I recently got asked on Instagram about why and how I tab books, and as per @emhdejong‘s request, here’s why and how I tab books!
Why
I usually tab books to mark different aspects of a book, such as romance and quotes that I like. I always tab books that I personally request from publishers, such as THE MIDNIGHT STAR and CARAVAL (although I haven’t read it yet, I’m planning to!). I sometimes tab books that have a lot of hype, such as SIX OF CROWS and A COURT OF MIST AND FURY.
How
I use little Post-It notes or sometimes a pad of pre-cut tabs to mark aspects of a book. I have four primarily colors, but you can obviously use more than that number! Here’s my key:
- orange: quotes I particularly like
- blue: funny/quirky lines
- pink: romantic scenes/quotes
- yellow: discussion-worthy quotes/events
You can do whatever you would like to those tabs! You can write little notes on them since they’re Post-Its, change up the colors, etc! It’s really all up to you!
arctic books 
I tab usually with washi tape. I don’t use various of colors like you do, but just take washi tape I’m in a mood for, so per book it’s usually one-two colors, and I just underline and write my notes in my books and then tab it so I could easily find my notes and underlines.
I actually like your way with more colors, maybe I’ll try it out.
I tab/write in every physical book I read, except of borrowed ones.
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Oh, that’s awesome! I have to check out washi tape soon! Your way sounds awesome!
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Wow, I’ve never thought of tabbing books. I sometimes highlight words and phrases in ebooks but physical books never occurred to me! What a great idea, seems like great fun!
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It’s super fun! Thank you for the kind comment! 🙂
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I only started tabbing my books this year, and I don’t do it in all of them. I usually tab the ones I read on my tablet, because most of them are from netgalley / authors, but I don’t color-code (I should start doing it, tho). Thanks for the tips 😛
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I agree! I only really do it for books that I’ve hyped up a lot! 🙂
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Omg this is amazing
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Thank you!
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I don’t really tab my books. I usually only want to keep track of quotes that I like, so if I’m reading a physical books, I keep a list of page numbers, and if I’m reading an ebook, I just highlight. But I love your system! When I do readings for school, I use a lot of highlighters and color-code them. I haven’t thought of using tabs before – I’ll have to try that out!
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That’s interesting! That’s a really good system too! I would highlight books but I hate doing it to books that I want to read for pleasure!
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sooo CUTE!! i’d love to be a book tabster but sadly i am not so organized. i’d always forget to bring sticky notes while i read and then be too lazy to get back up and get them 😂
adorable post!
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Ah, thank you so much! I’m also pretty lazy, so that’s why I only really do it for review copies that I request directly from pubs! 🙂
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I started tabbing recently and am obsessed with it. I haven’t started colour coding yet! It’s definitely something I want to do though. I love your set up!
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That’s awesome! Thank you!
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I usually use all one color tabs, but it depends on the book. Like for My Lady Jane and Six of Crows I used one color for dialogue and the other for writing. If it’s a part of a series that I love with a few different main characters, I’ll have a few different colors, so one for each MC then kind of everyone else. After awhile I’ve just gotten so used to the way I tab my books, it’s just kind of a natural thing for me (did that even make any sense??). I really like how you do it though!
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That’s interesting! It’s different for each person, and I’m glad you have your own way to do it!
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I can’t believe I have never thought to do this! I am constantly hunting for scenes or quotes during book clubs, so this will help a ton. I used to keep a notebook, but I kept forgetting it places… This is much easier! Where do you store the tabs while you are reading?
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It’s so much fun! Before I read, I set up a little index card with each color tab on it (with a sort of key) and I use it as a bookmark when I read!
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I would do this in school! 🙂
Lauren @ Always Me
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That’s awesome!
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love it! isn’t it weird how some people try to keep their books looking “nice” and as if they haven’t been read? I always mark my favourite passages because it makes me feel like I’ve personalised the book and put myself and my thoughts into the story a bit as well 🙂
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Definitely! I totally agree, it makes it seemed more “loved” in a way to me!
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I’ve just recently gotten into tabbing physical books and I actually use highlighter tape to mark pages and then I take sticky notes and write my thoughts down if I need to for a particular tab. I try to keep it pretty simple with my color system though. I usually pick one for quotes and one for noteworthy things I want to remember. 😊
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That’s interesting! That’s a great idea! 🙂
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I don’t tab my books, but that might actually come in handy when writing book reviews! This was actually a really interesting post, and I think I’m going to get into tabbing my books in the future.
