I’ve been reading the Stormlight Archive, which is a massive epic fantasy series.
I take extensive notes on it. There are so many characters, places, events, plotlines, lore, etc. It’s proven to be incredibly useful. It’s the type of series where once you learn some lore, it’s fun to go back and re-read certain chapters with that new understanding. I’ll frequently pick up the previous books and rifle through them. The notes make it much quicker to find the sections I want to find.
At the same time, I think taking extensive notes can sometimes make it a little less fun. Like I’m consistently pulling myself out of the moment to jot stuff down.
Do you take notes on the books you read? If so, how do you take notes?
I might jot down my thoughts after a reading session or between chapters, but not taking notes like I would do for studying… More like bullet points of things I would bring up in a book club, or questions or ideas I want to remember for next time, or my own rambling musings triggered by an idea from the book. I rarely read those notes again, just writing them down is satisfying enough. I wouldn’t want to stop the experience just to do diligent note-taking, but to each their own.
Sometimes I even skip or skim parts on a first read through and then read more thoroughly when I’m acquainted with the world, story and characters, it’s easier to pick up conplicated history or lore once I’ve gotten the main story out of the way.