On Thursday, October 29th, Booking through Thursday asked:

What items have you ever used as a bookmark? What is the most unusual item you’ve ever used or seen used?

True confession: Whether it’s a serious novel or a catalog offering a great selection of unique gifts for her, I tend to dog-ear, or use the flaps of a dust cover, rather than an actual bookmark, at least with my own books. I’ve even been known to – horror of horrors – leave an open book face down.

With books that belong to other people, however, I’m much more respectful, and always use bookmarks. What kind? Typical choices are:

1. Business cards, usually other people’s, sometimes my own.
2. A clean square of toilet paper (I read in the bathroom a lot.)
3. The receipt telling me when a book is due back to the library.
4. A used boarding pass from an airplane flight.
5. Receipts from recent purchases.
6. Emery boards.
7. A dollar bill.
8. Movie or theatre ticket stubs.
9. Postcards.
10. Hang-tags from new clothing.

Sadly, I’ve never noticed any particularly unusual or interesting bookmarks.