Books With Desh on The Magic of Annotating Books

For some, it's sacrilege. For others, it's pure magic. Today, we're talking about annotating books, and we're going to demystify it with the fantastic Deshea of Books With Deshea. Whether you're a seasoned annotator or have always been hesitant to mark up your precious books, this episode of We Read Smut will transform your perspective on connecting with your reads. Deshea shares invaluable insights and tips that might just convert even the most annotation-averse readers (like Alesia!).

Deshea is a high-energy first-grade teacher and the creator of Books with Desh, a bookstagram where she shares her love for romance books, annotations, and all things cozy and creative. She’s currently channeling her creativity into making stickers, bookmarks, and launching an annotated book shop, always finding new ways to bring stories—and people—together.

In this episode, we're discussing:

• Deshea's adult reading journey and how she first started annotating books in high school.
• The profound benefits of annotating, including deeper connection and improved retention with books.
• Why she views tabbing a book as a valid form of annotation, even without writing notes.
• Practical advice for beginners, from testing pens on the acknowledgements page to starting with beloved rereads or secondhand books.
• How she combines scrapbooking elements, emoji stickers, and even custom annotation keys to make her reading experience unique and fun.
• Her Etsy shop and the various annotation kits she offers, designed to make the process accessible and enjoyable for everyone.
• The importance of maintaining the joy of reading, even when creating bookish content or running a small business.

Ready to personalize your reading experience and connect with your books on a whole new level? Explore Deshea's annotation tips and kits! You can find her on Instagram and Etsy by searching "Books With Deshea". Don't forget to follow, rate, and review the We Read Smut podcast!

CONNECT WITH DESHEA:

Etsy

Instagram

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

For some, it's sacrilege. For others, it's pure magic. Today we're talking about annotating books, and we're going to demystify it with the fantastic Daisha of Books with Daish. Before we get into today's episode, I do want to let you know, please give me some grace. I was just at the tail end of pneumonia and losing my voice entirely when we recorded this episode. So you may find that my voice is a little deeper or a little scratchier than it typically is. Please bear with me. This episode is so good. And Daisha gives so many great tips for annotating. And as someone who does not like annotating my books at all, I kind of want to start trying it because of this conversation. So please join me in welcoming Daisha to the podcast. Listener discretion is advised. This podcast contains mature content intended for adult audiences only. Hello, Deja. I'm so excited to have you on the podcast. So if you could start by just giving everybody a bit of insight into you and tell us about your adult reading journey.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here. So I read a lot as a child, kind of fell off during college. And then I came back after college and after studying for education, I'm like, you know what? I think I'm ready to be a reader again. So I picked up three books and instantly fell right back in love. It was almost like I never left. So I read pretty much everything, but romance has my heart.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

I love romance too. It's, I want to say I almost exclusively read romance. And I mean, I've tried other ones. I think recently I read Murderbot because the show was coming out. And I found it entertaining. But yeah, romance is always my go-to. Like I just I need the love. I need the angst sometimes and the drama. And like I just need that fluff. So yeah, I'm all about that. But you do something that is, I think, a little different than a lot of the bookish content creators. You do some pretty extensive annotating. And that is, like I was telling you before we hit record, that is something that I am like, at least historically, have been very against. Like when I was in college, I would highlight stuff and maybe like write little notes, right? Because it's it's a textbook. Like I do not care about this book. But then when it comes to like my trophies, I don't know. Like I feel a little nervous. And also I think it has to do with growing up not having a lot of books. And I would be borrowing them from the library or borrowing them from like I grew up in a cult, and so they had like their little library of like approved books. That's a whole other story for a whole other day. But that was so let's just change the topic because what let's talk about cult. Yeah, I know. I have a podcast with my sister called Two Sisters and a Cult. We produced it from about 2019-ish to 2021. So that is there for if anybody wants to like hear that story, it's somewhere in there. But yes, and so they had like their approved, I'm using like quotes here, their approved list of books because it was a fundamentalist Christian group. But like I remember even like sneaking some of the books that like kind of slipped through where there was like hand holding and passionate kissing and like, oh my god, I am what? I'm titillated. And then I would then pass it on to my sister and be like, you need to read this book. So yeah, like, and so I never really wrote in the books. And then when I got my own, I was like, I can't, I don't want to do it. And so I ended up getting they have these like highlighter thin, almost like sticky notes that you can use to highlight without actually using a highlighter. And so I did that for a while, but you take it to a whole nother level. So, how did you get into annotating your books?

