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I have two problems I am trying to solve: 1) temporary book marks that I don't have to go searching for where I put them (e.g., Post-it Note tabs) and 2) a way of easily pulling tightly packed books off of high shelves.

I have several cookbooks with bound in ribbons. These obviously solve the 1st problem, and allowing the ribbons to trail over the edge of the shelf solves the 2nd, providing an easy way to grab the book.

I've found these online:

https://www.amazon.com/B...n%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-5

And there are these, which would work with books with narrower spines:

https://www.amazon.com/D...122&sr=8-22&th=1

Has anyone added these or similar to any of their books? Have you been satisfied with them?

These are a great idea!  I would have never thought of it.

I've decided to give them a try. I'll report back once I've tried them out.

I'm looking forward to hearing what you think. I love cookbooks with ribbon bookmarks. So do the kittens I foster!

This is the product I ordered: https://www.amazon.com/B...n%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-5

They are good quality and as described. Absolutely no complaints about quality or description and at 10 sets for $15 a good value. Each set is 5 ribbons of various colors attached to a leatherette tab about 1 3/16" in diameter. The idea is that you slip the leatherette tab into the space between the book binding and cover spine.

First problem -- about half of cookbooks I have, the book binding is actually glued to the cover spine. I was able to slip one of the ribbon sets easily into The Food Lab, but not The Complete America's Test Kitchen. There, I worked out that I could insert a paring knife and open a space to insert the tab. This 'hack' failed on The Essential New York Times; I don't know what glue they used, but I would sure like to know so I could use it on my next home repair.

Second problem -- the tabs will only fit in a reasonably thick cookbook. Ottolenghi Flavor is just barely wide enough with diligence and patience; The Wok: Recipes and Techniques was too narrow.

Third Problem -- for upper shelves, I was hoping the ribbons would be long enough to stick out the bottom of the book and trail off the edge of the shelf, providing a grab hold to drag the book off the shelf. The ribbons aren't quite long enough for this with most large cookbooks that will accomodate the leatherette tab. But a workaround occurred to me: just as reading left to right versus right to left is a cultural convention, so to is the binding of bookmark ribbons into the top of the book. It turns out they work exactly the same when you insert them at bottom of the book. When you do that, you can leave a 1" long loop of ribbon trailing out the bottom of the book, which is a perfect grab loop to hang off the edge of the shelf!

My conclusions: I think loose ribbons or spools of ribbon from a craft store are probably the best solution. You can glue them in if you have access to the spine and leave them loose if not. And you can decide how many for any particular book. And you can decide what color or colors of ribbons you want. Here's a loose ribbon product from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/d...2dDbGljaz10cnVl&th=1

Fyretigger, thank you for taking the time to post all the info/updates on this topic...I was considering the leather tab style until I read your latest post and then of course it occurred to me - what about paperpack books?  I am now ordering the 40 ribbon set from the latest amazon product link you provided :)