Maruman Mnemosyne N195 Spiral 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 Maruman Mnemosyne N195 Special Memo Notepad, like its other Mnemosyne siblings, is a notebook that easily makes the cut for replacing your standard Moleskine notebook. Sure, it's spiral-bound, but you'll probably be able to forgive that once you try the paper.

I've always enjoyed the N196, which is the same format as this notebook except that the spiral binding is on top. While that's a great format for some purposes, I also enjoy using a side bound notebook as well.

It's easy to compare this notebook to the top-bound brother because they're very similar. The sizes are a bit different, where the side-bound notebook is A5 and the top-bound is B6, and the former has 80 pages instead of 50 like the top-bound book. But, the same paper is used in both, which is the real star.

The N195 is an example of a "perfect notebook" for my use. I love the A5 size pages for most purposes, and it's one of the biggest things I consider when looking for a new general purpose notebook. This one fits the bill nicely with dimensions of 6 x 8.25 inches and 7mm ruling. The ruling spacing hits a sweet spot for me. It's not too small, but it still works well with my small-medium writing style.

Build

The Mnemosyne N195 is built well for being a soft cover spiral-bound book. The wire binding is strong and resilient against bending in loaded bags. The fact that it's a twin spiral also keeps the pages more secure from tearing out, which is helpful with perforated pages. It always irritates me when a page tears out from the binding instead of tearing at the perforation. I've never had that problem with this notebook.

The covers are pliable, but still sturdy. They're the perfect weight for protecting the pages inside a bag, but probably can't defend it from more distressing situations. The cover features the black, minimalistic design as every other Mnemosyne notebook, save for the single gold "Mnemosyne" in the top-right corner of the front cover. Even this branding is small compared to the overall size of the cover. The back cover has a small SKU sticker that is easy to remove. The inside cover has a yellow sheet that features some more branding, including the Mnemosyne tagline, "The ancient Greek goddess of memory," which is a great name for a notebook.

Paper

The paper in the Mnemosyne notebooks is exceptional. It's not extremely thin like Tomoe River paper, but it is supple. Some papers have a certain amount of tooth, while others are made to be smooth like glass. Mnemosyne leans heavily toward the "smooth like glass" side of the scale. It's an absolute pleasure to write on.

It handles all types of pens and inks with ease, and dries fairly quickly. The pages aren't numbered, and each page has a section at the top for Date, number, and title. I don't normally use this section, but it's a nice thing to include.

The lines are spaced at 7mm in a light gray dotted pattern. They're very well done and seem to blend into the background when using vibrant inks. There are 80 sheets in the notebook, and each one is micro-perforated.

Overall

This notebook is one of my all-time favorites in this spiral-bound A5 category. There are a lot of contenders, but this one takes the cake every time. And, it even beats out a lot of glue- or cloth-bound notebooks as well. Sometimes you just want a good spiral notebook, and the Mnemosyne N195 Special Memo Notepad is an excellent choice.

The N195 is just under $10 at JetPens, which is a great value for this exceptional little notebook.

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

Holtz SenseBook Notebook Review

Small format hard-bound notebooks are in an interesting spot in the market. They have their fans, but are they functional enough to find a home in your pockets when deciding on a portable writing kit? To me, they are not.

The prime reason I rarely use this style is because the hard covers are too stiff in the 3.5” x 5.5” size. The Holtz SenseBook is no exception. It is too big to carry in a pocket, and too small to lay flat with this number of pages in this type of binding. That said, there are some redeeming values here.

The leather cover is a single layer and somewhat pliable, unlike similar products from Moleskine or Rhodia, who wrap leather around cardboard or some other material. This gives is some flex, although you wouldn’t know it from how stiff it feels. But it can bend, and I’ve had not problem bending the cover all the way around the back and return to its original shape.

Transotype did a nice job with paper performance-wise. It is marketed as wood-free paper, which confused me enough to have to look it up. The manufacturing process removes the wood components and the remaining materials are used. Wood free paper also doesn’t yellow as much, but with the cream color used here you won’t see it as readily regardless.

In use, it reminds me a lot of Leuchtturm1917 paper. It handles most inks well, with only the widest nib fountain pens bleeding through to the back of the page, but only barely and not to the page behind it.

The extras in the SenseBook are six index pages in the front, 16 perforated pages in the back, with numbered pages throughout and a rear storage pocket. The light brown leather is set off nicely by the red ribbon bookmark and red elastic closure band. I could do without the double tag label hanging off the cover though.

That is the SenseBook in a nutshell. Beautiful, not functional. It’s not a bad notebook by any stretch. It won the highly prestigious RedDot Design Award in 2013 and the German Design Award in 2015. Congratulations - great job! When it wins its first functionality award I might be more interested.

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

Curnow Bookbinding Backpocket Journal Review

As a frequent fountain pen user I find it hard to beat Tomoe River Paper for every day use, especially if you want to show off your inks. When it first became a hot item, users were limited to loose sheets of Tomoe. Fun to use, but not exactly functional or portable.

Since then, many companies have been able to get their hands on the pixie dust and turn it into all kinds of bound products. Curnow Bookbinding was the first I recall to bind it into smaller formats, most notably the memo book sized Backpocket Journal.

This pocket rocket contains 48 pages of blank, cream-colored Tomoe River paper. The binding is hand-stitched tightly, and the size is just a tick shorter than standard memo book, checking in at 3.5” x 5.25”. Included with each three pack is a lined guide card to help keep your lines straight if needed.

The overall package is nice, if bare-bones. That’s completely fine by me, because it’s what’s between the covers that counts. What Tomoe River paper does for fountain pen inks is a turning point for many people. It is so thin that you think you are writing on tissue paper, but without the feathering and bleed. Unless you pour ink onto the page you aren’t going to see either of those things.

Even more importantly, the paper allows the ink to shine, almost literally. If you want to see any and every feature an ink has you must use Tomoe River. All of the shading comes out, and inks you never thought had sheen light up around the edges. Using this paper never fails to put a smile on my face.

If I had my druthers I would increase the pages in the journal by at least 50%, if not more. 48 pages is what memo books without thin paper use, giving them a nice, sturdy feel. The Backpocket Journal is flimsy in comparison and could use a bump in that area. But still, it’s Tomoe River paper in a pocket notebook. How much can I complain?

Curnow Bookbinding doesn’t have a traditional storefront you can order from. Instead, you can see their inventory on their Facebook page and contact them directly to order. You can also order from Vanness Pens and see all of the sizes, shapes, and colors that Curnow is offering, including refills to fit your Midori Travelers Notebook.

Bung Box 4B has a full red sheen in the right light.