The thoughts books give you deserve somewhere to live.
Marginal is a private writing space for the thoughts books provoke. Write them down. Revisit them over time. Share them with the one or two people who get it.
A nod to marginalia, the notes readers have always made in the margins of their books.
Free to start. No credit card required.
The Kite Runner
DIALOGUE
Thoughts on The Kite Runner
Say exactly what you mean. Nothing more.
Marginalia lived in the margins of a page. That space was always finite. Marginal carries that same discipline, each Idea type has a word limit not to restrict you but to focus you. Most users find, without trying, that they became better writers.
Every book deserves a record of what it did to you.
When you finish a book, where do your thoughts go? Marginal gives them a structured home. Five Idea types, from raw emotional reaction to careful literary analysis, each one a different dimension of your response to what you read. Your Thoughts on a book lock permanently when you finish it. A record, not a draft.
Up to 350 words · Free
Your immediate, unfiltered reaction to what you just read. Talk to the characters, yourself and to whoever reads this someday.
I came to this book expecting to be moved and instead found myself arguing with it. The idea that the universe conspires to give you what you want. I just don't know if I believe that. I think about people who want things just as badly as Santiago and never get them. And yet, the desert got to me.
— on The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Share your thoughts with one person. Not everyone.
Marginal has no public feed. No follower count. No performance. When you want someone to see what a book made you think, you choose them specifically. They receive it as the deliberate, intimate thing it is.
Thoughts on Beloved · Toni Morrison · Locked June 2026.
Hindsight · 9 months later.
I wrote that Morrison's prose felt relentless when I finished this. Reading that now I think I meant something different. Not relentless. Inevitable. Like watching water find its level. I understand Sethe differently now than I did then. That understanding took nine months to arrive.
Your thoughts grow with you.
A book you finished two years ago means something different to you now. Hindsights are scheduled reflections added to your locked Thoughts at three months, nine months, and then every year. A record not just of the book but of how you change in relation to it.
Worth keeping. Worth sharing.
Marginal turns your reading into quiet, beautiful artifacts. A card for the book in your hands, a closing note for the one you just finished, and once a year, the whole of your reading life.
Annual Report
Every December 5thShareable Artifacts
Currently Reading
AfterwordSimple, honest pricing.
Start free. Upgrade when you want more.
Free
$0
Forever free. No credit card required.
- Dialogue and Analysis Idea types
- Up to 3 friend connections
- Default Hindsight schedule
- All shareable artifacts
- Annual reading report
- Book tracking with four shelf statuses
Premium
$43.99
per year, that's $3.67/month.
Plus applicable tax.
- Everything in Free
- All five Idea types including Character Maps, Personal Connections, and Chapter Summaries
- Up to 50 friend connections
- Custom Hindsight scheduling
Cancel anytime. Your writing is always yours.
FAQ
Yes. Everything you write in Marginal is completely private by default. Nobody sees your Thoughts unless you explicitly choose to share a specific Idea with a specific friend. We cannot read your writing. Your friends cannot see it unless you share it with them directly.
Your writing is always yours. If you cancel Premium, your Character Maps, Personal Connections, and Chapter Summaries become read-only. You can still see everything you wrote, you just cannot add to it until you resubscribe. Your Dialogue and Analysis remain fully editable on the free tier. Nothing is deleted.
Yes. Cancel directly from your account settings or from the billing portal. No questions asked. Your Premium access continues until the end of your current billing period.
Marginal is a responsive web app that works on any device in your browser. A dedicated mobile app is planned for a future version.
You choose exactly which Idea to share and exactly which friend to share it with. There is no public feed. Nobody stumbles onto your writing accidentally. Sharing is always a deliberate, directed act.
When you lock your Thoughts on a finished book, Marginal schedules reflection prompts at three months, nine months, and then annually. These are Hindsights, 100-word entries where you choose to write about the book again from wherever you are now. A record of how you change in relation to what you read.
You can export all your data at any time from your account settings. We send you a complete download of everything you have written in Marginal.
Anyone who reads and has something to say about it. Not serious readers only. The person who reads one book a year and wants to remember what it meant to them is as valid a Marginal user as someone who reads fifty.
The most interesting thoughts you have about a book are the ones you never say out loud.
Start free. Upgrade when you want more.
Free to start. No credit card required.