Yesterday’s conversation was about the physicality of books, today, let’s talk about notebooks. Bookish people tend to like books with words already in them as well as books that are blank and waiting to be filled by their own hands. I know I do. You should see the shelf of notebooks I have collected over the years, oh wait! You can, sort of:
I couldn’t get all of them in the photo, the shelf stretches off to the left out of the frame for almost the same length that is in the photo. The vertical pile on the right are unused notebooks waiting their turn. You are looking up at them because they are on a high shelf in a closet. They are in a closet not because I don’t want them to be seen, but because I don’t have enough shelf space outside of the closet on which they might reside.
Sometimes I wish I had the foresight to buy all the same kind and size of notebook over the years because a regular and even shelf of notebooks seems like it would look so much more substantial. But people, knowing I like notebooks, have given them to me as gifts through the years in addition to the ones I’ve bought on a whim. Despite my longing for the elegance of regularity, I don’t have the heart to give any of the yet-to-be-used ones up to a charity shop. I console myself with how much personality my motley assortment has.
All that to lead up to this video in which the guy spends ten minutes comparing a Moleskine with a Leuchtturm 1917.
Ten minutes! It’s great in its notebook geekiness and has me wanting to give a Leuchtturm 1917 a try sometime especially since they have page numbers and come in a variety of colors.
Has anyone ever tried a Rhodia Webnotebook? They only come in all black or orange and black but the paper is reportedly luscious and likes fountain pens.
That’s enough rambling for one evening. Can you tell it’s Thursday and I am low on energy? Just one more thing, do you have a favorite brand of notebook?
I’ve always written in notebooks and have typically been drawn to certain color covers or designs. Now I realize there are so many subtleties to the notebooks! I loved the video…makes me want to go buy a few notebooks at the bookstore tonight!
boarding, I used to think there were only school notebooks and those blank books you can get at the bookstore and then I found out there is a whole world of notebooks out there to explore. It’s kind of overwhelming. After watching the video I wanted to go out an buy some new notebooks too!
Well, this geeky guy has just sold me a Leuchtturm, of which I haven’t even heard before reading your post. But as a notebook geek too myself, I’ve already started a new tab to the home page of Leuchtturm 1917 which listening to him compare M and a L. I’ve been a M user, jotting down every single movie I’ve seen and book read. Thanks for all these ‘accessories’ posts, Stefanie, you sure know what we like as book lovers. You know what, a few years ago before I started blogging, I was an enthusiastic crafter who had even learned to bind her own notebooks/journals.
Arti, I know, me too! Leuchtturm should give him some free notebooks or hire him as a spokesperson or something. I’ve used Moleskines too, they are nice, look good and have nice paper. Do you save y our ticket stubs in the pocket in the back? How fun to have made your own notebooks, seems you can get them just right for ultimate notebook pleasure
I have a weird relationship with notebooks. I love them as objects but have a hard time bringing myself to sully them with my unworthy scribblings. Pierre Belvedere is the local favourite; I have several, mostly blank.
But I can’t believe I watched the whole video. I so want a Leuchtturm!
Isabella, never having heard of Pierre Belvedere I went and looked them up, very nice. It also appears they have whole stores which is so wonderful. We don’t really have stationary stores here anymore, paper crafting stores, but not a store full of notebooks and writing paper. I’ve had a few notebooks through the years that were so beautiful I didn’t want to write in them. I couldn’t believe I watched the whole video either and yeah, now I really want a Leuchtturm!
I’m with Isabella … I have a hard time sullying them too … I have lots of lovely blank notebooks but make most notes on scrap paper I have in a clipboard OR on cheap notebooks I buy myself rather than the nice ones people give me. However, for work I use a specific spiral hard green covered notebook that I keep a running log of what I’m doing, what my colleague and I decide etc. I have several of them now BUT the challenge is, where was that decision? when did we discuss that? I need to index them!!
Just recently I’ve started using the notebook on my iPad more regularly when I’m out and about – I love the way it looks like an American legal pad – you know lined with yellow paper, tear off the top, style. I like the fact I can “jot” things down in it and then email it to myself and then copy and past from the email into a document.
But now, I really must start using the gorgeous silk covered notebook with the gold tassel a work friend gave me, oh, 7 or so years ago!
whisperinggums, I use my notebooks for diary keeping and have a couple that it took me 5+ years to get up the nerve to write in because they are so pretty and I didn’t want to “mess them up,” I think that’s why I liked cheap spiral notebooks for a while because they aren’t very pretty and so I couldn’t very well make them any uglier! That sounds like a nice app on your iPad and very useful. And oh yes, it sounds like it is time to use that beautiful notebook your friend gave you!
