Posts filed under Life Notebooks

Life Stationery Stenographers' Notebook Review

Life Stationery Stenographers' Notebook Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The stenographers' pad or steno book has long been a favorite of mine. It's a ubiquitous format that you can find in almost any store in the US that sells any sort of stationery or office supplies. Quality varies greatly, and most of these notebooks use cheap, thin paper that is unpleasant to use. But there a few brands that provide an excellent steno book, and I love them for it. A new option that quickly skyrocketed to the top of my "great steno books" list is the Life Stationery Stenographers' Notebook.

The Life Stationery take on the steno book is similar to all the other variants, but it excels in the area of paper quality. Most steno books are sized roughly in the realm of 8x6 inches, and the Life version sticks to the tried-and-true A5 spec at 8.2" x 5.8". According to Wikipedia, Gregg ruling is normally found in North America, and it is described as such: "Paper should be smooth and lined, dull in finish, with three lines to the inch and a line down the center." Life's version of the steno book stays true to this definition, with wide line ruling and a line down the middle of the page. The ruling and center line are repeated on both sides of the page.

Life Stationery Stenographers' Notebook

Steno books normally aren't very thick, and this variant is no different. With just 50 pages, it won't last long unless you're using both sides of the pages. With cheap steno books, I've only used the front side of the page for convenience (going to the next page is a simple page turn away, as opposed to turning the page and flipping the notebook around), but I'll be using both sides of the pages in this steno book for two reasons: it isn't exactly cheap, and the paper can actually handle writing on both sides.

Life Stationery Stenographers' Notebook Paper

It feels a little odd to use a steno book that has such nice paper since these types of books usually resort to pretty cheap paper that you use and throw away. With Life's notebook, the paper is really good. It's thick, smooth, and you can hardly see any show-through on the back side of the page. It's so good — just like the paper in their other notebooks. Using the back side of the page is easy in this case. It feels smooth when writing, but isn't slippery. All the inks and pen combos I've tried have done remarkably well. I can't see any feathering or bleeding anywhere. The only ink that I've found to somewhat show through to the back side of the page is the Schmidt P812x rollerball ink, and even then it's minimal. In short, the paper is phenomenal.

Life Stationery Stenographers' Notebook Binding

When it comes to ruling, I'm a fan of dot grid, then grid, then either lined (narrow or college rule) or blank depending on my mood or what I'm using the paper for. Wide rule is one of my least favorite rulings, but I don't mind it in this case because it's part of the specification for a stenographer notebook. Something about the line going down the middle of the page makes a little easier for me to use. I don't feel bad splitting my notes or scribbles into two sections across the page. It doesn't really make sense, but it's how my brain works in this case.

Life Stationery Stenographers' Notebook Writing

I didn't realize this at the time, but Life also offers a grid ruling version of their Stenographers' Notebook. Where the Gregg Ruled version has a green cover, the grid version has a beige cover and also costs $2 more.

The green cover on the notebook I have is a very close shade to light brown in the right light, but does a great job of looking retro and clean. It's thick enough to provide plenty of protection for the paper inside, and is thicker than most steno books. The back cover is completely blank, a lighter color, and equal in thickness and rigidity. The top-bound spiral ring is robust and just the right size for easy page turning. The wire is coated in a nice off-white finish that goes well with the cream paper and green/brown covers. Aside from the front, there is zero markings on the inside front and back covers. The corners are square, and I've noticed that the beginning and ending pages have already started curling a little bit from use. Not a big deal, but something that could easily be avoided by rounding off the corners.

Life Stationery Stenographers' Notebook Ink

For me, the steno book is equal parts utilitarian and nostalgic. It's fun to see a product from Life that nails both of these traits while also delivering a vastly superior product. Sure, you pay for that quality, but it's amazing. The Gregg ruled version of this notebook is $13, while the grid ruled version is $15. Not the cheapest options, but I'd argue it's correct pricing due to the quality of the materials used. If you just want a cheap steno book that you can use as a scratchpad, this isn't the product for you. But, if you like the aesthetic and form factor of a top-bound A5 notebook with creamy, excellent paper, and retro-branded covers, then this is a great notebook for the money.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)


Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Life Stationery Stenographers' Notebook Page
Posted on June 18, 2025 and filed under Life Notebooks, Notebooks, Notebook Reviews.

