First of all, I know some people are bothered that anyone would tear apart an old book to turn it into something else, but I’d like to think that these perhaps weren’t in good enough shape to still be read. As the insert in each journal tells you, the people who make these are “artists and book lovers who believe in sustainable business practices.”

Each journal is made from the front and back cover of a book, with a few pages of the interiors scattered inside as dividers. This leads to some amusing serendipitous discoveries such as the pages below.

I also loved a section in the Boston School Kitchen Text-Book which explains why all young women should learn to cook:

“No matter how high her social position may be, no girl is sure of retaining it through life. Though in her youthful conceit she may boast of never scrubbing a floor, or washing a dish, and may think it commendable to be ignorant of the mysteries of the kitchen, the time may come when she will have harder work than this to do, and will be thankful if tehre is one thing she can do well, even if it be but the washing of dishes or the cooking of wholesome food. And if her position should chance to be that of a director of such work, rather than a doer of it, this practical knowledge will be even more valuable.”

Needless to say, in 1887 there was no need to mention that any male might also want such knowledge!

The book cover edges are sawed off in a sharp, straight edge, but there is nothing finishing off the edge to prevent it from fraying. The spiral binding is plastic.

The interior pages are quite a bit smaller than the cover, leading to a large cover overhang, which always gets on my nerves, though I know other people prefer it that way.

The paper inside is smooth and bright white, and is acid-free. All my usual pens performed nicely on it, with a soft pencil giving a nice opaque black very easily. Show-through was about average, and only the Super Sharpie and Accu-Liner bled through, which is pretty typical.

These journals would make a nice gift for any book lover. The variety of covers they use guarantees there’s something for pretty much anyone, and the hard covers will be quite durable, as some of the books are old textbooks or library editions designed to be mauled by children. Each journal is unique, so the sizes and designs vary. The prices are around $13-14 for most styles I looked at on the website.

Thanks to the very generous assortment of samples I received, we’re going to have a mother of a giveaway this time!

I’ll select three random winners from entries submitted as follows, and each winner will receive two journals:

On Twitter, tweet something containing “Book Journals” and follow “@exlibrisanon” and “@NotebookStories.”

On Facebook, “like” the  Notebook Stories page and the Ex Libris Anonymous page, and post something containing the words “Book Journals” on my wall.

On your blog, post something containing the words “Ex Libris Anonymous Book Journals” and “NotebookStories” and link back to this post.

The deadline for entry is Friday Feb. 3 at 11:59PM, EST. Good luck everyone!

These 3 notebooks are give a first impression of sleekness, somehow. The covers are smooth, and they are relatively thin and flexible. They range in size from about 5 13/16″ x 8 1/4″ to 7 1/8″ x 10″. For Japanese notebooks, these actually have less odd English verbiage on them than usual! One of them says it contains “MIO Paper,” and that this stands for “Mobile Ideal Original writing paper,” but that’s about as weird as it gets. The notebooks all have a very clean, minimal design.

First we have a Maruman notebook, with a wire-o binding and plastic front and back covers. The plastic has a slight ridged texture to it. Inside, you have smooth lined paper with a micro-perforated edge for easy removal.

Next, a Kikuyo Campus notebook, again with wire-o binding and a plastic front cover. This one has a very unusual page design– it’s lined, but there are dots along the lines, so it’s kind of a hybrid between lined and dot grid and squared. You can use it for writing or as you’d use graph paper, and the cover has a sticker on it that suggests a sort of geometrical figure being drawn using the dots. The pages also feature a space for numbering and a date at the top. They are not perforated. The back cover is a light, smooth cardboard.

And here’s another Kokuyo Campus notebook, this time with a metallic silver taped binding. The pages seem to be glued in. This one also has the number and date space at the top of each page, with regular, un-dotted lines below. The notebook has a wonderfully supple feel– the pages are smooth, the notebook opens very flat, and it’s very flexible, easily bending almost into a tube, and returning to perfect flatness afterwards. But the price you pay for this kind of flexibility is that the paper is quite thin. I tested a variety of pens and found that it’s wonderful to write on, with a very smooth, “hard” surface. I turned the page and at first was shocked that there was no show-through– but then I realized I’d actually turned more than one page because they’re so thin! When you’re actually looking at the back of the page, there’s quite a bit of show-through, and really penetrating markers like my Sharpies even bled through and made spots on the next facing page.

