A. G. Spalding & Bros Notebook And Cover Review

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

The A. G. Spalding & Bros notebook and Notebook Colder are a new entry into the pocket notebook space that offers some good paper and a unique paper case compared to other similar products. The 3.5" x 5" format is a compact, easy-to-carry, and fun to use. It's a great product, but it could also be better.

Since we are talking about two separate products, let's start with the notebook cover. The cover comes in a dark brown that looks great. The elastic band that holds the cover shut is a bit loose if you're carrying only one notebook, but the cover was designed to hold two notebooks. I'd like the elastic to be tighter, but it's not that big of an issue.

The cover has one piece of branding on the front, which is a small A.G. Spalding & Bros embossed logo. It's small and tasteful. The inside of the cover has two flaps that hold the notebooks, and the covers are stitched around the edge of the cover to create pockets.

The elastic closure is attached in the middle of the back cover using a knot on the inside of the cover. In practice, this knot introduces two problems. One, it makes it difficult to slide a notebook into the right side pocket because the knot is obstructing most of the opening. It takes some effort to make it slide in properly, and you might end up bending the notebook in the process. The other major problem with this knot is that it creates a lump in the middle of the page when writing on the right side of the page. I found it pretty uncomfortable to use when on a flat surface.

Overall, the cover looks nice and is an affordable non-leather option for holding your notebooks. At just under twenty bucks, I can't say it's a good deal, however. It offers protection and a convenient way to carry two notebooks, but the knot in the back got in the way too often. Ultimately, I enjoyed the notebook more when the cover was removed.

Now, on to the notebook. The one I have is the graph variety, but you can also find them in lined and blank versions. The front outside cover contains some really nice branding along with an obvious "G, P, or R" to indicate the ruling type on the inside. It's a beautiful notebook on the inside and out. Apart from the front cover, there is no other branding on these books.

The paper is good quality, but not the best. It handles fountain pen and wet inks like a champ, but exhibits quite a bit of show-through on the reverse page. If you're using fountain pens, the back page might be unusable. Aside from that, the paper is really nice and is fun to write on. It's smooth, the ruling is light enough to stay out of your way, and it's thick enough to be durable against accidental rips and bends.

One minor gripe with the build quality of the notebook is that the binding stitching on my notebook has some loose threads. This makes me worry that it may begin to unravel at some point, but it's been stable so far.

Overall, it's a great notebook that works well with fountain pens as long as you don't mind the show-through. The pocket notebook market is vast, and you can probably find notebooks that are either more affordable, more durable, or more fountain-pen-friendly, so the major draw of this notebook for me is the design of the front cover. For me, I like using the notebook, but don't often use the cover. The cover looks nice, but detracts from the writing experience.

You can find the A.G. Spalding & Bros. notebooks from JetPens for around $7.00 in graph, lined, or blank varieties. The separate notebook cover is around $20, and only available in brown.

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

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Midori Spiral Ring Notebook B7 Elephant Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

Midori always rocks the vintage minimal elegance. Those of us who like our analog tools to give us a sense of timeless utility are going to dig the Midori aesthetic. That being said, I think this little beauty is misnamed as a notebook. The Midori B7 Elephant is more of a sketchbook, I've found.

When I first opened this up and started playing with it, I really disliked it. The paper is very thick, like a hearty index card, but it doesn't take ink that well. There's quite a lot of feathering with fountain pens, and the paper is fibrous enough that fine-pointed gel and rollerballs feel snaggy. There are also only 20 sheets of paper. For me, that's a single-serving notebook. And when it comes to notebooks, I want the whole pie. Also true for actual pie.

What does work well in this wee book? Ballpoint pens were okay. Paint soaked into the paper fibers too much--even with paint liner pens. Pencils, colored pencils, and pastels worked the best. Suddenly, the 20 cardstock pages made much more sense--this is a sketchbook. And so the ugly duckling realized he was really a beautiful swan.

As a pocket sketchbook, it's pretty great. The cardboard cover is sturdy and folds over neatly or lays flat. The brass spiral coil is the most durable I've encountered and promises to hold up to some rough carry without getting smooshed and distorting the whole book. I do wish the sheets were perforated--the heavy paper and thick wire make page removal difficult and messy.

This particular model is the Elephant and has grey paper. A wee elephant is stamped into the corner of the cover. The Polar Bear has white paper and the Camel has brown. The books come in other sizes as well--B6, A5, and A6 in both horizontal and vertical binding orientations. This B7 is perfect for a back pocket or to slip into a day pack for an afternoon of sketching adventures.

I'm glad I kept playing beyond my initial impression of this book. But it does serve to illustrate how important a product's name is when it comes to customer expectations. I maintain that it's a dreadful notebook! A person who is new to the Midori brand who is looking for a notebook and who purchases this based on the Midori reputation may find themselves disappointed. I suspect wandering sketchers will find it to be a pocketful of joy.

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

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Keep A Notebook Review

Keep A Notebook is one of the more interesting notebook systems I have come across. The first thought that comes to mind is it’s another Traveler’s Notebook clone - which is a good thing in my mind - but it does a few things differently.

Upon opening the package, the biggest difference Keep A Notebook offers smacks you right in the face. There is no traditional flat leather cover with rubber bands to hold your inserts. Rather, it uses a heavy card stock notebook jacket. And the fun part? You get to build it yourself!

Once I realized that this large, scored, taped, paper airplane/origami mashup was the actual holder for the notebooks I was a bit intimidated. The instructions are in Taiwanese, and it seemed like there were a million steps. Certainly I’m going to screw this up!

I had so much fun putting the notebook jacket together.

The pictures in the instructions were right on the money, with all of the double-sided tape and tags marked with numbers to keep you on the right path. It took some time to complete - 20 minutes at least - and I totally felt like the Success Kid when I was done.

This jacket has a few built in advantages where in the TN system these things would require add-ons. It has inside front and inside back pocket slots, plus a full-sized button and string envelope, which is a great touch.

Additionally, the Keep A Notebook notebooks don’t use bands to keep them in place. The front and back covers slide into each side of the jacket, making it easy to get three notebooks inserted without issue.

The notebooks themselves are high quality and handled wet fountain pens with only a few dots of bleed through in the heaviest inked areas. Ghosting wasn’t bad either.

I like the notebook style variance and page layouts better than anything TN offers. The 01 Weekly/Diary model is a perfect layout for how I plan. There are seven day blocks plus header on the left side with matching grid note sections on the right. The blue grids and brown lines on cream paper are wonderful too, which is the color scheme that runs throughout the books.

There are over a dozen different inserts you can choose from, including Travel Journal, Monthly Planner, Scrapbook, and basic Ruled, Blank, or Grid. They have even launched a couple of new inserts since the pack I received in the spring.

On the down side, I have to wonder how well the notebook jacket will hold up. It’s fun and awesome, but it is fiber, not leather. It will be prone to the elements more, and likely wear quicker. I also wonder how the tape will hold up in extreme heat and cold.

Also, they are not easy to purchase for most of the world. The majority of their retailers are in Asia, with L’amour HK carrying the deepest the product line. Other retailers lineup seems hit or miss.

Keep A Notebook is a wonderful notebook system that looks and works great. Does it fit your needs? Can you jump through the ordering hoops? Those are the questions you need to ask yourself. If nothing else, I think you will have fun with it.

My thanks to Ching Ching Stationery, makers of Keep A Notebook, for sending me this product at no charge for purposes of this review.

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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, which I am very grateful for.

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