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I am an unrepentant book defacer. That is, I don't just read a book, I consume it. I underline words. I scribble notes in the margins. I add cross-references. I know this is considered abhorrent by some, but those people are wrong.
That said, I'm not an animal. And I am fortunate enough to have amassed a few collectible, niche publications that will inevitably increase in value. Those, I do not mark up. In those books, I use transparent "sticky notes." These have been around for a while, but I first discovered them at Muji in NYC. They're quite remarkable, depending on the lighting and paper, you'd swear that what you wrote is on the page itself. (Not so much in the example below, but you get the idea.)
However, there's a knack to writing on transparent post-it notes. Gel pins, which many people online say to use, are prone to smearing because the note is essentially a sheet of smooth plastic. Instead, I use regular old ballpoint pens. But, ballpoints don't write well on the notes unless the surface you're writing on is hard.
That's it, that's the tip, peel off a single note and stick it on the book's cover (assuming it's a hardback) or table, then write on it, then stick it on the page.
You're welcome.