She says:

I’m currently obsessed with trying to find a perfect way to keep a daily journal on my iPhone, iPad or good old paper. I think paper is going to win the battle, but I’m not sure buying a bazillion notebooks is helping. In the process, I’ve become a notebook addict…

Yup, she’s a notebook addict!

If even committed technophiles can’t resist the call of notebooks, I think there’s still hope that pen, pencil and paper will survive whatever new digital innovations arise! So glad you posted this, Julie– I always knew you were a kindred spirit!

Read more at Julie’s Gadget Diary 11-20-11 — The Gadgeteer.

Full details on what all these notebooks are at Unused notebook collection.

Thanks for sharing, Millie!

Below is a corner of my office where I was going through boxes of notebooks and had stashed some used ones that needed to be put away. There are a few months of daily notebooks, notebooks already reviewed, notebooks to be reviewed, and some childhood notebooks. (All of these have now been put back in a closet– I try to keep the notebook clutter under control!)

A close-up of some of the daily notebooks. I write the dates they cover on the bottom.

On top of my file cabinet: some stray samples to be given away someday, and some stuff already reviewed, and a small looseleaf binder I used many years ago that I’ll do a post on at some point.

Here’s the shelves in one of my closets: shoeboxes full of small notebooks, and stacks of larger journals and sketchbooks.

Here on a bookshelf are my Moleskine City Notebooks (though I’ve since bought more). Amsterdam is the only one in this stack that I haven’t used yet. The others are New York, London, Paris, Istanbul and Lisbon.

And finally, this is the stack of notebooks-in-waiting I keep in my desk. These are all notebooks that have made the cut as ones I like enough to use as daily notebooks or sketchbooks at some point (mostly Moleskines, HandBook Journals, Piccadillies, and a couple of others). I’m not worried about running out at the moment… but only because I have an additional stack of spares elsewhere!

There are close to 100 notebooks visible in these photos, not counting the ones in the unopened shoeboxes and additional notebooks I have stored elsewhere. Welcome to my world!

First off, here’s the new large Webnotebook with dot-grid paper. I love dot-grid paper, it’s such a nice alternative to having lines– you can use the page in all directions, so it’s great for writing, drawing and doodling. And of course, the yummy Rhodia paper works well with pretty much any pen and is heavenly to write on.

Then we have two handy pocket-size notebooks. The Clairefontaine Life Unplugged notebook has been around for a while, but the Rhodia Unlimited notebook is new. Both are slender and flexible, combining some of the lightweight portability of the Moleskine Volants with added features such as an elastic closure and more pages. They’re shown below with a pocket Moleskine for size comparison. Because the notebooks are softcover, the elastic can flex them slightly if it’s a bit tight. The binding does not lie very flat, particularly in the Rhodia version. As you can see, all the pages in the Rhodia notebook are perforated, and have a nice layout with a grid plus a separate header, which reminds me of one of the Book Factory lab notebooks I reviewed.

Next, there’s the Clairefontaine Graf-It sketchpad. This does not have the usual super-smooth Clairefontaine paper, but a slightly toothier paper that is nice for drawing on. It’s still fairly smooth, and the paper feels fairly lightweight, but had less show-through than I would have expected. A nice feature is the micro-perforated edge so you can tear sheets out neatly.

Finally, here’s a bonus item that’s not really a notebook: a Rhodia paper mousepad! What a great idea– it’s such a handy way to have a nice piece of doodle paper handy on your desk at all times. They designed this very cleverly, gluing two edges of the pad so it won’t slide around while you’re using your mouse. (The staples shown on the cover are fake, just a little touch to make it look more like the traditional Rhodia blocs.)

You can look for these items at your local stationery shop, or take a shot at winning a couple of items I’m giving away! Two lucky winners will be selected, one to receive the Clairefontaine Life Unplugged notebook, and one to receive the Rhodia dot-grid notebook. As usual, you can enter in any of the following ways:

On Twitter, tweet something containing  “@Exaclair” and “@NotebookStories.”

On Facebook, “like” the  Notebook Stories page and the Rhodia Drive page, and post something containing the words “Rhodia” or “Clairefontaine” on my wall.

On your blog, post something containing the words “Rhodia” or “Clairefontaine” and “NotebookStories” and link back to this post.

The deadline for entry is Friday October 14 at 11:59PM, EST. Good luck everyone!

