I’ve been looking forward to reading Roland Allen’s book “The Notebook” ever since I first heard about it. I mean, a book about the history of the notebook, what’s not to like? And yet, when I looked at the table of contents and started flipping through the book, I wondered if I would find it … Continue reading Book Review: “The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper”
This year, I feel like I’ve seen more Instagram and blog posts with this title than ever before. Setting up one’s planner for the coming year means different things to different people– for some, it seems to be an elaborate and labor-intensive process! I admire the creativity and care, and I’m sure beautiful, hand-crafted planner … Continue reading 2025 Planner Set-Up
In my trawling of various websites that sell Japanese notebooks, I’d often noticed a lot of listings for “household account books.” I figured using a notebook to track household finances must be common or traditional in Japan, but I never knew the full story behind it until I finally decided to do some research and … Continue reading Kakeibo: Japanese Household Account Books
I came across a very interesting post on the website of the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre. Their Heritage Education Officer Ruth Butler writes about working on a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, in 2016. She found what she describes as “a treasure-trove of sketchbooks, diaries, letters and photographs … Continue reading Jack Parham’s Notebooks
Every so often, I spot interesting looking Japanese notebooks and planners on Instagram. Without knowing any Japanese, it’s sometimes hard to figure out what the brand is, but sometimes I manage to click around in various hashtags and find at least a keyword or two that might lead to a link I can copy and … Continue reading Interesting Japanese Diaries
In my post about Denbigh notebooks, I linked to a site that had a photo of a Denbigh notebook from the 1960s: Drew Family Diaries. These diaries are worth a post of their own! Roger Drew created a website to share this amazing collection of diaries kept by members of his family, starting with his … Continue reading The Drew Family Diaries
When I placed this year’s Nolty order from Japan, I decided to throw in one of their Pagem planners. Pagem is a brand that seems to be aimed more at women, as many of their designs have pastel colors and floral patterns rather than the very conservative Nolty options. Colorful, patterned, “feminine” covers are not … Continue reading 2024 Pagem Planner Review
Here’s another trip down memory lane with a Filofax from my collection of refillable notebooks. This Filofax must have been bought before the two Pocket Chelsea models I wrote about recently. At first, I thought it might be more recent, because it is in such good condition, but it only has 4 rings, a configuration … Continue reading No-Name Pocket Filofax, 1990s
As noted recently, I’ve been revisiting some of my old Filofaxes, which feel like time capsules from the late 1990s. One of my favorites from that time was the Filofax Pocket Chelsea. I liked it so much, I bought two! They are actually slightly different, though no distinction was made in the model name. Both … Continue reading Filofax Pocket Chelsea, Two Ways
I forget how I came across this very poignant notebook. It is a diary belonging to Peter Feigl, a 13-year old Austrian Jewish refugee in Vichy France. …Peter wrote about the traumatic events he had just experienced in his diary. His parents were first taken to an internment camp at Le Vernet, and the diary that … Continue reading Peter Feigl’s Diary