SPEAKER_00 4:19

So I think it kind of started in high school. I had a dull enrollment class. So, like, you get a high school and a college credit for it. And he was the coolest teacher I've ever met. Like he he was kind of like the weird teacher of the school, but like in the best way. And he would have us write in our the margins of our books because they were books we had to purchase. So one of our assignments each night, whatever our reading was, we had to write a question or a deeper thought into the margin every night. So I don't think I really thought of it as so scandalous because it was something like, oh, well, this cool teacher's telling me to do it. So I would. So up until that point, I'd never done it before. And then, like I said, reading kind of fell off. And then when I came back, I remember the first book I started reading when I got back into reading was To All the Boys I Love Before. And I don't even know where I got the tabs from. But it's funny because if you look back, that book has maybe six tabs in it, and that's it. It grew from there. I started out writing in pencil because, like you, I'm like in his class, I did the same thing we always wrote in pencil. So I was like, well, if I don't like it, I can raise it. If I still want to try to sell it, I'll erase it the best I can and try to get rid of it. And then something kind of switched along the way where it was more about just my journey and process with the book. And I was just like, I spent the money on it, you know. If I if I want to mess it up, quote unquote, I kind of can. And as famous when you said that you have your books or your trophies, I have some books that I I did not write in. When I read Becoming by Michelle Obama, I would not write in it. And I can't even explain why. It just felt so important that I'm like, I don't feel like I need to put anything into it. So there's like a thousand tabs in it, but there's not any ink. Whereas I'm currently reading and I'm like with my pink pen, like all in for the book, and I'm like drawing the hearts and doing the thing. So it's definitely been a process for me. Like it hasn't always been the same. But I do think there is a place for everyone in this space. I don't think like mine is a little bit of extreme, but I think there's some everyone can find something in it, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Yeah, what do you think are some of those benefits when you're highlighting or tabbing a book rather than just like reading through it?

SPEAKER_00 6:38

I feel like I get like a deeper connection in the books that I annotate versus the ones that I don't. I think it's because as someone who reads a lot of books, like especially on Kindle Unlimited, I'm like da-da-da-da-da. Next. And I'm just like boom, boom, boom. Like I can read so many books that way, but with the books that I'm reading physically and actually annotating, like it's kind of more of a deeper dive because I am having to slow down and I am making those like notes and adding the tabs in it. And it's more of me like actively reading instead of passively reading. Not saying that you can't do that without annotating, but for me, I do find that there was a difference with like my retention and like my memory of what I actually read.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Yeah, it kind of sounds like the pace is different, right? So like with your Kindle Unlimited ones or the ones you're reading like digitally, or even like audiobooks. I mean, I listen to audiobooks at two speed because my brain needs to like hear it fast. Otherwise, I'm like, right, like we're going off another tangent in my brain. And so, like those, I'll be like, oh wait, I wanted to highlight that. Oh, I'm listening to it. Never mind, moving on, right? So it's like you kind of can miss a lot of those elements. But yeah, I think about the books where I have my my highlight stickies and I've got my tabs, and I'm like, oh, this is a good one, or this is where the sex started, or like, this is the things that I'm tabbing. That those are the ones where I'm like, oh, like I think the last one that I tabbed, and I've I've read other ones physically since then, was Church Girl by Naima Simone. And like that one I found, especially having grown up fundamentalist Christian, and this girl, her father's a pastor, and he wants her to marry his deacon, and she's like, I'm running away on my wedding day. And just like a lot of her healing from the religious upbringing, and she still was like, I love God and I I want to do good and I want to be a good person, but that is not for me. Like, and just kind of her reawakening to herself was just so resonant that I was like, tab, tab, tab, highlight, highlight, highlight. And so, like, thinking about that book, when people mention it, it's like it kind of has a little bit more of a deeper feeling to me and a more of a connection because the pace was a little different than, say, a book I read that's like a novella that's just like a quick read, a Kindle Unlimited. So, yeah, I can understand that for sure.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