The series continues in these other notebook posts: Notebook Collection Part Two, Notebook Collection Part Three, and  Phases in the Life of a Notebook. The “Phases” post is very insightful, and features this lovely image of some of the pages inside her notebooks:

There are lots more wonderful photos and commentary in her posts, including this amusing observation:

Ever since I started loving blank books and shopping for them I have starting HATING address books, planners and photo albums. Why? Often I’ll see a notebook on the shelf, the perfect size! The perfect color! I reach for it and…. it’s a PHOTO ALBUM! ugh. So annoying.

I feel your pain! And I love your notebook collection. Thanks for sharing!

From Zack:

I really like taking notes when learning. It helps me map out math in my head a lot better than just thinking about it. I’ve been looking for a good large-sized notebook to write in, maybe around A4 sized paper. Can you suggest some? Cost might be an issue, due to being a student.

There are certainly lots of good options for a notebook this size–Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Doane Paper’s large Idea Journal, Whitelines– but they might be a little pricey for a student budget. What’s your favorite lower-priced notebook?

From Park, a similar question:

Hi do you know of any notebooks that WILL NOT BLEED?  I am an excessive notetaker for school and it is extremely vexing when the paper I am using bleeds… Do you have any recommendations of standard sized notebooks that will not bleed? Thanks!

I’m guessing this means an A4 or 8.5×11″ size notebook since this is for school use. Again, Rhodia or Clairefontaine would be good bets, though a bit more expensive than what most students probably want to pay. If you can use something smaller and aren’t worried about price, I’m sure the Hitlist notebook I reviewed recently wouldn’t disappoint!

From Rowland:

I read something a while ago about a ‘notebook’ which opened out sort of Japanese fashion – but into an A3 size – I think they were made and distributed in Singapore.
Any ideas?

I can’t think of any Japanese (accordion fold-out) notebooks other than Moleskine’s, so I’m stumped… below are some more tough ones!

From Rick:

I use a leather-refillable journal for notes, etc, and I tear out used pages, so I am looking for one that has perforated pages to make a clean tear. Do you know of any that are like that?

From Paige:

Hello! I am a high school science teachers, and I want to recommend a notebook for my students for the upcoming year. I would ideally like something like a composition book (where pages aren’t easily removable) that has lined AND blank pages- maybe lined on the front, blank on the back. I will be teaching Astronomy and Earth science, and the notes will be heavy on drawings and sketches, so I want my students to not feel limited by the lines on the page.
Help!

TeNeues CoolNotes and Grandluxe Dialogue notebooks have pages that are lined on only one side, but I doubt these are easy enough to find or cheap enough for most high school students, and they’re smaller than a composition book.

Thanks to all my lovely readers for any help or advice you can provide!

Cool new QuoVadis notebooks with famous artworks on the covers:

QuoVadis planners:

J.Herbin inks and G. Lalo notecards:

Clairefontaine notebooks, including the Life.Unplugged series:

One whole table was covered in black and orange Rhodia goodness:

I’m excited about these neat notebooks, which fit a nice niche: a bit more substantial than the usual staple-bound cahier, with an elastic but not as bulky as a hardcover notebook:

My favorite size, 9 x 14 cm.

Here’s a peek at the paper in the new dot-grid Webbie:

And finally, I asked Karen if I could take a picture of the notebook she was using herself for her notes about the show. It’s the smallest size Clairefontaine, and looks like it’s taken a beating!

BookExpo is still going on today, make sure you stop by the Exaclair booth if you happen to be there… and if not, there’s always next year!

Editor’s Picks:

Here’s what Carmen has to say about that gorgeous tower:

Here is my collection as of [August 2010]. Last count 156, from the biggest- a Whiteline- to the smallest, a Rhodia. and no, they are not used at all. they are a collection… Every now and then someone asks for a notebook for a specific task, and I look and give it to them if I have it. The plan is for my niece to start inheriting them one by one when she learns to write this year… I have from your basic Composition notebook, to Exaclairs, Clairefontaines, Moleskines, Field Notes, Doane Paper, Miquelrius, Picadilly, etc, the latest addition are the notebooks that my sister recently brought me from her trip to China, that are absolutely gorgeous.

The variety! The colors! The perfectly graduated tower! And even I don’t have 156 unused notebooks!! (At least I’m pretty sure I don’t…) But I feel that this photo has given me permission to feel less guilty about the stockpile I do have!

Big thanks again to Carmen for sharing her love of notebooks– with me, with her niece, with other recipients of her notebook (and pen) gifts, and with everyone who reads this website!