are also dog eared, BUT there are also almost always pencil underlinings. Sometimes, I've even seen writing in pen! I've never done it myself, but I kind of love seeing what parts of books people gravitate towards. I can forgive pencil. Under no circumstances would I forgive pen.
That is so true! I never see notes in books from my local library, but at university libraries it was all the time. Now I’m going to pay even more attention to the traces that other readers leave. (I recall one time finding a booger wiped on a page--yuck!)
Haha! There are so many uses for a book, apparently.
It’s when book is open and you lay it on the table-spread Eagle like. Big no no!! :)
I loved reading about 'sensible shoes' lady! What a gem! 🤣
I used to dog-ear books. Not any more. And as I child I had a taste for paper - different publishers' paper would taste different. Very odd! I've always been an oddball for different flavours....! I would tear the unprinted parts of pages I'd read, and chew them.
Yes, I'm crackers! And these days, I assure you, I pay MUCH more respect to the books I'm reading!
Yes, Rebecca, that is certainly weird! Did you go to the last nibbled page to find your place?
No, although it would’ve been an ideal way to keep track, wouldn’t it?! 🤣
If I have a bookmark - which could be anything: train tickets, post it note, square of toilet paper (clean and replaced with a proper bookmark asap of course) paper clip, etc - I’ll always use it, but if there’s nothing to hand I’m not averse to a small dog ear! Marking my place is more important than avoiding a bent corner.
I got inspired and dashed off a quick poster. Unfortunately, Substack doesn't let you post images in comments, so I uploaded it here:
https://writewildly.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Dog-Ears-Poster.jpg
Problem solved!
~Graham
I love this. That's my dog, too. 😂
It's a cute one!
Adding to the post! Check in a moment or two
Ha - excellent!
~Graham
If I’m not reading an ebook, I’ll use a bookmark if it’s within arm’s reach. If not, I’ll dog ear and feel a slight bit of guilt.
If you can give me enough of your bookmarks, I’ll never dog ear again!
Dogged Eared (is that how you spell it?) pages drives me crazy. Thankfully using an e-reader I don't have to be bothered by this anymore. This does remind me, however, that one of my new year's goals was to use the library more instead of buying e-books. So maybe I'd better get me a book mark.
As best I can tell, “dog-ear” or “dog-eared”
Hey Tom, so glad to be hosting you as a guest on What’s Curation? this Friday.
I’ve got a snazzy new website and moved to a different platform. Folks can check my Substack for a taste of my writing, but are encouraged to visit www.whatscuration.com and sign up there to start getting emails.
Who’s that handsome dude on your slick new website? You must have paid big bucks for the image rights :)
I'm back to explain my "other" vote in your poll. I wanted there to be an "all of the above option". I am guilty of dog-earring in a pinch. Although, I recently checked out a book from the library that was dog-eared excessively, and I was grumbling to myself about "manners and the state of the world and kids these days." Plus, I was annoyed that the dog-ears didn't reveal any particularly dog-ear worthy pages to me. I'm all for dog-earring something provocative for the next guy, but otherwise I'm a bookmarker. And will bookmark with literally anything flat that's lying around. Gum wrappers might be the lowest form I've utilized. Those annoying "special offer" promotion cards that fall out of magazines are great, too.
Guilty: I too will dog-ear in a pinch.
What a sweet lady. I don't want to use the "O" word since it might apply to me. I used to volunteer repairing books at the library (Pre-2020) and people damage books in the worst ways...
Mostly I read with a Kindle or listen to audiobooks so it saves my place for me. Another advantage of electronics. If I'm reading a library book I always use a bookmark of some kind. But if it's my own book, I've been known to dog ear the occasional corner.
Nice, Tom, as we use the same library I could picture the scene ... it has a lot of posters! But let me take this opportunity to pitch Libby, the library's digital app for checking out audio books ... my entry under 'other' if I were to respond to the poll.
I like me a real book! You youngsters with your hip technology ...
Yes! I need papercuts and book glue smell to feel alive!
😂😂😂 I like books in any format
I love Libby and Hoopla
... and Kanopy
Warner, on your mention I checked out Kanopy: holy crap, that’s great. We’ve got a new source for movies
we added to our Roku set ... less buffering, more streaming!
I don't know that one. I'll look for it.
Bookmark now, but I used to just remember what page I'm on... lol
Ah, the salad days!
~Graham
Remember the page? Holy cow, I’m impressed!