It is embarrassing how little time I’ve had to read in the last several years. And I know it’s not because I’m extraordinarily more busy than anyone else — it’s just not something I’ve made time for and it’s starting to bug me. I used to read a great deal while I was in school — even {gasp} books unrelated to school — and I loved, loved finding great reading accessories. In fact, in law school, there were accessories I HAD to have in order to feel like I was reading properly. There were many unnecessary late night trips to the drugstore for page flags of a certain make and color. See:
That’d be my National Security Law textbook, which I used in my last semester of law school and thus not even an accurate illustration of my annotating efforts, but clearly still nerdy beyond belief. I’ll chalk all of that up to the general insanity such schooling inflicts, but I’ve always had an affinity for annotating, note taking and marking up all of my books in general. I find it oddly satisfying to look back through a book I’ve read and see the effort. So in an attempt to get my nose back in a book, I’ve put together my favorite old school reading accessories. And by “old school,” I simply mean a physical, bound collection of words on paper — not I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany old school (which is actually an “Anchorman” quote, not an “Old School” quote, just to confuse things further). So put down your iPad, Nook, whatever tablet you’ve got and let’s get reading.
1. Given that I like to mark up my books, I tend to buy instead of borrow and they can start to take up space pretty quickly. While it’s stacked with kiddo reads in this pic, I think this fabulous acrylic book cart from The Land of Nod would keep my books cozy while displaying them beautifully.
2. I love custom book plates — I put them in my kids’ more memorable books and I like to think they’ll enjoy looking back on their little “libraries” when they’re older. I like this modern pre-printed set, but a stamp is a good option too.
3. Even if you don’t have color-coordinated codes for your books like I did (I know, I know), keep track of important points with these bright and sturdy magnetic flags.
4. I’m not one for fancy pens, but I am picky about which reasonably-priced one I use. It must be a G2 Gel, Navy, Fine Point.
5. It drives me nuts to try and write in a margin and have the book constantly closing over my fingers. While this is technically a paper weight, I think this Jonathan Adler weight would hook me up.
6. This little gold clip lamp from Land of Nod would fit right on my nightstand.
7. I can’t believe I just found these Levenger margin note stickers and they’ve been discontinued! I will have to figure out a DIY because these are right up my alley.
8. This collection of Levenger marginalia markers just makes me happy.
A Feteful Life 