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TTBG’s: How to not take review notes. #bookblogger #bookbloggers #blogger #bloggers #blogpost

Drew @ The Tattooed Book Geek

notes ban

Happy Sunday folks. Just a short post today where I reveal (not like flasher Gremlin) my shoddy note taking when I am reading a book.

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Now, I have to say that I don’t often take notes when reading but I am giving it a go and instead of just winging it and ‘livin on a prayer‘ trying to remember things after I’ve finished the book. I’m trying using hand-written notes! That’s pen and paper for all you kids out there! 😉

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Sure, I usually jot down bits and pieces on my phone but they are not actual notes and are just the names of places and characters from the book. Nor, do I write notes, typed bits on the phone, yes, hand-written, no. As you will see my hand-writing is rather like chicken scratch and isn’t entirely legible. It is readable but I have a tendency to write small, the writing gets worse the more I write (mood depending too) and even though I used lined paper. Well, let’s just say that the lines were guidelines that I often chose not to follow! 🙂

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So, without further ado:

My review notes.

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Pretty terrible, huh??? I guess I need the cone of shame! 

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So, my fellow bloggers tell me! Do you use notes?? Do you use hand-written notes?? Do you just wing it after finishing the book?? Do you write your actual review as you read the book??

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Published by Drew @ The Tattooed Book Geek

Blogger, reader, gamer and metal-loving music fan.

69 thoughts on “TTBG’s: How to not take review notes. #bookblogger #bookbloggers #blogger #bloggers #blogpost”

  1. Haha, my reviews are hardly reviews, just a few retrospective thoughts, so you’re already putting way more thought in into it than me, so cone of shame be-gone! Your handwriting isn’t even that bad – I have worked for doctors, so believe me, I know what bad handwriting looks like!

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  2. So savvy with pen and paper 😉
    I make kindle highlights, take pics of passages and use tabs for reference. When I get close to reading the end of a book I already formulate what I want to say in the review in my head and if I don’t want to lose my train of thought, I take notes. I know….it’s complicated!

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  8. I totally wing it but I will admit it’s not the wisest approach as when it comes time to write the review (which is sometimes months later, bad blogger that I am) I remember next to nothing about it.

    I have recently started scribbling some notes immediately after finishing which I suppose is an improvement but I doubt I’ll ever take notes, other than highlighting quotes, as I read. I want to just enjoy it, not worry about how I’m going to review it.

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  9. Ha ha, love your notes! When I read a Kindle book, of course I highlight and type notes right into the Kindle. But if I’m reading a physical ARC, I’ve started leaving written notes in the margins. I know, don’t hate me, but it’s an ARC! They were not made to be collector’s items. It’s much easier than putting down the book and trying to find paper, lol.

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  12. Wow dude! As long as you understand what you wrote…and in what order…that’s all that matters. 🙂
    I don’t take notes, I highlight interesting passages and hope I remember why when I look them over to do my review. I usually remember. If I jot down a note, I write it on whatever is close at hand, usually my phone, and hope I can find it again when time to do the review.

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  13. I LOVE the comment about having your own font insteady of bad handwriting:)). But I don’t think your writing is particularly awful – I can read it. And like most of the above – I wing it on the principle that if I’ve remembered it then it’s worth noting and if I haven’t then it’s not…

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      1. Yes… well hours in front of a keyboard never did anyone’s handwriting any favours! But at least we’re not all crippled with writing cramp by middle age, as those poor Victorian clerks were. Carpal tunnel damage – now that’s a different issue:))

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  14. I write notes! I stick sticky notes in the pages where there are quotes or things I want to mention in my review, it’s quick and easy that way! I have my own kinda handwriting too – it’s the worst 😂
    Sarah x (littlereaderxoxo.wordpress.com)

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  16. 😀 I feel better now, thank you for sharing this XD
    I need to start taking notes. What I have been doing now is take pictures of pages on my phone…and then I go forth and back and then I look at the pictures on my phone and realize that I have no idea where this happened in the book and what it was related to and jeesh. Wish I could be better at this

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  19. Sometimes I take notes as I read and other times I don’t. This year I’m trying making short videos about what I’m reading as I’m reading it and putting them into one blog post. I’m not sure how well it’s going; the videos aren’t getting a lot of views so far, but they’re fun to make so I guess it doesn’t matter.

