In the Margins

Written Beside the Book

Every note a curator has left beside a book. The shortest reviews on IBDB, and often the most useful.

Showing 1 to 24 of 172 notes

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“The one everyone turned up for.”
on Hamnetin Book Club Bangers @bookclubdropout
“Chapter five. Every single time.”
on The Hobbitin Read Aloud, Age Twelve And Up @margaretreads
“Good novel. Not the document it was received as.”
on Normal Peoplein Overrated, With Receipts @mx_marginalia
“Three attempts. No regrets and no plans.”
on Infinite Jestin Did Not Finish, No Regrets @dnf_diaries
“Sixth form, and only after a conversation.”
on Their Eyes Were Watching Godin Books I Pushed Across The Desk @margaretreads
“Not fantasy either. Belongs more than most of the list.”
on Blood Meridianin No Heroes, Just Consequences @grimdarkgareth
“Short chapters and a plot that clicks shut. Ideal.”
on Holesin Read Aloud, Age Twelve And Up @margaretreads
“Two houses, and both of them are the problem.”
on Wuthering Heightsin Houses That Are The Villain @bleakhouse_bex
“Four hundred pages. Enough.”
on A Little Lifein Did Not Finish, No Regrets @dnf_diaries
“The one to graduate to.”
on The Fifth Seasonin The Sanderson Starter Pack @hollowknightfan99
“Eleven weeks. Worth eleven weeks.”
on Pachinkoin Worth The Hold Queue @libbyoverdrive
“Optional, and the students who take it up never regret it.”
on Godel, Escher, Bachin A Syllabus For Doubting Yourself @theodore_p
“Short chapters. That is the trick for me.”
on Reasons to Stay Alivein Books I Actually Finished @three_chapters_in
“The receipts are the book.”
on The Alchemistin Overrated, With Receipts @mx_marginalia
“The obvious one. Glokta earns his place.”
on The Blade Itselfin No Heroes, Just Consequences @grimdarkgareth
“The contemporary entry. Four accounts, one fortune, no arbiter.”
on Trustin Novels That Argue With Themselves @theodore_p
“Wrong about half the planting and right about everything else.”
on The Secret Gardenin Books With The Botany Right @dr_bramble
“Half a novel. Counts.”
on Autobiography of Redin Poems For A Wet Fortnight @saltmarsh
“Four months of it. Regret nothing.”
on The Brothers Karamazovin One Book A Month, 2026 @the_slow_reader
“Not Sanderson. Read it after and see which one you prefer.”
on The Name of the Windin The Sanderson Starter Pack @hollowknightfan99
“The only honest account of what a lab actually costs to run.”
on Lab Girlin Books With The Botany Right @dr_bramble
“The kind one. There is exactly one kind one.”
on Piranesiin Houses That Are The Villain @bleakhouse_bex
“I am on year two of this one and not embarrassed about it.”
on Ulyssesin A Chapter A Week, For A Year @the_slow_reader
“The joke version. Still a serious book.”
on If on a Winter’s Night a Travelerin Novels That Argue With Themselves @theodore_p