this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2025
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I'm getting back into the rhythm of reading more consistently. I generally read for about 30-40 minutes in bed right before sleeping on my e-reader, regardless of fiction/non-fiction.

This made me think, for people who prefer physical books, do you underline, highlight, take notes in the margins, etc. when reading theory?
Back when I did have a few physical books I never wrote anything in them, I guess to keep them in "good" condition. Even in school books I only answered exercises in pencil, lol.

So I'm wondering: what approach do you have for reading theory?

  1. Is it more like reading and absorbing the information more passively, where you read in bed, at a park, while commuting, etc.?
  2. Or do you treat it more like studying where you're sitting at a desk or at a library, pen in hand with notes and such?

I'd love to hear your thoughts/approaches/advice regarding this.

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[–] June@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 3 days ago

As he [Stalin] read, he made notes in red, blue and green pencils, underlining sections that interested him or numbering points that he felt were important. Sometimes he was effusive, noting: “yes-yes”, “agreed”, ‘“good”, “spot on”, “that’s right”. Sometimes he expressed disdain, scribbling: “ha ha”, “gibberish”, ‘“nonsense”, “rubbish”, “scumbag”, “scoundrels” and “piss off”. He became extremely irritated whenever he came across grammatical or spelling mistakes, and would correct errors with his red pencil.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/feb/16/stalins-library-by-geoffrey-roberts-review-the-marks-of-a-leader