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  20. I tend to forget A LOT so I have these little post its and index cards to jot down my feelings and thoughts, as well as what I deem important to flesh out the review if that makes sense? If I winged it, it would be diabolical. That being said, unplanned your posts are fantastic. You could quite possible take over the world with your note using posts!!

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  23. You, forget things? I don’t believe dis… nope, you has the memory of an elephant!
    I like that they look like thought bubbles… for all your thoughts 😝😂
    The bottom right ones also kinda looks like ghosts 😂
    I have to write everything down or else I forget… mind of a goldfish here 🙂

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    1. Usually I do.😂🐘 But, ya know, I read fantasy with many weird names so I tend to write those down anyway or I’d have to go back through the book after finishing and find them. I mostly wing it but notes means I have something to go on and can write the review when I want and then refer to the waffle I’ve written, if any is relevant.😂😂😂

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  24. Sometimes I’m so engrossed in a book I forget to take notes……but when I do I jot them down on my phone…..and then find them months later and have no idea what book they are for!!!!

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  25. Back in 2016 I religiously took notes while reading for review purposes. I took WAY too many though. I stopped in 2017 because it was really slowing my reading down, but this made it really hard to write reviews, so I didn’t write many reviews in 2017 or 2018. One of my goals for 2019 is to start taking notes while reading again, but not go overboard so it doesn’t slow my reading down…. We shall see how it goes.

    Good luck decoding those notes of yours Drew.

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    1. Yeah, taking notes definitely slows down reading time. It’s an on going process. I usually just wing it, I’ll jot down names but that’s it. I probably took way to many notes with most being irrelevant and unusable. Might get a better balance next time.😂

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  26. I use the highlight function when I’m reading on my Kindle (but not the annotate function). I take pictures when I’m reading a print book. I will very occasionally make a note on my phone. I will type out notes in the same Word document I will eventually use to write the review; I should probably get back to doing more of this.

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  27. i take hand written notes, and mine look very similar to yours! barely legible, random thoughts, stuff written in all directions, a few doodles here and there. What’s weird is that the review I end up writing usually has nothing to do with the phrases I wrote down.

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  30. Haha, your note does seem quite cryptic!

    I tried notes on my phone (using google docs), but i found it distracting, having to put the password in on my phone, type, and never get the letter right. Then i tried writing notes only after i finished the book, but i found it was not so effective.

    Now i have a notebook + pen, and so far that is working best. It’s not too distracting.

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  36. That’s hilarious!! 😀
    You should frame it, it’s a piece of art 😉

    I tried making notes once but it really annoyed me after a while & I stopped. Reminded me of school & uni too much as well, and that doesn’t help me enjoy a story 😀

    I do write down some things after finishing though. If I have strong feelings about it but won’t write a review immediately

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  37. I don’t do notes. I type up my review (on Microsoft OneNote) either after I read the book, or post it a few days later. But if I’m not at home and not using my computer, I write down my review and post it later.

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  38. I always wonder about people who take proper notes during reading and use all those coloured sticky notes to mark pages and so on… I mean, it’s admirable… and yet in ym head I’m like- ain’t nobody got time for that! When I read a physial copy I simply read and rely on my memory (hence I always write a review for a book right after I’ve finished it and 90% of the time before I start reading a new title)- brain just ain’t a spring chicken anymore… for ebooks- I highlight passages a LOT – highlights are my ‘notes’ 😀 I use them to go – oh yeah, I know why I highlighted this! very seldom I take Kindle notes… but mostly they’re to the tune of – ‘f#ck’., ‘pfffffft’ or ‘nooooooo’ 😀

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    1. I generally just jot down names and places
      You know what it’s like with fantasy and all of the weird names in the books.😂 I try and write them down but don’t really bother with anything else and honestly, the only reason I write them down is cos I won’t remember how to spell them afterwards and it’s guaranteed I won’t be able to find the name in the book.😂

      Trying something different as it means I’ve got some thoughts on the book written down and I can move on to a new book. Cos sometimes I just can’t be arsed with a review straight away.😂

      I agree, it’s admirable with sticky notes but definitely not for me and it’d probably confuse the hell out of me if I just stuck the note in a page with no reason why.😂😂😂

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