Four silicone pink mushroom bookmarks arranged on a table.

Hold My Book: Mushroom Bookmarks Save the Day (and My Place)

Four silicone pink mushroom bookmarks arranged on a table.

Books, beware. I like to color in the pages with notes and fold the edges of a good tome—like someone who’s seen things—and can’t remember them. Hence, the graffiti and street-cred origami.

Actually, I’d really like to have nice things. Like books without creases or marks. It’s hard because my penchant for destruction is so strong. But here’s what helps:

Bookmarks. Not just any bookmarks, though. Not something with a quote or a platitude like “find your greatness.” I can never find my “greatness.” It’s somewhere with my glasses, which I can also never find.

I did once write a blog post about magnetic bookmarks—and don’t get me wrong, they’re wonderful, those cactus-shaped cuties. But they’re made of paper, so they don’t last long.

Instead, I found something refreshingly delightful at Barnes & Noble a few weeks ago. They’re soft, flexible silicone bookmarks in the shape of things—like leaves and plants. I chose some pink mushrooms, and they have changed my life.

Whenever I feel the urge to mark up a page or fold a corner into a ridiculously large triangle, I just place the slender plastic mushroom stalk into the crease and leave it alone—and marvel at its adorable little domed shape sticking up on top—perfectly marking where I’ve left off.

I highly recommend them, but be careful if you also have one of the following habits:

–Chewing things. (You might get a craving for sauteed mushrooms with just a bit of garlic butter toasted crostini. Not that I would know.)

–Misplacing things, especially mushrooms.

–Reading on decks/areas that have slits in them, where a slender mushroom-like bookmark might slip and disappear forever. (Buy four to a pack for good measure.)

–Dreaming up nightmares starring mushrooms. (You are what you read/bookmark.)

–Confusing bookmarks with items you might use in a salad. (Again, buy four to a pack for good measure + a bottle of syrup of ipecac.)

Your Turn: Do you prefer paper books or online books? What’s your method for marking your place?

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Published by ckennedy

Author of the DIY blog: Fixin' Leaks and Leeks. Paper/Rock Writing Consultation, Sole Proprietor.

35 thoughts on “Hold My Book: Mushroom Bookmarks Save the Day (and My Place)”

  1. I’d say I like both equally. My e-reader is easier to read in bed than a hard copy. I have more bookmarks of all varieties all over the house. How do I mark my place? I flip the open book upside down.

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  2. Paper books never crash or need rebooting or have the battery die at the most inconvenient times. I have a collection of bookmarks with Frodo on them and “Reading. Make it a Hobbit.”

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  3. Those are adorable. And since you mentioned leaves, and I love leaves, I may need to look for those. I definitely prefer paper books to digital. Don’t we spend enough of our lives looking at screens already? My standard bookmark is a scrap of paper I pull from the trashcan or find lying around. One book has TP for the mark. I wonder where I cracked that book open….

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  8. I shifted to Kindle because I couldn’t get physical books in my town. And gave away all my beautiful bookmarks! Now I read both, the paper books during daytime and on the Kindle at night in bed. But the bookmarks are gone forever!
    Your mushrooms do look good enough to eat!

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  12. I personally love a paper book. When traveling, I will do audio books. Not a big fan of e-books, though I do understand the allure. I am ashamed to admit that I do occasionally dog-ear a book (no judgment, please 😉 ) if I absolutely can’t find anything with which to mark my place. Another reason to love paper hardback books is because those handy covers have sleeves to mark your place. 🙂

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  13. I feel there are too much screen time for different devices that are out there so definitely paper book for me. Can’t beat the paper smell when your reading them. 🙂 As for bookmarks, I use those cardboard bookmarks, even my own children’s bookmark making of their vision. If I happen to be a spot where I didn’t have bookmark with me, I would tear a paper to mark it for temp but there has been time that I use it until I finished the book because it works. I always have paper with me because I use it to communicate with others.

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