The prosecution: Charlie
double quotation markIt breaks my immersion in the stories – like when someone says ‘This next bit is so good’
Julie can’t read without a pen in her hand. She writes all over every book: underlining, writing over things, crossing things out. When she explains it to people, she makes it sound fun. She says it’s because she’s an author – her first book is due out this year. She makes it sound like she’s adding quality, writerly insights to the pages, but it’s actually just random connective comments like “lol” written in the margins.I’ve asked her to stop as it breaks my immersion in the stories. It’s like when someone says “This next bit is so good” when you’re watching a film. She doesn’t write spoilers and some of her comments are interesting, but they still distract you from the story. It also denies me the opportunity of a relationship with the writer of the book. Julie is a writer herself, so should value this. We read the same books, but I have to buy an extra copy because I can’t bear reading hers. In our small flat – and in a cost of living crisis – we have too many books and too little space. We can’t afford to keep buying books. She uses a pen for her annotations, which makes it even harder to ignore. She should ask herself: “Is this a book that Charlie wants to read?”I am in a book club and I ask Julie for recommendations, but we can’t lend books to friends because of her annotations. Julie says I shouldn’t care about this as she buys her own books. She accuses me of skim-reading and said it shouldn’t affect me, but I’m a deep reader. It hurts when she dismisses my feelings about this.We’ve been together for two years and it’s always been an issue. She says she wants us to read more of the same books but her annotations put me off.Reading books covered in graffiti is not fun. It’s a bit like how kids shouldn’t put toys in their mouth if others want to play with them. However, I know I will have to continue reading Julie’s books with the annotations because she won’t change.The defence: Julie