And I feel like when you're talking about audiobooks, because I I love audiobooks and it gives me such like something to do. I remember one of the first audiobooks I listened to was Daisy Jones and the Six, which is one of my all-time favorite books. And I'm listening to it, and like you said, I'm like, oh my gosh, I need to highlight this. And I didn't have it. So I actually went back and bought it and had to do a reread just to go back and annotate it because I'm like, I love it so much. But there are some things that you just connect to on a deeper level, and those are the things that I'm like, tab, tab, like I completely get that. And I also want to say, because when you said like annotating is sacrilege, even though annotating does really mean that you wrote in it, to me, if you tab books, I mean it's a form of annotation for me. Like being able to like tab them and go back, because some people won't even do that, right? They're like scared that the titles will mess up the pages. So give yourself some credit because sometimes that's all I'm doing. Some books that are like so filled up, I'm like, there might not even be any writing in it.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

That's good to know, right? Like, I don't have to write in it, it's okay. I can still just tab it and tab it up, and it'll be good. Absolutely. And so now I'm curious, you mentioned rereading, right? So, like I did that with, or I might do that, I should say. I don't reread books. And I a lot of it has to do with one, there's so many good books that I can read that I'm like, I want to read that next. I'm a mood reader, and so yeah, I just like I'm I'm always on to the next when I finish a book. But I think about the books that I like five-starred in 2020 or 2021, and I am not that same person or that same reader as I was then. And so I get nervous that I'll be like judging past Alicia for like what she five-starred. I'm like, oh God, how dare you do that? Like, there are so many better books. But one that I'm considering doing is Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan, because I started it on Audible. Nope. I started it on Spotify, and then I ran out of my 15 hours because I had already listened to another book. But I own it on physical. And so then I just started wherever I left off and I blew through the book in one day, right? So listening to like 70% of it, and then I was like, well, I have to finish it now because I need to know what happens. And that's one where like I would want to go back and like maybe write in or maybe heart some things or like some little stickers. But there are a lot of options for people. So if people are like, okay, what all goes into annotating, can you give us like a breakdown of what are some options for us from very basic to maybe a little more of your extreme stuff that you have? I know you do like full cover page redesigns. Like, I just think it's so fascinating. So from the very basic all the way up through the more extensive stuff.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

So I love your like idea with Before I Let Go, because I've I haven't read that one, but I've heard great things about it. So I think a reread is a really safe place to start with an annotation because you know that you love it, especially if you're considering a rereading it. And then two, you already know kind of the elements that you would want to pull going into it. So a reread is a great way to start. Like you said, I do like the whole, like I usually make an annotation key at the front, and then I'll like put things that go with the book, and I put what each tab means. And a lot of people think I do that at the beginning, but that's actually the very last thing I do because I don't actually know what the elements are until I actually read it. So like I'll like pick colors and things, and then I'll find out I'm like, oh, I actually need this color for something else now because of that. So like the title, me picking out what I'm gonna annotate is like kind of a process that I go through as I read the book. So when I first started annotating, every time I picked up a book, I used the same colors each and every time. Every time they meant the same thing. So pink was always love, blue was sad, green was angry, orange was like me making connections. And that was really easy across books because I'd grab a book and when I saw the colors, I knew what they meant. It was a lot easier for my mom back then, too, because she reads most of my books. So she would know like pink, blah, blah, blah. And then one day I came to her and I said, Hey, um, I decided to change my annotation style and I'm gonna match all the tabs to the color of the cover, and each time they're gonna mean something different. And she's just looking at me like, and why would you do that? And honestly, it was more about me and like the aesthetic of it. Like I've been very into like anything I love romanticizing it. So I'm like, you know what'd be fun if I bought all these different color tabs. Actually, I I actually started buying the different colors because I would run out of pink so much because it was love. So then I would be buying like all these sets of tabs just to get the pink, and I'd have a stack of this many that I didn't need for the pink. So that's actually why I started. So, but then it became more of an aesthetic feel. But like I said earlier, I feel like if you just want to start out, just put the tabs in there. There's nothing wrong with that. Like you're able to reference back to whatever you want to see and like find things easily. Adding in pencil, for me, I like pen, highlighter, anything I can find at this point. But there are people that you know really want to make sure their books are still in good condition. One tip I have is to turn to the back of the book and use like the acknowledgements page to test out pens to see how they're going to like are they gonna bleed through? Are they too dark? Because that's happened to me a lot. Like, I'll pick up a highlighter and I think it's gonna be like a nice light blue and it's actually very dark. And I'm just like, so do I commit and mess up the whole book? Quote unquote, or do I switch and now there's just one random dark line and the rest are lighter? So I like to use that acknowledgments page just to see like what I'm getting into. One of my newer favorite things to do is put like the little emoji reaction stickers in, like, it's so funny to me, like to be turning and just see like the little emoji of whatever I was feeling. So it's kind of fun to get like crafty with it. I told somebody, I feel like at this point, reading for me is kind of like making a scrapbook, especially the ones I like. They become like this page of like stickers and Spotify codes, like with playlists and like I have like the mini Polaroid camera. So like I'll print out pictures that remind me of the book and like stick them in. There's a whole world where you can start out very simple, but it can get very extra really fast. Really fast.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Really extra. I mean, and and right, like that's your choice as the reader. You get to decide what that looks and feels like. And I was talking to a friend about annotating, and she was like, I don't know, it feels like homework. But I like how you described it, that it's more like scrapbooking, that it's more of like this is part of the hobby, rather than, oh no, I'm doing a whole report on this, and I have to annotate every single book a certain way, whether it's like for my Instagram or for whatever. Like, no, it's about you enjoying the book however you see fit, that there's no one right way to do it. And so I really like that you take that approach because I think that a lot, especially as bookish content creators, this can feel almost like a job sometimes. And yes, for some it might be, right? Like you might get sponsorships or you might have like collaborations. But the actual reading, I feel like we have to try to hold so much to this is for fun. Otherwise, I think that gets reflected in our work. What are your thoughts or feelings around that?

