Book lovers, try this: pick one of your already read books- I’m talking hardcovers and paperbacks – and peruse through the pages. Find anything tucked in there?
Let us talk about those. Not all bookmarks are born in stationery aisles. In fact, most of them never intended to be bookmarks at all.
Just the other day, I was browsing my bookshelf and pulled out a well-loved novel. I opened it, and there it was—a shopping receipt tucked between the pages. Instantly, I was taken back to the moment I last read it.
This is not a new occurrence. At least, not to readers.
Open an already-read book or a current read, and you're just as likely to find a piece of paper towel or a business card wedged between the pages.
A crumpled receipt, a birthday card or even a boarding pass—these accidental bookmarks hold not just our page, but snippets of our lives.
Take, for instance, a Citi Hoppa bus ticket wedged between chapters of a book, it’s more than just a placeholder; it’s a flashback to the day you almost missed your stop because the book was just that good.
Or the hairpin, hastily plucked from your bun during a suspenseful chapter cliffhanger—it still holds a few strands of hair and a moment of complete literary immersion.
There’s the leaf, pressed and dry, once green and vibrant, when you took your book to the park and thought, I’ll just sit here for five minutes. Hours passed, and now that fragile leaf is a pagekeeper and a timestamp of a perfect, quiet afternoon.
A toothpick or floss to remind you of the delicious meal you enjoyed while reading.
Even movie tickets tell a story—who you were with when you went to see the film adaptation and whether it lived up to the book (or was at least worth the popcorn).
Then there are the love notes, doodled napkins and forgotten to-do lists. They sneak into your books and wait patiently to surprise you again, like little time capsules pressed between paper and prose.
These “bookmarks” were not designed to hold your place, but they do. And when you find them months—or even years—later, they hold more than just a spot in a story.
They hold a version of you. A timestamp. A tiny memory that rides quietly in the spine of a novel.
Most of the time, it is just easier to grab the nearest object and tuck it in. But these everyday items, chosen in haste, become odd little relics of your reading life. And in a raw, unfiltered way—that is beautiful.
Of course, beyond these unlikely page-keepers, we now live in an era of creativity.
Crocheted bookmarks, custom print-outs with inspirational quotes and even DIY designs are becoming common. Readers are embracing convenience, yes—but also imagination.
The age of relying solely on fancy stationery for bookmarks is slowly fading. In its place, a new tradition is forming—one where even the most random item becomes part of the story.