So if you like the aesthetic and tactile qualities of a basic yet refined notebook, you’ll love these– the paper feels just heavenly with a fine rollerball pen. But they may not be a top choice if show-through really bothers you. Check out these and a variety of other journals and notebooks offered at JetPens… or you can try your luck at winning the two samples I’m giving away!

I’ll select two random winners from entries submitted as follows:

On Twitter, tweet something containing “JetPens” and follow “@jetpens” and “@NotebookStories.”

On Facebook, “like” the  Notebook Stories page and the JetPens page, and post something containing the words “JetPens” on my wall.

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

The deadline for entry is Friday Jan. 27 at 11:59PM, EST. Good luck everyone!

Do you know of any companies that produce notebooks for keeping track of books read? I remember seeing one at some point, but I didn’t need one then As I am now working in a library and reading more, I would like to keep track of what I am reading and whether I liked it or not.

I can think of two: Moleskine Passions Book Journal, and the Knock Knock Life Log Leisure Notebook I received from Lost Crates, which has a section for logging books, in addition to other topics. And I’m sure there are others. But I’d caution you to think about what kinds of things you want to write about the books you’ve read– on Amazon, many of the customer reviews of the Moleskine journal mentioned finding the page layout too constraining, or not having enough pages in each alphabetical section. The best book journal may just be a blank book you customize for that purpose.

Sabrina writes “I want to do a fun little journal project with my sister who lives 10 hours away. I’m thinking something like ‘Wreck This Journal‘, but have been searching online for something that is uniquely designed for exchanging between two people with fun prompts for writing/silliness. Any suggestions?”

This is an interesting idea. I have never seen anything designed specifically for this purpose, but I hope someone decides to make one! If you’re going to be mailing it back and forth, you’d probably want something sturdy but lightweight, and not too oversized, and without a spiral or wire-o binding, since that could get crushed or bent. The Moleskine Cahiers or Japanese Albums, FieldNotes, some of the Whitelines journals or Rhodia staple-bound pads– there are lots of possibilities. Then just add your own writing prompts from books like these.

One other thing that might or might not generate some ideas for how to set up a two-person journal: journals designed for couples to write in together, such as these:

Kathy asks “I’m taking biology classes next semester and I’m wondering if I should choose Moleskine XLarge Soft Cover Notebooks or Whitelines Saddlestitched. Which is a better fit? I need something that can withhold throught the whole semester, because I know I’ll be opening the notebook(s) 100000x to reread my notes…It doesn’t matter if it’s ruled or squared.”

The softcover Moleskines have gotten a bad rap in the past for bindings that tear loose at the spine, but they might be worth a try again if you haven’t used one for a while, as they seem to be making more recent ones with a reinforced spine. I used one not long ago and had no problems whatsoever although previous ones had torn. The tape that reinforces the spine adds a slight thickness so you’ll see the edge of it under the cover material if it’s there. I haven’t fully tested a Whitelines notebook for durability, but perhaps other readers can chime in?

Thanks for your questions and answers, everyone! If you use Facebook, the Notebook Stories page there is also a great chance to interact with other notebook fans, since it takes me a forever to catch up on my emails!

My name is Casey and I TOO am a lover of notebooks. Mole skin, spiral, sketchbooks, oh my! I probably have too many but there is something so lovely about having blank notebooks around JUST in case.

I have so much love for notebooks that I decided to design a necklace that doubles as a notebook so I could always have one close. My notebook necklaces contain blank pages so they have a wide variety of uses.

Simply love notebooks
-make it a part of your daily fashion statement.

Need to remember something?
-Grab a piece of paper and jot it down.

Meet someone cute and want digits?
-Forget about writing on your hand, washing it off, and possibly losing the “one.”

Never again!

