Posts filed under Notebook Reviews

Nebula by Colorverse Casual A5 Notebook Review

The Nebula by Colorverse Casual A5 notebook is a sleek spiral-bound notebook that really checks a lot of boxes. You probably know Colorverse from their amazing inks, and they know what it takes to pair a good ink with good paper.

The notebook is one of the most minimalist designs I've seen lately. The front and back cover are a thin cardstock with almost nothing printed on them. The front cover has a few stars in the upper right corner to add a little flair, and the back cover has some manufacturing information on the notebook. The inside covers are both blank, and there are no pockets or sleeves. The stars on the front cover are so easy to miss that it's delightful when the light catches them in a way that draws in your attention.

The double spiral binding is strong and easy to turn through the pages (meaning the pages don't clog up in the spiral binding when you turn through several pages). A good spiral notebook is hard to ignore given how they can lay absolutely flat, but this never stops me from buying notebooks with perfect binding. The covers are lightweight and sturdy, but they wouldn't put up with much abuse. The rounded corners make it easy to slip in and out of a bag or pouch without anything snagging, which is good since you'll most likely only carry this inside something to protect the cover and spiral binding.

The paper inside the notebook is an off-white color, but not close to ivory or cream paper. Each page is perforated, making it easy to cleanly remove pages. The 90gsm paper makes for a fantastic writing experience. It's a smooth paper with a small amount of tactile feedback when writing. If there's a coating on the surface, I can't tell it's there. Ink behaves really well on the paper, which makes me really happy since an ink company put their name on this notebook. There isn't any feathering or bleeding, and show-through to the back of the page is impressively minimal. The back pages are definitely useful even when using wetter/broader nibs. The version I have is lined paper, but you can also get dot grid and blank. No matter what version of the paper you choose, you get 120 pages of this delicious 90gsm paper.

At $15, the Nebula Casual A5 notebook is a great value. It performs exceedingly well and really holds its own with other more established paper products. This isn't just a gimmick notebook to cash in some extra profits — this is a fantastic notebook that was made by (and for) people that understand what makes a great writing experience. I highly recommend picking one up when you have a chance. If orange isn't your thing, you can also find turquoise, baby pink, black, navy, and green.

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

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Posted on January 18, 2023 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Nebula, Colorverse, Notebook Reviews.

Bindewerk Basic Wood Metal Edge 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. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

I purchased this notebook as a souvenir from Scriptura in New Orleans this past fall. It was irresistible, which was my only excuse for purchasing a large notebook made out of wood and metal while attempting to one-bag minimal travel. It just felt good in my hands. No regrets.

Bindewerk Basic Wood Metal Edge Notebook

This is a hefty A5 notebook with 144 sheets (288 pages) of dot-grid paper. The cover boards are made of cherry wood with a black cloth spine and aluminum edges that run around the border of each cover board. The binding is sewn in small signatures, so the book lies flat with very little training. It is very well made, despite one stray thread that escaped the binding process on mine. That doesn't appear to have affected the quality of the binding--it's just a long, stray tail that I trimmed.

Inside the back cover is a flat diagonal folder for holding a few sheets of paper, but it has no gusset, so its capacity is limited. The cover is held shut with a black elastic band that has a lot of tension, so it lays flush against the back when not in use instead of flopping around, which makes me very happy.

There is no branding on the outside at all, though the wood cover is begging to be decorated. It's unfinished, so it would be fun to sketch on, or paint, or cover with stickers. If not, I bet the wood will age beautifully.

Inside, the book remains very minimal with only a blank endpaper before the dot-grid pages. The paper is cream colored and quite textured. It's not rough, but it has a lot of feedback , particularly when writing with very fine-point pens. The dots of the dot grid are fairly faint, so they can be ignored if needed, and the paper also has a barely-visible vertical structure to it that is best seen when held up to the light.

The paper does not bleed or feather and shows very little ghosting, even with a Sharpie. I was very impressed. I had expected some of that texture to lead to feathering, but no--this is some fantastic paper.

