December 10, 2010--Bookmarks...

Bookmarks are wonderful and no, I don't mean those URLs you add to your favorites list on the toolbar of your computer. I got to thinking about real bookmarks in real books this afternoon when I was riding my exercise bike. There I was, sweating away last night's egg nog, surrounded by hundreds of books on all the shelves up in our bedroom and I  couldn't help but notice the number of bookmarks sticking out of all kinds of books. Some were slips of paper, obviously torn from the nearest piece of paper at hand at the time, like a tossed envelope in the trash or a ragged piece of a paper napkin, others were those stiff cardboard ones with funny sayings on them that you can buy near the cash register in your favorite bookstore, while others were cotton ones I had woven on my loom, bright fuchsia and purple or vibrant lime green and teal blue. Some were stuck near the beginnings of books, most were in the middle, and a few were wedged near the end of a book.
I hate dog-eared pages in a book, so bookmarks are the natural way to mark my place. And since I often read five or six books at a time, bookmarks help me stay connected with that particular piece. You see, I like to revolve my reading from night to night and find it difficult to read a book straight through unless it is really gripping (like Under the Dome for any King fans out there.) I may read short stories one night, a long chapter or two in a historical novel the next, a series of essays in a magazine or a chapter in a book in Spanish followed by a writing technique book--the bookmarks keep me on track from book to book, magazine to magazine. Without them, valuable time would be lost searching for the spot I had left off reading. I always have bookmarks and/or paper nearby to mark a book, since I  have a stack of reading material about a foot tall and two books width deep piled by my bed.
What about all the books marked on the shelves I noticed while biking? I'm afraid those books lost my interest at some point and have at least temporarily been shelved. There is hope for them, though as they still remain marked in some fashion. Someday, they may revolve back into the pile by the bed or I may need to use one for research and pull it off the shelf to look at where I left off the last time. Thanks to the bookmark left inside the covers, I'll know right where to start in again.