How to Take Notes on a Book

Reading is one of my favorite things to do, both on the personal and professional levels. I try to read non-devotional material at least 30 minutes per day, which sometimes means I end up reading for quantity, not quality (a fact I’m not proud of).

But whether its quantity or quality, reading does us no good if we don’t have a way to capture what we read. There are folks out there who have a more robust system (my pastor, for example, keeps a filing system by topic and book of the Bible, and particular notes from particular books find their way into those files, based on the relevance), but what I’m going to share below has worked for me for the last 20 or so years. Hopefully it’ll work for you. Take what’s useful; trash what’s not.

1. Log all of your books. All of them.

I have a Google Sheet going all the way back to 2004, on which I’ve captured every single book I’ve read during that time: title, author, date I read it, page count, format (hardcover, audiobook, ebook) and even an Amazon link (when possible) so I can find it again quickly.

I’ve also broken my book list down into 26 categories from history to humor and spiritual growth to social issues, just so I can eyeball where my reading menu tends to get skewed, and balance it out appropriately.

This list allows me to scan recent reads quickly and make recommendations based on what someone is looking for. With all of the metadata I mentioned above, it makes it relatively easy to find a particular book based on partial memory.

(And by the way, I know that Goodreads can be used for this exact purpose, and I have toyed around with that site a good bit. I just find their interface to be a bit clunky, while my spreadsheet is streamlined to what I want and just as searchable.)

One more thing on the spreadsheet: I also keep separate tabs on what I’m currently reading as well as what I own but have not read. That latter list is a kick-in-the-pants style of accountability that reminds me (sometimes unsuccessfully) that I need to read the books I have before buying more.

2. Different formats deserve different note-taking styles.

So far this year, 65% of the books I’ve read have been in ebook format. The other half are split evenly between hard copies and audiobooks (2014 Danny is deeply disappointed in 2024 Danny). The book itself is going to determine what format I purchase or borrow from Libby. If I commit to an audiobook, you’d better believe I have no intention of taking a single note. For me, those tend to be more recreational listening that trends towards fiction, history, or biography. I’m listening to that on a commute or walk, and note-taking capabilities go out the window.

There are certain books which get automatic hard copy status: if I know I’ll engage heavily on note-taking, or just want it for aesthetic purposes, I’m getting the physical version.

But alas: aesthetics fail when bookshelves are overstuffed. And over the last few years, I’ve reluctantly made the jump to Kindle. For that reason, I’ve had to modify how I take notes in each of the latter two formats.

3. Taking notes on a hard copy version of a book

When I’m reading, I tend to underline liberally. Sometime in the early 2000’s I switched from my tried-and-true highlighter to a good ink pen (I recommend the Uni-Ball Vision Elite for this specific purpose!), and that one change revolutionized how I interact with the text. I can underline, take notes, ask questions…things I either couldn’t do using a highlighter only, or had to waste time making the switch.

Occasionally, the underlined text is good enough to move to the next level: an asterisk and a spot towards the front or back of the book.

Nearly every hard copy book I have has some type of scribbling in the front or back (publishers, please keep giving us those blank pages. We need ’em.). That page or pages has the dates that I’ve read the book (some favorites have multiple read-through dates), my stamp denoting that book is mine (keep your grubby paws off), and anywhere from a couple to several dozen highlights that particularly stood out from the book.

These hand-written notes allow me to find the good stuff quickly. I always include the page number so I can see the quote in full context, and that asterisk helps the line in question stand out among the rest of my liberal underlining.

Once I have completed a book, the final step is that all of my hand-written highlights get converted to some type of digital file. For years I used Evernote, until they continually cranked prices and took away features. Now I’m experimenting with Notion. I might eventually move everything to one master Google Doc that attaches to the aforementioned Google Sheet.

The point is, this last step allows me to easily search for a quote without having the book at hand, or even if I can’t remember the book where the quote lives.

4. Taking notes on Kindle

Certainly, Kindle has revolutionized the way we capture notes on a book. It’s easy enough to highlight and then search by the highlight, or phrase, or even the notes I’ve taken along the way. One thing I have not yet overcome is whatever is my “asterisk quotes” would be if it were hard copy. I’ve found through the years that I tend to highlight less on Kindle than I do on hard copies, and far fewer things rise to the level of the coveted inside cover spot. I think that has far more to do with the nature of the format than the quality of the content.

(And if you have ideas on how to overcome this issue, I’m all ears. I’ve recently started experimenting with a different color highlight for the “standout” quotes, but that only works on my Kindle app, not the reader itself.)

But even the Kindle books get a spot in my digital note capture, although it’s typically a link to my Kindle notebook (you can see yours at https://read.amazon.com/notebook), where all my quotes live broken down via the particular book.

(bonus): capture your Top Ten Quotes!

I know this may not apply to everyone, but for the last several years I’ve maintained a category of “Top Ten Quotes” on this site. The primary purpose is to give you a teaser of books I’ve enjoyed and think you might enjoy as well. The secondary purpose, it turns out, is that it forces me to pick ten simple quotes that sum up the book. I often find myself going to a blog post first to find a memorable quote, rather than looking it up in the system outlined above. Even if you don’t want to put your top ten out there for all the world to see, this might be a helpful exercise.

Again, that’s my process. You probably have a better one. The point is not to copy me or anyone else verbatim, the point is to figure out what works for you and do that thing. Happy reading!

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