From the notebook
Reading with a pencil nearby
Keep a conversation with what you read.
Mark less, explain more
A line beside a passage can help you find it again, but a short note about why it mattered is more useful. Write a question, an objection, or a connection to something you already know. Your response is what turns a marked page into a personal reference.
Keep quotations traceable
When copying a sentence, record the title and page number at the same time. For an article, save its address and title. A quotation separated from its source is harder to check and easier to misunderstand when you encounter it months later.
Make a note after closing the book
Try writing the main idea in your own words without looking back. Then check the passage again. The gap between your version and the original can reveal what you understood, what you missed, and what you want to read more carefully.
Let the notes lead somewhere
A useful reading note can end with a question for the next chapter, a related book to look for, or an observation to test in everyday life. It does not need to become a summary of every page. Keep the parts you expect to return to.