Filtering by Author: Sarah Read

Pentel EnerGel Kuro Gel Ink Pen 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 Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

It's back-to-school season! Admittedly, the majority of the stationery supplies I have to acquire for my children at this time of year are not as exciting as the stationery I'd like to be playing with, but ALL stationery is fun in its own way. I wish I could send my kids to school with a box of Blackwing pencils, but it will have to be the store-brand #2 classics, as requested by The List.

But pens? We can have a little fun there. Gel pens are a staple of note taking in school, but The List doesn't say what kind they have to be. We have our old reliables, but it's always fun to try something new.

Pentel has a new build of their EnerGel model called the Kuro, and I think it's the perfect gel pen for this year's school adventures.

The Kuro has a slim body in a black rubberized material that is all non-slip and slightly cushioned, and the grip area has extra texture to it. It's smooth, but textured enough that your fingers don't slip on the barrel. It has a lightly flexible plastic clip and a click button top. The clip and click are in the color of the pen's ink, for easy identification.

The tip is 0.7 mm, and it writes very smoothly. It downright glides. I had no skipping or blobbing with these, and I've been using them all day every day at work for a week.

The ink is nicely saturated with bold, bright colors available in the set. This set has black, purple, pink, red, blue, light blue, green, and orange--enough colors for some excellent color coding. There are also 12- and 24-color sets available, as well as individual pens. They've been great in my planners, especially because they have a quick-dry, no-smear ink. They are also refillable. The nose cone unscrews to access the Pentel LR7 refill.

The 8-color set costs $13.50, with individual pens costing around $2, and refills cost $1.35. Overall, they're one of the more affordable gel pens out there right now, which makes them even better for school, where pens vanish into the portal that lurks at the bottom of every backpack.

I've really enjoyed writing with these pens. And while I've turned the standard colors over to my children for school, the pink, purple, and light blue have stayed on my desk at work. Because mom has homework, too, and everyone needs good gel pens.

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

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Posted on August 21, 2025 by Sarah Read and filed under Pentel, Energel, Gel, Pen Reviews.

Trip Log: Colorado 2025 Edition

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

I am freshly back from my latest adventure--a road trip to my home state of Colorado. Two days of driving there, a few days with the in-laws for a family reunion, then off to my parents' house, where our main goal was to pack up and clean out their house as they prepare to make the move into assisted living. Then two days driving back. There were two fun adventure days planned into the mix--one day in Rocky Mountain National Park and one day at the aquarium in Denver.

I was supposed to write a blog post about any cool stationery I found in my parents' house as we packed, but 1) Mostly I didn't find any, and 2) Turns out that's a super emotionally and physically difficult thing to do, and I forgot to take pictures of anything I did find.

But I promised Brad a trip post, so what you get instead is a list of random trip thoughts interspersed with pictures of fish. Sorry, Brad.

I brought one small Paperblanks notebook and one pocket Gravitas Pens fountain pen with me on this trip. I did not write a single word. Well, I did write a poem, but not with pen and paper. I texted it to myself in the middle of the night. It's about getting too attached to places and how hard it is when the places you love are so far apart.

A very cool thing I found in the attic: an old Topo Designs messenger bag that my mom used to carry. It's the original design of the Mountain Briefcase Backpack and pre-dates the Doane Paper edition one that I still carry to this day (it's literally my work bag right now, and I've had it for 12-13 years). How did my mom get this cool bag? We lived in Fort Collins, where Topo was born. Don't worry--this did not go in the thrift pile. I have it now. It needs some serious TLC, and then I think my youngest will inherit it.

Another stationery-related item I found was my grandmother's pencil box from the 1940s. It has her maiden name and the year 1948 written inside the lid. She would have been 18 then, and just about to marry my grandfather. There were pens inside! But just the freebie branded ballpoints you get from the bank and doctor's office. And a lot of mechanical pencils for doing crossword puzzles. It made me very happy.