Bindewerk hand-makes their notebooks in Germany and this model costs around 36.70 Euros. I forget what exactly I paid for mine in New Orleans, but it was in the $30-something range. You can also pick them up from Orange Art Store in the US (the shop is affiliated with the US distributor of the brand.) I think that's a great price for the quality of the build and the generous serving of excellent paper. It was well worth the space it took up in my travel backpack.

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Posted on January 12, 2023 by Sarah Read and filed under Bindewerk, Notebook Reviews.

Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Notepad Holder Review

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

Notepads are a stationery category that I don't think has enough representation. They're a great format compared to a spiral or side-bound notebook. The binding at the top combined with removable pages and a sturdy back cover are what make notepads so great. There are several different options, and it's pretty easy to find a good product that fits your needs and budget. But what about notepad holders or cases? There are even fewer options in this category.

The best example of a notepad holder that I can think of are the folio style contraption that you can find at any big-box office supply store. These fake leather folios usually have a zipper or snap closure, a few pockets on the left side, and a large slit to hold a legal pad or something of a similar size. I never liked them because they felt clumsy and cheap. Sure, you can absolutely find some high-quality options, but that might not make sense for a utilitarian notebook carry option.

Maruman has several notepads in their product lineup, and they all perform like you'd expect from any of their products. On top of that, they have a sleek and affordable notepad holder and organizer that can store, protect, and organize your notepads, a pen, and other loose sheets of paper or other similarly sized items.

This Mnemosyne is an A5 notepad holder that has an additional 5 pockets for storing paper, envelopes, and other flat objects. Along with the holder, there's also an A5 Mnemosyne notepad with a 5mm grid pattern. The combination is really useful and sleek.

The product uses a rigid plastic in order to keep costs down while providing plenty of structure and protection. The 99% black color scheme matches perfectly with their notebook line, with only a small Mnemosyne logo on the front cover to let you know where it came from.

The back cover also has a couple of rivets that anchor an elastic strap that does a great job of keeping the notebook closed when not in use.

The inside of the notebook is simple even though there are 5 different pockets along the inside front cover. There a pocket on the inside front cover, and then there are two more thick plastic sheets that each have another pocket on the front and back. These pockets are great for categorizing the sheets that you tear out of the notebook, or for any other A5 or smaller paper bits you want to keep.

There's also enough room in the spine of the notepad cover to store a single pen. There's even a small notch cut out at the top of the spine for most pen clips to slip into snugly. The average pen clip will have no problem holding tight to this material, and the rigid spine is thick enough to offer a little extra protection for your pen, though I wouldn't say this is crush proof.

The notepad has 70 sheets of 80gsm paper with a light gray 5mm grid pattern on the front of the pages. The back side of the sheet is blank. There's also a small section at the top of each sheet where you can enter information about the date, title, or other relevant organizational information. The pages aren't numbered.

Writing on this paper is fantastic. It's the same experience with any other Mnemosyne notebook, and similar to many of the other Maruman notebook options. It works well with a variety of writing instruments and ink chemistry. I haven't noticed any feathering or bleeding, and I can hardly see anything through the back side of the page, which is great and honestly a little surprising given the 80gsm rating. In other notebooks with this paperweight, I'm used to more show-through.

The pages tear out of the notepad easily and cleanly thanks to the micro-perforation along the top edge. The notepad has a front cover, but I immediately flipped it over and tucked it into the notepad pocket along with the back cover to keep the setup neat. The front cover has pre-folded lines where the cover needs to folder over the top spine, so folding it back is effortless and clean.

The notepad is top notch and exactly what I'd expect from Mnemosyne when it comes to the writing experience, and the cover is surprisingly robust given the plastic materials. I'm fully confident that it will protect the notepad, pen, and anything else I store in it, and the elastic closure ensures nothing falls out in normal usage.

This Mnemosyne notepad and cover are great for anyone that wants a sleek notepad organization system with space for a pen and some pockets for categorizing notes.

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

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