Posts filed under Notebook Reviews

Maruai - The Basic Notebook, Pocket and Mini Size 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.)

I think we can all agree that you should have a pen or pencil and paper on you at all times. Pocket tech can't replicate all of analog's necessary functions--people need paper. Especially paper that fits in your pocket. It's what makes pocket notebooks so wonderful--except pocket notebooks don't fit well in my pockets. It's not the notebook's fault--it's a known issue with women's jeans: skimpy pockets. It makes me thankful for handy pocket notebook cases, but I still need paper in my pocket. Sometimes it just needs to be that handy.

My solution has been to use mini notebooks. I've been using the Moleskine minis for years, but I don't love their paper, so I was excited to try these new Mini Notebooks from Maruai.

They come in two sizes, the mini and the pocket size. The mini is 3.2" by 2.2" with 48 blank pages, bound with a side staple. The pocket size is tall and narrow at 4.1" by 2.4", with a sewn and glued top binding and 64 5mm grid pages. Both are small enough to fit in a pocket, and the mini can even fit in a wallet card slot. The pocket size works well as a memo pad with its back cover slid into a planner pocket or wallet slot.

They have nicely textured, flexible cardstock covers. They're very durable. I've carried one for weeks, and apart from some blue dye transfer from my darker jeans and a slight gluteus curvature, it looks brand new.

The ivory paper is very smooth and pleasant to use. It stands up to a variety of inks. Broad or wet fountain pens had significant bleed-through, but fine fountain pens with dry inks worked well, and rollerball, gel, ballpoint, and pencils were all great. These notebooks pair naturally with a pocket pen like the Fisher Space Pen or the Midori Brass Bullet Ballpoint pen.

One downside to the notebooks is that the pages are not perforated. My pocket notebook is often my "have you got a piece of paper" go-to, for handing out contact info or book/recipe/website/pen recommendations to friends. I'm still going to tear pages out of these books--I'm just going to have to mangle the notebook a bit to do it. It should work okay for the top-bound book, but tearing a sheet from the staple-bound book could cause the other half of the leaf to loosen and fall out. Still, pocket notebooks were made to be mangled. I look forward to mangling a whole stack of these.

They do cost nearly twice as much as the Moleskine minis (which have perforated pages), which is a bit of a bummer. The paper and covers are definitely nicer on the Maruai, but I can't say they're twice as nice. They feel good in my hand, though, and they'll be the perfect thing to drop in my cart to bump it up over that free shipping threshold. I'm glad to see more mini notebooks out in the world, and these are lovely, useful things.

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

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Posted on April 13, 2017 by Sarah Read and filed under Maruai, Notebook Reviews.

Denik Softcover Notebook 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.)

Art can change the world! That's a swell slogan, and one that speaks to my heart. And Denik stands behind it, taking in art from artists of all types and experience levels and making notebooks, sketchbooks, and journals that they sell through their website. They then donate a portion of the proceeds to building schools around the world. Artists are paid for their work, we get cool notebooks, kids get schools... This is awesome. So far, 746,250 notebooks have been sold, raising enough money to build a school where 304 students are now being taught. Another school is about to begin construction, and yet another is a little over halfway funded. They're also dedicated to promoting the work of the artists whose designs they feature (which could be you! You can submit work through their site).

If that's not reason enough to pick up enough of these notebooks to build a fort out of them, I'm pleased to say that the notebooks themselves are quite nice.

The Layflat Softcover has a neat texture to it. It's smooth, but feels almost waxy and has a matte finish rather than the glossy coating found on most notebooks. Whatever this neato coating is, it's waterproof. So if you set your notebook down on a damp table, or if your water bottle condensates in your bag, or if you are ever in the presence of a toddler--that snazzy cover will be just fine.

The binding is glued. It doesn't appear to be sewn first, and though there's some pull-away right inside the cover (not much, just enough to see a hint of the glue), the pages throughout the book are very secure. The notebook did not lay flat easily on its own, but Denik does offer leather-bound or spiral-bound versions if that's something you need in a notebook.

The paper is 60# weight, nice and crisp white with just a hint of tooth to it. It's also 75% recycled, because Denik hearts are made of unicorns and jelly beans and all good things. The paper performed better than I had been expecting. There's a bit of feathering with medium-and-up fountain pens, and a bit of bleed-through with flex writing and very wet inks, but fine fountain pens, rollerballs, gel pens, ballpoints, and pencils did very well. The texture of the paper even kept graphite from smearing too much. Colored pencil was particularly dreamy on this paper. Alcohol marker went through it as if it wasn't even there, but that's not unexpected.

The notebook held up well to being lugged around for a while, showing just a little wear at the corners.

Overall, it's a very decent, practical notebook with a lovely mission behind it. New designs appear from time to time, so be sure to check in often and snag the ones you like. Make art! Support artists! Build schools! Change the world! It's a refreshing dose of positivity.

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

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Posted on April 6, 2017 by Sarah Read and filed under Denik, Notebook Reviews.

Stalogy Editor's Series 365-Days Notebook A6 Notebook 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.)

The Stalogy line of notebooks have earned a reputation for being a minimalistic alternative to the Hobonichi Techo planner. The pages have an unobtrusive, grey 5 mm grid that serves as an excellent guide, but can easily fade into the background if needed. There are subtle date and hour markings along the page edges that are also easily ignored if you want to use the notebook for something other than a planner or journal.

The paper is very similar to the Tomoe River paper of the Hobonichi, with the same thin, onionskin quality and remarkable liquid ink resistance. The only ink I tested that had any bleed-through was the Schmidt rollerball refill. (If show-through bothers you, you may not enjoy this paper--nearly everything showed a little.) I've heard good reports about the use of watercolors in the notebooks as well. Markers bled through very easily. The paper is slightly more textured than Tomoe River, but it's still a bit too smooth for pencil, I think. The graphite tends to smear.

The cover is a soft cardstock. The A6 size is available in black, though the A5 comes in several fun colors. The binding feels stiff at first, but after a little bit of training (bordering on abuse), it breaks in nicely and will lie open flat. It has smooth rounded edges. It feels good in the hand--the proportions and materials feel inviting and make me want to sit down to write. It's a difficult quality to describe--but I think you folks understand.

This book can be a bit too minimalistic at times, though. If you do want to use the date and time marks, you might need to squint to see them. It also lacks any kind of pocket, bookmark, or index/info page. The 368 pages are okay for covering a year's worth of records, but leave very little spare for notes, contacts, or important info. If I were carrying this as a planner, I'd need at least one other notebook on me to pick up the slack.

As a planner, it's the absolute most very basic of planners--but it's a swell notebook. I really enjoy writing in it. It reminds me a bit of the Nanami Paper Seven Seas notebook line. The Stalogy cover and binding are not quite as nice as the Nanami notebooks, but I love the different sizes Stalogy offers. I'm excited to have found a new source for notebooks with a gazillion pages of fine, fountain pen friendly paper. I'm looking forward to trying other sizes, and hoping for some of the brighter colors in the A6 size.

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

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