How Do You Keep Your Place in a Book?

I use whatever is nearest to me. A bookmark, a sales receipt, a post-it note, a piece of mail...I'm pretty sure I used a sock once; it wasn't a proud moment. If all else fails, I just leave the book facedown on the page until I'm able to pick it up again.

With a Heroes and Heartbreakers bookmark, of course!

With old baseball ticket stubs, or receipts, or those postcard thigns that fall out of magazines. I read a lot of older used books and I am appalled at the number of people who dogear a page as a marker. I could never do that. Not only was I brought up to respect people's possessions, books themselves (even crappy ones) are too precious to mistreat. Occasionally when I've had to toss a book out because it was damaged or just so old that it was falling apart, I have felt a weird sort of grief about it, as if an old friend had passed.

Movie ticket stubs, old grocery lists, business cards (either my own or ones I've picked up at a technical conference or user group meeting), bookmarks (usually from a variety of book stores - Borders [ton of 'em from closeout], Barnes&Noble, Bookpool.com, etc.), used envelopes, fancy bookmarks received as gifts,.... Pretty much whatever is convenient and closest when needed.

As with @dizzheart, I have an aversion to dog-earing pages and cannot do it. Likewise, I have a problem writing/making notes in a book, even my old college texts (years ago in college). I NEVER highlighted passages or important formulas. Marking up a book just seems disrespectful somehow and possibly ruins it for the next person to read or use the book.

I just remember the page number I am on. Weird right?

Usually the torn off part of a sweetner packet or sometimes an eensy piece of paper towel, lol, or maybe a very small post-it or due date slip from the library . . . currently in the Einstein bio I'm reading it's the library due date slip, but in my copy of Jane Eyre that I'm also reading on, I'm using a homemade bookmark: a photo of the TARDIS cookie jar or some such cut out of a catalog and covered w/ clear contact paper :).

@youcantbuylove- same here... So unpractical, but that's the way I do it.

I am with @Lege Artis and @youcantbuylove; I remember the page number most of the time. I do have bookmarks-Buckingham Palace, some coffee mug magnetic ones, but the one I use the most is really old. My mother gave it to me, its says something about daughters. She passed away 14 years ago this week, and I still use it...well just because.

I use a fancy bookmark - no dog-earing pages or scraps of paper for me. :D

I crack the spine and leave it pages-down on the nearest relatively flat surface.

*prepares to be ridden out of town on a rail*

Absolutely the only thing I miss about paper books is my bookmark collection and playing with the tassel on the end as I read. Ebook reader covers should have a pocket to put bookmarks in so I can enjoy my collection again.

I locate a magazine. I grasp the magazine by the spine and shake it. The shaking ejects one or more of the subscription reply cards inserted into the magazine. I think these cards are called blow-ins. Whatever they are called, they make nice bookmarks.

Bookmarks! With tassels, thank you. That hopefully coordinate with the cover. >.>

Also, my BFF lost TWO debit cards by using them as bookmarks. She sticks with her Nook now. Jeez.

I've amassed quite a collection of bookmarks (from booksellers to publishers to clotheslabels that I really like) that I keep on my bookshelves, in my bedside table and other places where I leave my books. However inevitably I always use my favourites - every year my daughter takes a photo at school and the collection always includes a large portrait size, some normal sizes, a couple of small pass photos and my favourite - the bookmark. She's in her fourth year so I've got 4 already and my little boy started nursery school so I'm going to start getting bookmarks of him too.

Shamefully I dog-ear pages, even on library books.

I remember the page most of the time. I have been known to use the library due date slip too. I would never crack a spine or dog ear a page! I was taught not to do that. Ugh!

Bookmarks - I have a lovely collection. I never dog-ear pages nor crack the spines of books.

I refuse to dog-ear pages and when I get a book from the library where someone has already done that I cringe.

I use bookmarks mostly, but if one isn't available I will usually use a random scrap of paper. If nothing is available I just close the book and hope I find my place without too much effort later.

I also have a kindle so that is fantastic for keeping your place even if I'm in the middle of reading multiple books at a time.

Cracking the spine, is that where someone will bend the front cover and read pages to the back cover? Because I HATE seeing that! I want to take the book and hit them with it. Fortunatly I have managed not to actually do that. I use whatever is handy and not wet or too bulky to save my place.

More and more, I'm reading on my ereader, but when I read paper books, I generally use a bookmark. In the absence of a bookmark, I have been known to use everything from a cash register receipt to a $20 bill.

