6 Things That Aren’t Bookmarks, But You’ve Totally Used Them As Bookmarks

We’ve all been there. You’re in the middle of an absolutely amazing read, you need to take a break, but you don’t have a bookmark! GASP. What to do?

If you’re like us, you probably picked up the nearest bookmark-like object you could find and made good use of it. (Or you’ve committed the ultimate reading sin and dog-eared one of the pages. FOR SHAME!) Here are six things that aren't bookmarks but totally work when you need one.

Class notes

Once you’re done taking notes for a class and studying said material, you probably don’t ever want to look at those notes again, even though you spent so much time and effort meticulously getting everything down on the page. So it makes sense to recycle them as bookmarks. Plus, you can brush up on your studies in between reads!

Letters from loved ones

Cherished handwritten letters from loved ones can make wonderful placeholders in our favorite books, especially if they’re small and can be easily folded into shape. If you ever need a quick break from reading your book, you can reread the letter that always makes you smile! But is this really the best place for it? Hanging it on the fridge or storing them all in a folder is probably a safer bet.

Money

At least you’re keeping it somewhere safe, right? Right? The main problem with using a dollar bill to hold your spot (or a ten or twenty if you’re feeling fancy) is that it can slip out of the book at any moment, and this is definitely not something you want to lose.

Transit passes

If you live in an urban area, you likely have a card you swipe that gets you onto local transportation, and you’ve probably used it as a bookmark at some point. This works well while you’re on the train or the bus and have nothing else handy, but like money, it’s valuable and can easily slip out of your book. It’ll cost you precious transportation and your place in the book all at once.

Napkins

Sometimes you really have no other choice but to use a dirty napkin to hold your place in a book, especially if you’re getting some reading done at your favorite coffee shop. They’re flimsy and not super resilient and they may have coffee stains on them, but they’ll do in a pinch. And hey, at least you’re recycling!

Birthday cards

We all get them, and we all run out of places to put them and reasons to keep them. But they’re hard to throw away, especially if there’s an adorable animal on the cover and a super sweet message written inside. The added benefit of using a birthday card as a bookmark: they can mark multiple places at once!

What do you use as a bookmark? Let us know in the comments!