SPEAKER_00 17:02

And I definitely agree. And I feel like most of us, even the ones that are in sponsorships and doing these things, you didn't get into it for that. Probably not. Like you probably got into it because you loved reading and there weren't people around you that maybe showed that same love and you wanted to find your space, right? And I feel like as you make content and you get further away from that, it kind of like loses its joy. So I think staying close to that is important. And I mean, you make a good point, like we talked about before that I started my Etsy shop. And this has been the worst reading period I've ever had because I'm so into the research phase and I'm so like obsessed with it that that's all I've been doing. So I've only read last month, I maybe read six books when usually my average is like 10 or 12, which I mean, six books is still good, but it's a lot less for me. So I'm like, I've got to find a balance with that and figuring out how to still keep that joy while still trying to create things and still trying to post content and things. So I agree that is it's very important. And then something else you said about that it can feel more like school to annotate. I'm like, I think I'm sure it could, because like you said in college, like we're highlighting all the things, but the things I'm writing in this, these books, it's so non-academic, it's not even funny. I don't know if you've seen like my reels where I say, Oh, you're so smart because you annotate and like quotations, and then like I just start flipping through the annotations. And it's literally me like writing hot in the margins, or yes, or like I'm like, it's so not serious that I feel like that's why I don't associate it with like being academic because I'm writing literally the goofiest things, especially if it's a book I know my mom getting like sorry, mom, in the comments, like in the margins. Like it's so lighthearted, but also so me. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 19:01

I love that though. Like you get to just like have fun with it, and I think that really is the point, right? Is like one, you get to decide, but then also make it your own. What are those inner thoughts that you have as you're reading it? I even think about like some of the stuff that I will highlight in my Kindle, and I'll highlight and like make a note. Now I want to go back because like there was one where I think I just did like the dead emoji, like the skeleton emoji, just because I was like, oh my god, I'm dead. This is wild. Like, I can't believe that this happened, or like the things I'll highlight and be like, oh, be for real right now, right? Like those are my inner thoughts, and that's what I write. And so thinking about that and then taking that into the annotation, I feel like is one makes it more like you, but then gives you a lot less pressure for it to be like this is my entire thought piece on this one line, right? Like it doesn't have to be like that. This is not acid. Right. No, thank you. So you mentioned a few of the like basic like tabs, you mentioned some pens. Is there anything for those that are like kind of wanting to try it and test it out? I know, oh my goodness, I was homeschooled and so we used erasable pens nonstop. And I'm like just now starting to get a little more into erasable pens because I have a rocket book notebook where you can erase it and then write in it again, stuff like that. So I'm like just now starting to get back into some erasable pens. But what are some ones or products that you're really, really liking? And I know you do have, or at least you have, and you can let me know if I'm incorrect here, some starter packs for annotating for people who are like, where do I begin? Like, you have all of those stuff like here's a pack to get started. But what are some of those products that we might want to consider? One, if we're like, I don't know if I want to do this long term, I want to test it out, and then I want to be able to like erase it if I need to. What are some of those products first?

