A three-minute post-reading sort
Separate Clues, Feelings, and Keepers in Reading Notes
Give each note one job before you add detail: Clue for something the book may resolve, Felt for your own reaction, Keep for an idea worth carrying forward, or Discuss for a question that needs another reader. If two jobs compete, split the note into two rows.
Mixed notes are hard to scan because a prediction, an emotional response, and a durable idea ask for different next actions. A small paper grid keeps those jobs separate without requiring a detailed summary of the book.
Set up
Draw four columns and keep the book closed
Label the columns Keep, Felt, Clue, and Discuss. Work from your existing tabs or rough notes first. Keeping the book closed makes this a sorting pass instead of an accidental reread.
Pass 1
Classify the job, not the topic
A note about the same character could be a Clue if it predicts a reveal, Felt if it changed your trust, or Discuss if you want another reader's interpretation. Choose the job you expect the note to do next.
- Keep — revisit the idea after the book is finished.
- Felt — preserve your reaction at that moment.
- Clue — check whether the book later confirms or overturns it.
- Discuss — bring the question to another reader.
Pass 2
Split notes that contain two different jobs
Do not force a mixed note into one box. Turn “I stopped trusting her; was the letter planted?” into a Felt row about trust and a Clue row about the letter. Each row can point to the same page.
Pass 3
Add only enough context to find the moment
Use a chapter or page plus a short cue in your own words. Avoid copying passages into the grid. The location finds the evidence; the cue preserves why you cared.
Privacy check
Choose what can leave your private page
Keep and Felt rows can stay private. Share a Discuss row only after removing personal context that the other reader does not need. Mark a Clue as spoiler-safe only if it does not reveal later knowledge.
Stop rule
Leave uncertain rows unsorted
If a note has no clear future job, place a question mark beside it and stop. The grid should make useful differences visible; it should not manufacture certainty or turn every reaction into a permanent record.