I also found a lot of my mom's travel journals and flight logs, which I packed away for safe storage. Her journals are all written in nice notebooks, because I always gave her nice notebooks. And when we lived in Switzerland, we both stocked up on Clairefontaine notebooks from the local shop. Both our houses are full of those.

My dad asked if there was anything else I wanted from the house, and I asked him to save me one of his many hand-carved walking sticks he used to make from branches collected on their property. He gave me the most special one that he'd carved for himself. I couldn't even talk for a minute and I can't now, just writing about it.

Random lessons from the trip: Iowa is stunningly beautiful in summer. Home is lots of places all at once. Bears really like cat food. Get rid of most of your stuff. But not your journals--write lots of those. In good notebooks. No one is allowed to skip songs on the family playlist. Your kids will add terrible songs to the family playlist--not because they like them, but because they like to troll you. The Rocky Mountains don't look the same without their snow caps. The Rocky Mountains are losing their snow caps. If you want all the Estes Park gossip, ask in the jewelry stores. Your parents are going to get older. They probably still have their clothes from before you were born, and you can trace the outline of them through their lives, from closet to attic to garage, and then you, and they, are going to have to let all of that go.

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Posted on August 14, 2025 by Sarah Read and filed under Travel.

Stationery Stack Pen Tray 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 Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

Do your pens need to recline in luxury? Does your desk need a little organizational help? Do you keep more than a handful of pens inked at all times? If you're reading this blog, I know you answered yes to all, so you may need one (or all) of these pen trays from Stationery Stack.

The set pictured here includes the Honcho, the Amigo, and the Alfie. The Honcho is the single pen rest, and it's available in two lengths and several different finishes. It's perfect for keeping your main pen handy, especially if you have a pen that wants to roll away on the desk. This will keep it safe while remaining easily accessible. Like a pen cot.

The Amigo is also a single pen rest, but with an added slot that can hold a few sheets of cardstock, like business cards or even a to-do list or calendar page.

The Alfie is the large pen tray. It can hold ten pens--seven longer ones, and three shorter ones. The shorter slots run the width of the tray, with the seven longer ones along the length. It's a clever design that maximizes the number of pens it can hold while keeping a reasonable footprint on the desk. It is 10.5" by 6.25" by 1". It takes up less space than a sheet of paper.

All three shown here are in the St@cked brand color--a lovely Celadon Green that is literally my favorite color. The green paint has a satin finish. Beneath the paint, the Alfie is made from solid Cherry wood. The Alfie is also available in Maple and Walnut. The Honcho and Amigo are Pine. The finish on everything is exceptional--the wood shaping and paint is smooth and flawless. The fabric that lines the pen grooves in the Alfie is a faux suede in the “Sandy" color (Grey is also available). It feels lightly velvety, and makes a nice soft bed for your pens.

Pen trays like this solve my number one obstacle to using my pens: convenience. If I'm sitting down for a planned writing session, it's nice to have my pen handy. But more often I need to grab a pen for a quick note. I'm not likely to dig into cases for a quick need--I end up grabbing whatever writing instrument is most handy, which is usually a freebie disposable pen, or one of my library's numerous golf pencils. Having my pens out in a tray has noticeably led to me using them more frequently. And using nice pens more frequently, as we all know, increases happiness!

All of the pieces at Stationery Stack are made by Addy, who makes very cool things and has big plans for even more. The soon-to-be-released Journal Caddy will be an immediate must-buy for me. There is a status page on the website where you can find information about upcoming shop updates and product releases, which is great. Because this is a one-woman shop, production moves at the pace of perfection.

Do be warned that the time and craftswomanship are reflected in the prices of these products. The prices are absolutely fair, but they are expensive. The Alfie, the largest pen tray, is priced at $145. The Honcho is $14 and the Amigo is $20 for the shorter length and $23 for the longer. It's a big leap up between the models, but that has a lot to do with the materials (pine vs cherry) and the time that goes into crafting a larger piece.

I have really enjoyed these, and I'll be watching for the Journal Caddy launch. And whatever else Addy dreams up next!

(These products were provided by Stationery Stack at no charge for purposes of this review.)

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