SPEAKER_00 21:10

So I don't really have a recommendation for an erasable pen just because I don't know if I'm also a teacher, so I'm like very like it's just final. Like we just scribble on things and go. So like I have the pens that I grade with, and those are my favorite ones for writing, but they're not actually good for annotating, even though I use them anyways. So don't actually, that's not actually a recommendation. However, any pen that has like a fine tip that doesn't give off a lot of like pigment is good because I like the paper mate enjoys, but they're so pigmented that they bleed through. Versus I have, I don't even know what they're called. They're like a gray pen and they have different colors, but they're very thin tipped. So I've started using those in the copies of books that I'm selling because I know they're not gonna bleed through for other people. Whereas I don't mind them. I don't want that to be in somebody else's copy that they're buying for me. But you're right, I do have like kind of like a starter kit because most of the tabs that you buy, they come in like a set of 20, right? And that's like a commitment. But I have like different annotation bookmarks and it has laid out just the colors and then like what each color means. And then I can also edit that for people. So I had a friend of mine, she likes romance. And she was like, hey, can you take off? Like I have a space for additional at the bottom. So she's like, hey, can you take change additional to funny and then change something else to I don't like that? And I'm like, sure. And she told me what color she wanted. So she wanted all pink. And I'm like, okay, I just did different color pinks for her and like matched it to the vibe of what she wanted. And it was really fun because we're in a book club together. So the last book that we read together, she brought in her bookmark with her tabs in it. And she's not an annotator. This was actually one of the first books that she annotated. And she was just talking about like how easy the process was for her. And it made me feel good because I was like, I'm happy that I made it more accessible where it's not daunting. Because I think when you see the tabs and it's like, okay, but what do I do? And I'm like, okay, just put this tab. You feel sad? Just lay this tab down and you can write it, or you can not. So I do have like just genre bookmarks, I have romance, thriller, horror, general, fantasy, and dark romance. And then I actually just released some newer ones for summer. So like I have a summer slasher kind of like nod to like the horror slasher camp vibes. And then I made one for summer reading. So like just kind of like the cutesy girly summer vibes. So really excited about those because those are like things that I love. So just getting to share that with other people has been really cool. And then I do have like a more advanced kit that comes with the annotation reaction stickers that have like the emojis that you can add in, and then like a book review sticker that you can put at the end when you're finished. So there are just different ways to be able to try it out just to see if you like it. Another thing, you can always get a book secondhand. So if like you don't want to write in your new copy, like get a book that you know is cheaper at the store and be able to try it out. So there's definitely ways.

unknown 24:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

I mean, if you go to the thrift shop, there's like tons of books there that you can use to like test out pens and stuff like that. Or even I'm thinking about like your free little library that you have locally, right? There might be a book in there that's like, no one is gonna pick this up. Like, let me let me test some things out in there. So yeah, it's so funny you mentioned like the different categories. I feel like I'm such a chaotic annotator at the moment. Like, I want to try to like, we'll see. Maybe I'll get better. I don't know. Who knows? We'll get an update soon. And this is just how my brain works that I don't use the same color for the same vibes or the same things. I just go down the line of like using each of them equally. And I'm like, all right, next tab, or it's gonna be like just underneath the other one, even if it's on the opposite page, and then I'll just highlight with the other one. Like, it's like it's so chaotic. And like, if you saw it, you'd be like, what does any of this mean? It means nothing, it just means I like this spot, or they'd be fucking right like a total. Yes. So, yes, you're giving me lots of ideas, especially with the like starter packs of ways to like, all right, let me just get something and then test it out and see how it feels, and then I can go from there and then make decisions how I want to.