You can buy these necklaces (and other cool items) at www.fartsyarts.etsy.com

Read more here: falling feathers – new moleskine journals |.

“[The book] offers exactly 365 people, places, object, and ideas on blank, lined pages where people can write their responses. My writing partner and I created it as a different way to jumpstart our brains every day before we start work (or begin a new creative side project). We recommend spending 10-15 minutes a day writing whatever comes to your mind about one of the prompts. It could be a poem, a short story, a list, description, or silly rant. Regardless of what is written, it helps people in various walks of life to boost their brain power, generate new ideas, and connect with their inner creativity for a few minutes each day.”

Sounds like a great creativity booster! It’s available on Amazon.

**

Melissa needs help finding her perfect notebook:

I was hoping you might be able to help me find the right notebook for me. I’m trying to find a hard bound notebook or journal with white (not off-white like moleskin) blank pages that is in portrait format and bigger than 11×14. If you could even suggest a brand to try that would be very helpful.

The tricky thing here is finding something larger than 11×14″. The Cachet Classic Black Cover Sketchbook would be just right, but 11 x 14″ is the largest size. The Moleskine A3 sketchbbok is slightly larger at about 11 3/4 x 16″, but the paper won’t be the bright white she’s looking for.

Dick Blick Art Materials has a good selection of other sketchbooks, but the only ones I saw that were larger than 11 x 14″ were wire-bound.  The other solution might be to buy some extra-large paper and bind your own book! Does anyone else have any ideas?

**

Sandra found a cool notebook and wants your help in finding more:

A couple of days ago, I found this sketchbook at Marshall’s Department store for $4.95.  It’s approximately 9 in x 13 in, a thin ivory cardstock with red trim and a beautifully marbled cover.  It has a staple binding, but it’s very sturdy.  The wording ‘Valentina, Made in Italy’ is printed on the inside back cover.   I love the quality of the paper, but find the size a bit difficult to manage and would love to find out if the sketchbook can be found in any other size.  I searched Google and Bing but was unable to find any information.  The Marshalls’ website failed to offer any listing. Would you know of any other store that might carry this sketchbook?  Or shall I just starting haunting any Marshall’s I can find, in the hopes of discovering more of these gems?

**

Nestor asks “Do you know of any small safe that can be used to store your journal/diary so that no one else reads it?”
I have never stored my notebooks in anything more secure than a shoe box, but I do have one of these:

I use it for storing my passport, social security card, and important financial papers, but it could easily be used for notebooks as well. However, it’s very heavy and not that roomy inside because of the thick, fireproof walls. You could also use a more basic fireproof box like this:

These options might not be very sophisticated in terms of the lock mechanism, as they seem more designed for fire survival than theft prevention, but there are lots of other options for safes and security boxes here.

I’ll catch up with some more questions and submissions from readers soon. Thanks for all your emails!

I love the nice clean design, with all its sharp lines and angles. The cover is very cool– it’s sort of a two-layer design with the blue outer cover and flaps folding around a red inner cover.

Inside, you see that it’s technically called a calendar “plus sketchbook.” Lots of diaries have extra notes space, but I’ve never seen one that had such a high ratio of drawing pages. But before you get there, it’s pretty standard diary stuff: an international holiday list, which also includes major design industry events, a 2-year calendar, then weekly spreads which start with Monday. There are 4 days to each page, leaving room for a notes space at the end of the week. Holidays are in orange, and moon phases are noted in grey.

After the calendar pages, you get the blue sketchbook pages with various patterns in fine white lines– dots, grid, overlapping circles and triangles, etc. Very cool for drawing and doodling.
There’s also a red ribbon marker.

The whole thing measures 4 x 6″, and about 1/2 inch think. It’s nicely flexible and opens flat. The pages are lighter weight and a bit thin, so I’d expect some show-through with some pens.
You can purchase one at the Typotheque online store. It’s not super cheap at 15 Euros/$19.80 USD (plus shipping, which is 7.70 Euros to the US for 6-9 day international priority mail). But it’s a beautiful and unique way to keep track of your year and inspire your creativity!

15 euro/ 19.80 USD