Annotating looks lovely on BookTok and slightly terrifying in real life. All those tabs and highlighted lines are someone confidently drawing on a book they paid for, and the first time you try it there's a moment of genuine hesitation with the pen hovering.
The good news is that most of it doesn't have to be permanent. Here's what actually marks a book, what doesn't, and how to set up a system you'll stick to.
Can you annotate a book without ruining it?
Yes. Tabs, washi tape and pencil are all removable, and none of them leave a permanent mark on the page.
The reason this question comes up so often is that most annotation content assumes you're happy to write in books. Plenty of people aren't, and that's a perfectly reasonable position rather than something to get over. You can mark up a book thoroughly without a single permanent line in it.
What actually damages a book, and what doesn't
Roughly in order, from completely reversible to permanent:
- Tabs and flags. Removable, leave nothing behind, and can be moved as you go. The safest option there is.
- Washi tape. Made from Japanese paper with a low-tack adhesive, so it lifts off cleanly. Also the only one you can write on and still remove.
- Pencil. Erasable, as long as you're not pressing hard enough to indent the page.
- Sticky notes. Usually fine, but cheap ones can leave residue, and any of them can lift the surface of a thin page if they've been stuck down for years.
- Gel and dry highlighters. Designed not to bleed, though nothing is guaranteed on very thin paper.
- Wet highlighters and fineliners. These are the ones that show through. Test on the last page first, always.
- Ballpoint pen. Permanent, and the pressure leaves an indent you can feel on the other side.
Paper quality matters more than the pen does. A thin A-format paperback will show through where a chunky trade paperback won't, so the same highlighter can behave completely differently in two books. If you're not sure what you're holding, our guide to book formats and sizes explains which is which.
What is book tabbing?
Book tabbing is marking pages with small sticky flags as you read, usually in different colours, so you can find things again later.
It's the entry point to annotating, and for a lot of people it's the whole thing. You're not writing anything down, you're just flagging the bits worth coming back to. Nothing gets marked, and you can pull the tabs out when you've finished.
The other advantage is that it's fast. Reaching for a tab takes a second, so it doesn't interrupt the reading, which is the main reason people abandon more elaborate systems.
How to set up a colour code
Pick four or five colours and give each one a job. Not twelve.
This is where most people go wrong. A system with a dozen categories means stopping to decide which one applies, and stopping to decide is what turns reading into admin. Four or five you can remember without a key.
Three approaches that work:
- By feeling. One colour for lines you loved, one for anything funny, one for the bits that hurt, one for foreshadowing, one for quotes worth writing down. The most common approach and the easiest to remember.
- By element. Characters, setting, plot turns, themes. More useful if you're studying something or planning to write about it.
- By what you'll do next. Come back to this, look this up, tell someone about this, use this quote. Practical rather than emotional, and surprisingly good.
Two things that make a system last. Keep the same colours across every book, so you're not relearning it each time. And write the key on the first page or on a bookmark, because you will forget what teal meant by chapter nine.
How to make your own tabs from washi tape
Stick a length of tape to a page edge, fold it over the edge onto itself, and trim the end.
You get a tab that's low-tack, removable, writable and in whatever pattern you fancy, for a fraction of the cost of buying tabs by the packet. Cut a small V into the end if you want it to look like a proper flag.
A few reasons this works better than it sounds:
- You can write on washi tape with most pens, so a tab can say what it's for
- It lifts off cleanly, so you can undo a system you've gone off
- You're not limited to whatever five colours came in the pack
- One roll makes a lot of tabs
The trade-off is that it takes a few seconds longer than pulling a tab off a strip, so plenty of people use bought tabs while reading and washi tape for the pages that matter.
How do you annotate a library or borrowed book?
Tabs and washi tape only, and take everything out before you give it back.
This is where a removable system stops being a preference and starts being the only option. Flag what you want, note anything longer in a notebook or your phone rather than on the page, and strip it all out at the end.
It's also worth doing on books you might lend, sell or pass on. A copy full of someone else's highlighting is a much harder thing to give away.
Do you have to annotate at all?
No, and a lot of very committed readers never have.
There's a fair chunk of people who find that marking a book turns reading into schoolwork, and pulls them out of the story every time they stop to reach for a tab. That's a completely valid way to read, and it isn't a failure of engagement.
Annotating suits people who like to return to books, who read to study something, or who simply enjoy the making of it. If you've tried it twice and found it a chore, that's your answer.
What do you actually need to start?
Tabs and a pencil. That's genuinely it.
Everything else is optional and can wait until you know whether you like it. Add a couple of rolls of washi tape when you want tabs you can write on and remove. Add stickers if you want to mark a cover or a notebook rather than a page. The rest of our bookish bits are here if you're building up a kit.
One practical thing worth knowing: a tabbed book doesn't fit in a bag as neatly as a plain one, because the tabs catch and bend. A book sleeve stops that, and it's the main reason people who tab end up with one.
Where to start
Four colours, tabs only, no writing on the page. If you still like it thirty pages in, you'll know what to add. If you don't, you've lost nothing and the book is exactly as it was.