Once again we think alike … I don’t keep a diary any more but did through the 90s … And found it hard to use really nice notebooks for them. Do you go back and read your old diaries?
I don’t really go back and read my old diaries. I have read the ones from when I was a kid through high school but after that I’ve only read parts when I was trying to remember something in particular that happened.
Well, that’s useful isn’t it … But the main benefit of writing the diaries is, as I recollect t least, the cathartic one.
Oh most definitely. I always feel so much better after a diary writing session even if I wasn’t feeling particularly stressed beforehand. It’s a like a massage for the mind.
Massage for the mind … What a great way of describing something. I felt cathartic was too laden … That’s perfect.
Don’t even start me on notebooks! I haven’t watched the video (yet) because I hesitated not long ago between those 2 brands and bought a Moleskine after long, long tergiversations. Rhodia used to be the basic office staples, but now they’ve gone all upmarket it seems. Have you heard about Clairefontaine? They have no special feature, being for students mostly, but the paper quality is great.
Smithereens, you might change your mind and get a Leuchtturm next time instead of the Moleskine if you watch the video
Rhodia is pretty expensive so I don’t know that I will ever buy one, but maybe I will splurge someday. I have heard of Clairefontaine, they seem to have a good reputation among writers, nice paper and very affordable. I might have to try one myself sometime!
Now that I’ve watched the video, I feel terrible about this buying mistake!! Next time around I’ll be sure to buy a Leuchtturm too. Then about the Clairefontaine, it’d be my pleasure to send you one for the holidays (although it might arrive later). I get back to you by mail.
Smithereens, oh no! guess you’ll just have to write lots to get through all those Moleskines so you can try a Leuchtturm! And such a sweet offer! Thank you!
Thanks for posting that video, now I know how to pronounce Leuchtturm!
I wish I’d heard of them before I bought a whole pile of Moleskines on sale. I love the TOC and page number idea, though there is something to be said for structuring your notebook yourself. I see they also have a subect/date line at the top of every page, which I think I’d find annoying. Oh well, what matters is what goes in them, right? 
Sylvia, LOL, There is something to be said for structuring your notebook yourself, but I use mine as diaries and always have good intentions that drop by the wayside. I might be more likely to use an already present TOC and subject line for indexing purposes. I might have to try one just to find out. Clever way to keep your pen with your Moleskine. You are right, what matters most is what goes into the book
P.S. I have no problem keeping a pen with a medium Moleskine. I just slip it under the elastic on *top* of the book, catching the elastic with the pen clip. It stays put pretty well.
I do love notebooks, but I’m not picky! Anything with a nice cover is great by me. I seem though to be using too many at the moment. I have about four on the go, and keep forgetting where I left the notes I’m looking for!
Love your notebook collection, though, looks fab!
Litlove, Thanks! all those notebooks are years of diaries. I didn’t used to be all that picky with notebooks, I didn’t know there were options! But since I fell in love with fountain pens paper became important and suddenly I started to become picky. Four notebooks on the go? I would worry about misplacing the one I wanted at that moment.
I love notebooks too, but somewhere along the line I got really strict with myself and try VERY HARD not to accumulate them. I do need a new one, however, to continue writing down favorite recipes. Certain ones I like to hand-copy into a “kitchen notebook.” It’s the only place I really do anything like that. I kind of love it.
wherethereisjoy, you are so good to be able to not accumulate notebooks. My will power melts in their presence. I love your kitchen notebook idea. I wonder if James would find something like that useful? Will have to ask him!
I used to use nice blank journals to write down the books I read, but now I have converted to using Excel spreadsheets–not so pretty I’m afraid, but it does come in handy for sorting! I have loads of notebooks, but they are filled with lists and notes about what I’m reading–all totally haphazard and often I end up throwing them away when they have served their purpose. Not a good archivist, am I?! Your collection is impressive. It must be fun going back and reading through them!
Danielle, spreadsheets do work well for sorting plus there is the find feature if you know what you are looking for. Definitely not as pretty though. There is a certain horror to going back and reading old diaries so I rarely do it. But I do like having them on their shelf and knowing I could read them if I wanted to
I’m actually not a big Moleskine fan…but I’ve never heard of Leuchtturm until now so there’s something to search out! I like Clairfontaine and Pierre Belvedere quite a lot, and there is a line of papercovered blank books from Italy that I used extensively until I was no longer able to find them anywhere
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