Some notebooks belonging to writer Susie Boyt:

I have always kept notebooks – messy little attics of the mind, an odd assortment of shapes and colours stuffed into drawers next to defunct phones and balls of string. They feel private and tender, a bit like night clothes; or embarrassing, like over-eager little sisters.

From an interesting article in the Guardian, where Susie Boyt, Paul Theroux and Amit Chaudhari share various thoughts about writers’ notebooks.  These authors, and others, are included in a new book called Tales from a Master’s Notebook, in which they have each written a short story based on jottings in Henry James’s notebooks:

Read more at: ‘Messy attics of the mind’: what’s inside a writer’s notebook? | Books | The Guardian