Marginalia mania: how ‘annotating’ books went from big no-no to BookTok’s next trend

Readers are sharing how they write their predictions into novels, colour-code their emotional responses and even gift annotated books to friends. Is it actually fun, or just a bit like homework?

There are two kinds of readers: those who would choose death before dog-ears, keeping their beloved volumes as pristine as possible, and those whose books bear the marks of a life well read, corners folded in on favourite pages and with snarky or swoony commentary scrawled in the margins. The two rarely combine in one person, and they definitely don't lend each other books. But a new generation of readers are finding a way to combine both approaches: reviving the art and romance of marginalia, by transforming their books and reading experiences into #aesthetic artifacts.

I keep seeing people who have books like this," says one TikToker, their head floating over a greenscreened video of fat novels bristling with coloured sticky tabs. What are you doing? Explain yourselves! Because this looks like homework. But also ... I do like office supplies."