I use paper clips (seemingly endless supply at work); the large loop marks the page I stopped on . When I start reading again, I just move it to a part I've already read- voila, always available. Sometimes, I'll have 2 or 3 to mark passages I liked or have referred to after reading something further along in the story. I just have to remember to take them out when I've finished the book and want to pack it away/shelve it.

I have a metric ton of bookmarks - somewhere. Never around when I need them. So I usually stick whatever flat surfaced thin paper object I lay my hands on first - receipt, ticket stub, the occasional cat toy - anything EXCEPT dog-ear the page and/or lay in down flat and crack the spine. PHILISTINES (I'm looking at you Lorelie Brown!) I actually wont lend my books to my mom or sister unless they promise to treat them well and I've blacklisted my mother entirely because she repeatedly doesn't. Do not mess with the book.

I have a collection of fabric book covers with sewn in ribbon markers. While I am not the least bit ashamed of my romance habit, I think romance covers are beyond ridiculous. I always cover them up. When authors (ladies I respect!) gush about the silly artwork on their upcoming releases, I am baffled.

I've bought and lost so many bookmarks I've lost count. What works best for me are Post-its--the mini 1 1/2- by 2-inch size. I keep a couple spare in the back of the book just in case. They're great and they're inexpensive.
On the subject of book cover, I make my own using leftover fabric, a heavy-weight freezer bag to protect the fabric, and double-sided tape. My books stay in really good condition and they don't get damaged amid the clutter contained in my tote bag during my commute to work. The added benefit, as "kreads4fun" mentions, is that I don't have to deal with the weird looks from my fellow passengers on the subway...

I have been known to dog ear a few books but, with much tepidation . I am happy to know that I am not the only one to feel this way!lol! needless to say I now use some random piece of paper:)

Depends on the book. For paperbacks that I'm just planning on leaving in a doctor's office anyway, I dog-ear (don't judge me). For paperbacks I'm planning to keep a while I use whatever is nearest to hand. Fortunes from fortune cookies often make it into the pages of those PBs. I reserve my nicer bookmarks for my hardbacks.

I could never dog-ear a page and I shudder at the thought of cracking the spine. I have a huge collection of booksmarks, mostly from the library as I work there. While on vacation, at one point I started using the room card as a bookmark. I could never remember what I did with it and invaritably ended up with a new card. I think the staff thought I was crazy. I tried to find a bookmark to use, if not then whatever is handy.

I use a picture, usually of family or a recent trip to mark my place.

Bookmarks for me if it's a paper book and I have to read to the end of the chapter or paragraph (makes it easier to pick back up) whether its paper or Kindle. I love that my Kindle always "opens" an ebook to the last page I was reading. When I first read the first Dark Hunters novel I was so addicted I used to read in the quite times in work; then I kept my place with a postit pointing to the last word I read so I could snatch a few sentances here or there.

I have lovely fabric book covers with attached ribbon book marks. I love the artwork on romance books but I have some associates/friends? that would not approve of my reading genre. To avoid unwanted comments and to protect my precious covers AND never loose my bookmark I use fabric covers. I have 5-6 different covers that I color coordinate with my books so I remember what story goes with what book. I am very visual and I remember things by how they look ;-)

I have a wonderful gold-embossed leather bookmark that was given to me years ago. I place the embossed side facing the page where I am to resume reading.

I usually use a book mark but I have to say that I will use any scrap of paper or card that is within reach. I try to memorize the page number, but that doesn't always work. At least with my Sony e-reader I don't have to worry as it always remembers where I left off. I have so many bookmarks, they are in every room except the kitchen ant the bathroom. Sort of like my fans, since I am at the "mid-life" stage.

Just thinking about putting a dog-ear in any book makes me violently ill :( Thats a big reason i dont let people borrow my books anymore plus half the time they never give them back which is a declaration of war in my opinion.....But i like using pictures to bookmark. So not only do i get to see people places or things i love but then it gets even better because i get to read!!!!!

NEVER, NEVER, NEVER dog-ear a page in a book! I use bookmarks, grocery receipts, whatever is handy.

I riffle through the book and find my place again. If I can't figure out where I was, I stop reading the book.

I love that my Kindle marks my page but for the few books I get hardback or paper now it is what ever is handy that is thin.

I can sympathize with the earlier poster who lost a couple of debit cards to her books - that had also happened to me.