Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Do You Read the Notes In Nonfiction Books?

User avatar
SonjaMarie
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 5688
Joined: August 2008
Location: Vashon, WA
Contact:

Post by SonjaMarie » Mon September 8th, 2008, 4:45 pm

That's why I always scan the notes for the chapter to find one with actual info and remember what number it is.

SM
The Lady Jane Grey Internet Museum
My Booksfree Queue

Original Join Date: Mar 2006
Previous Amount of Posts: 2,517
Books Read In 2014: 109 - June: 17 (May: 17)
Full List Here: http://www.historicalfictiononline.com/ ... p?p=114965

User avatar
princess garnet
Bibliophile
Posts: 1797
Joined: August 2008
Location: Maryland

Post by princess garnet » Mon September 8th, 2008, 11:39 pm

I'll finish a chapter and then turn to the 'Notes' section when I finish that chapter.

User avatar
Spitfire
Reader
Posts: 212
Joined: September 2008
Location: Canada

Post by Spitfire » Tue September 9th, 2008, 12:13 am

I actually like to read the notes first, before I read the book. So that when I come upon the word or term, I understand what is going on.
Only the pure of heart can make good soup. - Beethoven

User avatar
Margaret
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 2440
Joined: August 2008
Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Tue September 9th, 2008, 1:19 am

I do read the notes, and I greatly prefer footnotes. Sometimes all the really interesting stuff is in a note - but often it's just a page reference. I hate interrupting my train of thought while I'm reading to hunt for a note if there's nothing interesting there. But I'm always afraid I'll miss something really juicy by not looking!

If an author does do endnotes rather than footnotes, it's a huge help if the pages where the endnotes are listed include notations at the top showing what page numbers the notes belong with. It's also a huge help if the numbering doesn't start over at "1" with every new chapter. It drives me nuts hunting through the notes pages to find the note I want.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

User avatar
Julianne Douglas
Avid Reader
Posts: 429
Joined: August 2008
Location: Northern California

Notes are a great resource.

Post by Julianne Douglas » Tue September 9th, 2008, 9:16 pm

I always read the notes, especially if I'm doing research, because notes always alert me to other books and sources of information that I can pursue. Reading notes helps me find more information that is especially pertinent to what I am studying.
Julianne Douglas

Writing the Renaissance

User avatar
JaneConsumer
Reader
Posts: 125
Joined: August 2008
Location: U.S.
Contact:

Post by JaneConsumer » Tue September 9th, 2008, 11:15 pm

I usually read the notes whether I'm reading for pleasure or for research. But then I read everything, including the copyright, dedication, acknowledgments and author bio. You never know what you'll learn. :rolleyes: Like Gabaldon has a Ph.D in ecology and an MS in marine biology. Or like the author of Shantaram did time in prison for bank robbery.

But like the majority here, I prefer footnotes. They don't break the flow of my reading as much as endnotes do.

User avatar
Julianne Douglas
Avid Reader
Posts: 429
Joined: August 2008
Location: Northern California

Post by Julianne Douglas » Wed September 10th, 2008, 3:23 pm

JaneConsumer, I have a discussion on author bios going on right now over at my blog. Michelle Moran's been kind enough to give us some insights into hers!
Julianne Douglas

Writing the Renaissance

User avatar
Catherine Delors
Avid Reader
Posts: 399
Joined: August 2008
Location: Paris, London, Los Angeles
Contact:

Post by Catherine Delors » Wed September 10th, 2008, 4:30 pm

I second JaneConsumer: endnotes are maddening, they break the flow of reading!

Yet I always pay attention to them. I am reading Amanda Foreman's bio of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, and was wondering whether what AF writes about the "friendship" between Marie-Antoinette and Georgiana was supported by her research. Maybe newly discovered documents, unpublished letters between the two ladies, something exciting. So I went through the endnotes for this chapter really carefully. Well, no, nothing new there. :(

The reference to Marie-Antoinette may be a posthumous form of name-dropping.

User avatar
Volgadon
Compulsive Reader
Posts: 654
Joined: September 2008
Location: Israel
Contact:

Post by Volgadon » Thu September 11th, 2008, 1:00 pm

I always read the notes, very valuable. Whether footnotes or endnotes, each has plusses and minuses. Footnotes are easier on the flow, but it's easier to find what you are looking for when it's an endnote.

User avatar
Leyland
Bibliophile
Posts: 1042
Joined: August 2008
Location: Travelers Rest SC

Post by Leyland » Thu September 11th, 2008, 8:18 pm

I do read notes because they are part of the entire publication and serve an important supplemental purpose. If the information in the note warrants multiple references throughout the text, then it's more helpful to place them at the end in an easily referenced order. If the note is to support text only on a couple pages in order, then I'd prefer a footnote for ease of reference.

So, I'd like to have a mix of foots and ends.

Post Reply

Return to “Historical Nonfiction/Biography”