SPEAKER_00 25:43

I love that. Just the because I was like, no, this can't be that chaotic. And then you said I'm like, actually, you know what? That is a little, that is a little off, but I still support it.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

Like, we'll support. It's a start, right? Yeah, it's okay. And it's just just a matter of I have these tabs, and I think personally, I'm like, I don't want two pinks in a row. I want to be the next, like, it's just how my brain works.

SPEAKER_00 26:07

I'm like, it needs to be nope, it's wild. You know what? It actually though, aesthetically, I bet that's gorgeous because I have some books that like I'll get started thinking I'll need a certain topic or whatever, and I'll only end up using a few of them. So there just might be a couple, but your way, it's all throughout. You don't have to worry about that.

SPEAKER_01 26:29

Still a little chaotic because I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, but it's okay. I mean I love it. Oh, that's so fun. So you mentioned that you have these different categories that people can like start for your starter packs. Are there any books that are like this doesn't really work for annotating? And then ones that are like, I highly recommend that you annotate these kinds of books.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

The hard thing about it is I don't know that I don't want to annotate it until I go into it. So like I remember I started reading, what is that book called? Before the coffee gets cold. I don't know if you've read it, it's not romance, but anyways, I thought it was gonna be so fun in the first chapter, I'm like, oh my goodness. And I'm like, oh, this is so deep. And then after that, I hated it. Like really hated it. And I'm like, I'm not gonna keep annotating this because I'm not having a good time. And I actually end up switching to audio just to get through it. So any book that you're obviously not loving, unless you want to hate annotate it, that's also kind of mean. Like, especially if like they're just making you angry, and it's like you're just using all of your angry tasks that actually support that. But just a book that you're genuinely not enjoying, because you're not gonna enjoy the process of it. Any books that you love or like, especially ones that are very like hyped up that you're gonna be able to like enjoy too, those are good ones to start with. One of my favorite books that I've annotated was A Love Song for Ricky Wild by Tia Williams. I had the best time with that one, like making all of the tabs match the color to the book. I don't know if you've seen it, but it's like blue and it's purple and it's yellow and it's gorgeous. And like getting to choose all the tabs for that, just like that whole experience, top tier. It's hard because I feel like that answer depends on the reader and like what kind of books you do enjoy. But like whatever I typically went and enjoy, I make sure that I get ready to annotate it because more than likely I'm gonna enjoy it.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

That's really interesting. So, do you have like a particular spot like that you're typically reading that it makes sense to be annotating? Because like I know for me, I'm reading on the go constantly. My kids are in MMA literally five days a week. And so my husband and I switch off because we we have two boys. They're oh my goodness, by the time this goes live, they're gonna be 11 and 8, which is so weird. But they're 11 and 8, and they're both in MMA, and like one goes four nights a week, the other one goes three nights a week, but it ends up being five total, which is just a lot. My husband and I switch it off. But like, if I'm there reading, one I don't want people like the other parents to be judging me based on like what's on the cover of my book. So I'll sometimes read on my phone or I'll read on my Kindle. But is there like a spot that you're like, all right, I got my annotation stickers and my stuff here, my pens. And like behind me, I created this little like couch spot and it's right next to my bookshelf. And I just need like a little side table now with like my stuff. But my kids mostly sit there when they're they need to do work, and I'm like, you just sit and read, stop bugging your brother, and I'm gonna finish working, right? Like typical mom moments. But yeah, do you have like a spot and like your little station, or do you take it on the go with you? What does that kind of look like for you?

SPEAKER_00 29:54

My spot has recently changed. So I have like my reading nook area, which is in another room now that I've started doing Etsy more and I'm like, I need like a space for all my machines. So that's where I am currently. And because I've been using like the tabs to make other people's sets, my tabs have moved in here too. And then my pens have as well, because this is kind of like my new area. So usually if I start a book to annotate, I'll just grab whatever I'm gonna be using and then it kind of stays with the book. So wherever my current read is, I do not know the set of tabs I'm using is like my bookmark, and then the pen is also just kind of thrown in there too, because I'm just using one pen at the moment. But yeah, I do kind of miss having it in there where I was reading it because I'm like, I'll sit down and I'm like, oh, my tabs where I need, or like yesterday, I was reading outside and I ran out of whatever color meant love, and I'm like, fine. So then I got up from my spot and came back in to go get it. So and then I just grabbed several. I'm like, okay, this one looks like it matches in this one, so that way I don't have to come back in. So it's kind of shifted, so I just have to go find them. But I will take things on to go. Like we went on vacation and I picked two sets of tabs that kind of matched that would kind of go with all of the books that I bought just in case I finished or I didn't feel like reading something. I wasn't bringing just too many where it didn't make sense. And then I think I just instead of having like all of the pens, I might have taken one. Actually, one of the books, I don't think I I think when I got back, I actually highlighted because I was like, I didn't feel like having to keep up with the like pens and things. So I waited until I got back and kind of like reflected over it and went with it. So if I'm on the go, it's usually not as extravagant. And like you said, I don't need everybody at the airport knowing like what's going on in this book. So a lot of times, especially if it's like something spicy, it's probably on my phone. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Exactly. Oh my goodness. A couple of years ago, I was at the um stupidly, I'm like shaking my head at myself. I was really burnt out and had chest pains. And so I went to the hospital because anxiety, hello. And even like the doctor was a younger doctor, and she was like, So do you know about anxiety? And I was like, Yeah, I'm aware. Thank you. She's like, Do you know about it? Like, I'm like, yeah. She's like, you need to dial it back. And I was like, thanks. But I'm sitting there waiting to be seen, and there's this lady next to me, and I'm I've got my Kindle with me, and I now have lots of stickers on the back that are like clearly not like y'all don't need to know what's in here, but y'all can guess, right? What's in here? And she looks over at me, and I live in the Bible belt, and she was like, Are you reading the Bible? And I was like, No.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

Like, what's my why would she ask you that?

SPEAKER_01 32:55

Like, no, this that is not the kind of stuff I read in my book or in my Kindle. Like to each their own tone. But yeah. So that's true. They don't need to know what I'm reading. But lately I've kind of been almost just to like push the button a little bit, especially since living in the around the Bible belt. And I mean, there's like literally five churches in a one mile radius anyway from me. And thankfully it's a little less conservative, even with all the churches, because I live right outside of one of the bases, the military bases. And so there's a lot of military families and they come and go depending on where they're stationed. And so lately I've been a lot of my queer books that I'm reading physical copies of, I will bring with me and be like clearly reading two women, and I do not care. Like, y'all go see it. I'm like, I will own it. Right. And so that's something I've been kind of like pushing the button a little bit. But yeah, I mean, if I'm reading about, like I was telling a friend about the book Jumping a Shark by Ash Raven, which is like, this chick is definitely screwing a shark. Like, like, I won't do that to myself.

SPEAKER_00 34:12

I love it. And it's so funny because like the book girly said, get it. Like you, and then the rest of the world is just like, what is this?

SPEAKER_01 34:22

Yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:23

That's like we were somewhere, and I've like clicked on my Kindle app, and my husband's like, What is that? And I'm like, um, this is ice planted barbarians. And he's like, Is that an alien? I'm like, Yeah, you know, like, everybody doesn't have to know about this. However, this is what this is what we're doing.

SPEAKER_01 34:42

Yeah, I feel like my husband constantly I'll be like, Babe, I read this book, I gotta tell you about it. And he's like, Oh my god, please don't. He's just like, oh no. And I'm like, no, but like, I gotta tell you about this because nobody's gonna understand. And like, yes, the bookish community does, but even some of those, I'm like, I don't even want them to know that I'm reading this sometimes. Like, like, put some respect on my name.

SPEAKER_00 35:09

Like, right. You know where I messed up when I first started my book Instagram. I was like, yeah, this is fun. And I just like shared stuff, and then people I worked with started following me. I'm like, I did not think this thing. Or like I have family that follows me. I'm like, listen, at this point, I'm just gonna do me. And you came here. I did not really invite you. Like, I don't know how we got to this point.

SPEAKER_01 35:38

Yep. Oh my goodness. It's like I was talking to my mother-in-law on our holiday. We do a holiday with her, like a family vacation. I just call it a trip, but it's it's not a vacation. Kids are involved, right? Like, it is not a vacation. And so we go on this trip with her every year in June. And I was talking about these romance books I was reading, because I had like five that I brought with me, because who knows how many books I'm gonna read in a week, even though I have my Kindle and my phone is anyway. Y'all know that's probably an option. And so her boyfriend was like, Oh, you're just reading smut, like that's just porn. And I was and my husband goes, I don't care. I'm benefiting. Like, she can read whatever the hell she wants to read. And I'm like, everybody stop, Koei. Just get out of here. Like, that's your mother. What is wrong with you? I didn't think about that part. So his mother's just standing there, like, okay, that's I mean, we got two kids. Y'all know what happened.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

Like, right. I just love that your husband stood up for you though. Yeah. Because some people just don't they don't get it. And mom would definitely stand up for me, but at the same time, he's like, I don't know how you read this. My favorite thing to do is just bring him a book and like no context. And I'm like, here you go. And he'll read it. He'll like read two lines and just give it back to me. Like, you didn't even finish it. Yeah. And he's like, I didn't.

unknown 37:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:10

And you will, I saw a note. Yeah. So I'm curious, like, does your husband read as well? And what does that kind of like dynamic look like for you guys?

SPEAKER_00 37:21

He says he's not a reader because he solely does audio books, but I'm telling him, I'm like, audiobooks, that is reading. But he is pretty much exclusively a self-help guy. Like, I there was a graphic, it's like 50 self-help books that you should read, and he's like counting all the ones that he read, and it was most of them. And like, I'll do something like you mentioned anxiety, like having these things, and he's like, Oh, I have a book you should read for that. And I'm like, I'll just silently struggle. Right. Like, there have been a few that he's talked me into, but typically no. He will read some books that I recommend. So it's just it's funny getting him into like these different things because it's just not his comfort zone. But yeah, that is an audiobook king. He actually got me into audiobooks. Like I didn't read any at first, and he's like, No, you should do this. And he got me into reading a self-help book, of all things. But we do have like some content, like we'll where we'll I just talk about different books that we've read and stuff. And so yeah, it's fun. But yeah, he's he's the audiobook king.

SPEAKER_01 38:26

I love that. Yeah, my husband reads mostly middle school books just because those are the stories he likes and he enjoys. And like, I do not shame him at all. Like that he's shopping in the kids' section of Barnes and Noble. Like, I do not care. And I'm constantly like, read what you want, read what you enjoy, do you, boo? Like, and so he's like, right now he's reading, I want to say it's the orphans and the ogress, the ogress and the orphans, or something like that. And he's like, I swear this guy's a dragon, like I know the mayor's a dragon. I was like, Did you find out yet? And he's like, No, but like he's super suspicious, and I'm like, skinwalkers and it's all like it's his whole thing. And so, like, I think it's it's just so fun to like hear him excited about reading as an adult, but like reading what he enjoys, and then also being able to use that with our kids to like show that you can read whatever you want and still enjoy it. So if people are like, Yes, I need to check out the annotation kits, I want to check out your Instagram. Where can people find you, get to know you, hang out with you, all that fun stuff?

SPEAKER_00 39:30

Absolutely. So I'm books with Daish on Instagram. There's a period between books and with. And then Etsy is also books with Daish. So on Instagram, it's mostly like fun stuff, like I share, kind of like behind the scenes, but also a lot of like just reviews, recommendations, a lot of book content. And then on Etsy, I have the annotation kits for sale, but also annotate books for people. So currently I have well, as of now, I have eight books that are ready to go, and they're like books that I love that I've like written in on margins, tabbed, added all the things to that people can buy. Or you can do like just a kit where you can try it out yourself. And then I also have like stickers and other fun stuff. And I've also started a little bit on YouTube. Props to you because long form content is a like such a different thing than short form. I'm so new to it and like I'm so used to like short, making it fast, like cutting all the little lulls, making it it's like 10, 20 second little piece, and like now having to like edit long videos. That's hard. But also books with Daisha on there too. And I'm showing more like behind the scenes. Like, I actually just for the people that can see on YouTube, I just made well, I'm currently working on a vlog that shows like me getting my office together and like my journey as becoming a new small business owner. So yeah, you can find me on all those places.

SPEAKER_01 40:54

Awesome. And we'll make sure that we have those linked in the show notes, YouTube description, all the places. So if y'all are watching while doing other things or listening while I know I used to listen to podcasts in the shower, so like do you boo, wherever you are listening, we got those links for you as well. That way you can make sure to grab those and check out Deja's Etsy YouTube, all of that. Thank you so much for being on. I so appreciate you. Thank you so much for having me.