Life Bank Paper Review

What is bank paper? According to Merriam-Webster:

“a thin strong paper similar to but lighter than bond paper and commonly used for business letterheads”

Bank paper products, such as this A5 Life Writing Paper, have begun to appear more frequently in our world, mainly because it lives up to the definition above. The paper is thin, durable, and can handle almost any ink or graphite well.

This Life Bank Paper pad has been recommended to me many times, and I took way too long to acquire it. It is downright excellent. It features a light ivory color page with the slightest bit of texture and feedback. The 100 pages are glue bound in an A5 size, which make it perfect for letter writing. This is a pad that will be empty when you are done with it, not kept like a spiral bound pad.

I mostly wanted to test fountain pen inks on it, and I’m happy to say they work well. There is no feathering or bleed to speak of, even when I laid down heavy swabs of ink on the page. All nibs feel smooth on it, even though you can feel the texture of the paper. It’s a very light texture, and I didn’t feel it was detrimental, even when using my finest nibs.

The dry time was also decent. This isn’t a glossy page like Rhodia, so I expected it to be quick, and it is. The only ink that took some time to dry was with the Montegrappa Miya Flex nib, due to the fact it was putting more ink down on the page. Even so, dry time was fine, and a pink blotting sheet is included if you so desire.

There is some ghosting, as you can tell by my picture of the pages when still attached to the pad. I personally wouldn’t use the back of the sheet to write a letter on, but it is workable.

All of my non-fountain pens performed well on this bank paper, with the lone exception being plastic tip drawing pens. The texture causes problems with this type of pen, leaving white space in the line, or sometimes skipping. It is at least usable, which is more than I can say for other textured papers and plastic tips.

All ballpoint, gel, and rollerball pens worked well - even my micro gel ink pens. Brush pens performed better than expected, and pencil graphite was an absolute standout. The texture allows the graphite a darkness and depth that smooth papers do not.

Being a bank paper, you might think there would be a watermark in the page, and you would be correct. It’s not that noticeable when writing in the pad, but it is more noticeable once you remove the page and more light surrounds it. It’s by no means a deal-breaker, or even a minor annoyance, but I thought I would point it out in case someone really dislikes watermarks.

So, how will I be using this pad? You are going to make me write letters, aren’t you? I think that’s what this pad is tailor made for. The glue binding comes off so cleanly you would think these were loose sheets. I’ve even punched them for my William Hannah notebook.

At $20 for 100 pages it isn’t cheap by any stretch, but the A5 Life Writing Paper Pad is purpose built, meaning you should have a purpose in mind when buying and using it. It’s not a desk pad, work pad, or a scratch pad. It’s more than that, and should be used as such.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)


Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on November 25, 2019 and filed under Life Notebooks, Notebook Reviews.

Life L. Brand White Writing Paper A5: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Life Company offers numerous paper products, including notebooks, stationery, index cards (see review here), and envelopes. The L. Brand White Writing paper in A5 size, includes 30 sheets of 84.9gsm lined paper.

Each page is embellished with a border of scroll work in a tasteful grey/sage green color. The lines (in the same color) are 10mm apart and only appear on one side of the paper.

Although you can’t see this with the naked eye, each page is lined with tiny vertical and horizontal lines that form a grid. White horizontal lines appear every 20mm. I’m not sure what purpose the lines serve since you can’t see them in ordinary light. Apparently they are just a characteristic of the paper according to the description on JetPens.

The paper is smooth and silky. It’s pure pleasure to write on. I wrote my sister a long letter using this paper, and the ink dried fairly quickly and did not bleed or feather.

I also tested the paper with various nibs and inks. It handled all of them perfectly. Not even the thickest nibs bled through, though there is plenty of show through.

The paper is glue bound and is easy to remove from the pad without accidental tears.

My only complaint about this pad is how little you can fit on one page. Because of the border, the lines are only 4.13 inches/105mm across. And with the 10mm spacing there are only sixteen lines per page. The pad seems meant for short notes rather than lengthy letters.

You can purchase Life L. Brand White Writing paper in A5 size from JetPens for $6.25. I highly recommend this paper for anyone who wants a sophisticated but simple stationery that handles fountain pens well.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)


Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on May 4, 2018 and filed under Life Notebooks, Notebook Reviews.