Since we were talking about home-made bookmarks, I thought I'd post a bookmark I created to read War and Peace. After reading Anna Karenina I figured War and Peace would also have numerous characters, place names, and terminology to keep track of. I had used index cards to write those things down for Anna Karenina, but they kept falling out of the book and weren't terribly practical. So, I created a bookmark to take on the job of temporary notebook.
At the top is room for the title and start and end dates, and then there are sections for people, places, things, and vocabulary. The latter is very handy because I find that if I write down unknown words and their definitions I am far more likely to remember them the next time I see them.
It's not a terribly beautiful bookmark—mine lives in the endnotes—but I am finding it very handy. I printed mine out on white card stock, but next time I think I'll use coloured paper or, if I'm feeling creative, add a background image appropriate to the book I'm reading.
If you'd like to try my invention, here are the links to Word and PDF versions:
