Simple Questions: September 01, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome readers,

Have you ever wanted to ask something but you didn't feel like it deserved its own post but it isn't covered by one of our other scheduled posts? Allow us to introduce you to our new Simple Questions thread! Twice a week, every Tuesday and Saturday, a new Simple Questions thread will be posted for you to ask anything you'd like. And please look for other questions in this thread that you could also answer! A reminder that this is not the thread to ask for book recommendations. All book recommendations should be asked in /r/suggestmeabook or our Weekly Recommendation Thread.

Thank you and enjoy!

[u/onlyshans1]

wait why is it already september 2026

[u/mockdogmoon → u/onlyshans1]

*benafflecksmoking.jpg*

[u/Glum_Kangaroo_4560]

Folks who annotate your books: what kinds of things do you track/annotate? I would like to start doing this more and looking for inspiration

[u/CaribeBaby → u/Glum_Kangaroo_4560]

In nonfiction, the important parts, so that I can get the just of it if I reread my notes. 

In fiction, the parts that resonate with me because it's beautiful or because it reminds me of something in my personal life.

[u/PsyferRL → u/Glum_Kangaroo_4560]

I'm sure I'd do it differently for nonfiction, but I basically don't read nonfiction these days. I also don't do this for all of my fiction reading. Rather, I do it only when I feel compelled to do it.

In the simplest terms, I take note of the passages that feel significant to me in some way. It can be because it feels significant to the story, or because it felt significant for me on some personal level. Maybe it made me laugh/cry, maybe it reminded me of somebody/something, maybe I found a presented idea to be fascinating, maybe there was some technical element of the prose that blew me away.

I've also found that annotation comes a lot more naturally on rereads than it does on first-time reads, and that what I find myself taking note of is (as it should be) much different on a second/third time through a book than the first time. I tend to keep my mind a fairly blank canvas on a first read, and make an effort to try not to read too far into things unless they're glaringly obvious.

[u/Glum_Kangaroo_4560 → u/PsyferRL]

That makes a lot of sense. I'm doing it on Bunny at the moment. I'm annotating cult themes, queer/yearning and witchy stuff. I'm hoping it'll help me notice more things

[u/SpecialistEmu7169 → u/Glum_Kangaroo_4560]

Words I really like, mostly!

[u/ankokudaishogun]

tl;dr: where can I find the size of the printed characters of a book before buying it?

Explanation:

So, I'm getting old and my sight is getting worse. Which means I'm progressively having a bit of trouble with reading smaller characters on printed books.

While eBooks solve the issue, I also still love reading physical books: but I have not found a way to find the size of the printed characters on a book until I get it!
Which is a limited issue with books available in Italy(I can just check them at the bookstore), but I read a lot of imported books which I must buy online and therefore I have no way to know if they are printed large enough until I receive them.

Sure, I can send them back, but it's a hassle and a waste of resources and time for everybody involved.

Thus: the question.

[u/Larielis]

How often do you run into sellers who lie about the book condition when shopping for used books?

[u/maximumdecay]

do you like harlan cobens books?

i have just gotten into his myron bolitar series and it was a bit confusing to me how the plot of each book goes…. i feel like there’s a lot of bizzare plot holes…

and looking at his series online/ on Wikipedia, i wasn’t sure why each description seems like it was written by the author himself??? each section lists oddly specific information about him or his characters and i’m just not sure it’s necessary or even the correct way to write a wikipedia article??

[u/ZOOTV83 → u/[deleted]]

I'm on the fourth book in the Witcher series and they're pretty damn excellent. The first two are both short story collections so they're easy enough to dip a toe into the world if you wanna try them out.

[u/Glum_Kangaroo_4560 → u/[deleted]]

Do you like dark academia with fantasy leaning?

[u/clovengoof → u/[deleted]]

Look up the Riftwar Cycle and start with the Magician.