I am super into having a pen while reading. There is something about being able to write in the margins, underline things and interact with something while reading. But... Second hand books with underlines....nope. Authors/editors that put them in for me....double nope. The best is coming back to what you wrote years later and having the "I was an idiot" reaction. Watching your interpretation of the world change over time is nearly as good as getting to interact in the first place.
Hah, this is so true! Or sometimes I come back to something I wrote and I have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about. I used to take notes transliterated into Tengwar (the Elvish script from the Lord of the Rings universe), and now I'm just completely clueless as to what is going on!The best is coming back to what you wrote years later and having the "I was an idiot" reaction.
I always wanted to learn Tengwar...but that skill is right alongside my conversational Klingon and Japanese. Not good. Not good at all.
You pretty much nailed it for me. Underlining myself is kind of like breaking the book in, but I won't take someone elses book that's been broke in.
I'm really excited about the "I was an idiot/did I actually think that?" phase.