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Definitely! Thank you! 🙂
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i also tabbed my books! i don’t really use any particular color though, it usually changes depends on the book i’m reading 🙂 i love tabbing my books because it personalized the book and make it looked loved, without actually writing in it ❤ i mostly used transparent post it so i can just stick it anywhere without obscuring the text. i usually do it for quotes and favorite scenes in books.
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That’s awesome! I love tabbing for the same reasons! 🙂
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Huh, I’ve never even thought about tabbing books before! I color code pretty much everything else in my life so I am definitely going to be trying this with my next paper book!
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It’s a lot of fun! I’m glad you’re trying it out! 🙂
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Tabbing looks like an elegant way to keep track of all the things in books! I’ll definitely have to try it some time – never thought about it before!
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It’s a lot of fun! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
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I just started using book tabs for school books and I loved seeing your method for regular! I may buy some more and amp up my tab game ^_^
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Thank you! 🙂
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I do tab my books quite often! I don’t have a key for which tabs go with what. Mainly, I put a post it on the page and will write a small description, or note saying why I tabbed it.
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That’s awesome! I totally respect that; that seems like a great way to take notes in a book for classes, especially!
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I’ve wanted to start doing this for a while but I’ve never been sure about how to approach it, but I really like you’re system so I may start trying to see if it works for me 🙂
Zoe @ Readabilitea
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Thank you, Zoe! 🙂
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This is the first time ever that I’ve seen a blogger or a bookstagrammer describe the process of tabbing. I’m intrigued, truly. I may start this process with my VERY small book collection, but, nonetheless, I have books that I can tab. That’s a blessing within itself.
Thank you for blogging this!👍
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Haha, no problem! I’m happy to concede to others’ requests! Glad I could help you out! 🙂
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Oh this is such a good idea! I mostly read ebooks so I just highlight in my kindle, but I never even use different colors, so I always have to read through everything I highlighted when I want to find something lol. But having color coding to mark different types of things is smart, and I will definitely need to pick myself up some sticky notes for using in physical books since I never know how to mark the things I like in those!
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Oh, thanks so much! I do the same thing to ebooks, but it’s only different for my physical books. 🙂
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[…] Why & How I Tab Books […]
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I’ve never done this before, but you’re inspiring me to try it. I’m horrible at keeping track of quotes, etc. but this would be a fun way to do it!
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Thank you, Nicole! 🙂
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[…] Alice @ Arctic Books shares with us how she tabs her books. […]
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[…] Alice @ Arctic Books talks about Why and how she tabs books […]
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I really want/need to come up with a consistent way to tab books. It’ll help so much with writing reviews!
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I hope you do! Good luck! 🙂
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I’ve always thought it was interesting how people tagged their books!!
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Thank you!
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[…] via Why & How I Tab Books — arctic books […]
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YES I TAB MY BOOKS TOO!!! But in the case of a ebook I’m usually highlighting… it just makes things so much more easier when I review my books and of course if I do pick up the book again I can reminisce in my favourite quotes 😂😂💜
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[…] Alice at Arctic Books shares why and how she tabs her books […]
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I’ve never thought of doing this for non-academic reasons. But I like it!
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Thank you!
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THIS IS SUCH A COOL IDEA! I’ve been thinking about doing this 🙂 it’s a cool way to keep track of everything and it looks so cool when you’re done. I want to mark every time a character dies in game of Thrones because that would be interesting haha xD I might start doing this too 🙂 nice post.
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I didn’t know this was a thing .. I have been writing sentences I like from books in my phone. I’m getting myself some post-it notes!
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this is a really cute idea that I will definitely try out!
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Happy to hear that!
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finally a way to keep track of those amazing book quotes, thank you!
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No problem! 🙂
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I don’t tab books, I think it’s a great idea, if I remembered, I would totally tab quotes I loved, but I never remember!
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Hahaha, I totally understand! To each their own!
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[…] tabs her books, she explains why and how she does it! Zoe shares how to keep a book journal The Bookavid explains how to enjoy a problematic book and not […]
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[…] tabs her books, she explains why and how she does it! Zoe shares how to keep a book journal The Bookavid explains how to enjoy a problematic book and not […]
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