Happy 2026! I can’t claim to have any major new notebook plans to report for this year: I’ll be sticking with the tried and true. But sometimes, even the tried and true changes a bit. This will be my 9th year of using a Nolty Efficiency Notebook. I’ve really gotten into a groove with Nolty’s … Continue reading 2026 Nolty Gold Planner Differences
I don’t think I’ve ever written about this notebook, which is a surprise. I fell hard for the Nava Memoria 1992 diary the minute I saw it. It was sold in a store I was working at then, and since I had just been promoted, I made the case that I needed this diary to … Continue reading New Year, Old Planner: Nava Memoria 1992
Orhan Pamuk’s Memories of Distant Mountains was published last year. I bought a copy right away but it’s taken me a while to review it! I wrote about Pamuk once before, quoting a passage from one of his books where he talks about his grandmother keeping notebooks that she wrote in every day. He must … Continue reading Orhan Pamuk’s Notebooks
Here’s another question from a reader who needs help finding a specific type of notebook: I’m looking for a pocket-sized daily planner (that’s NOT Moleskine). Something that has a full page for each day, not a planner that has a week layout on two pages. There are a thousand of those and I use them … Continue reading Reader Question: Seeking A Pocket Sized Daily Planner That Isn’t a Moleskine
Most of my collection of vintage looseleaf notebooks is either basic black ring binders from the first half of the 20th century from makers like Marquette and Wilson Jones, or Filofax organizers from the 1980s and 1990s. I don’t have that many other brands, so I was happy to add this Succes organizer to my … Continue reading Vintage Succes Seven Star Diary
What are the rules around selling and collecting old notebooks that belonged to other people? I’ve recently been wondering about this after seeing certain items for sale on various sites, including a diary with very intimate thoughts and full names included. Nothing was blurred out in the listing, so I was able to google the … Continue reading Vintage Journal Ethics
It’s been ages since I updated my “using now” photo, and while some things have stayed the same, there have been some changes along the way. I’m still using my Nolty Gold diary/planner to log exercise, meals, to-do lists, and grocery lists, as well as noting appointments and keeping track of habits. More details here: … Continue reading Notebooks I’m Using Now: Summer 2025
In Roland Allen’s The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper, there’s a mention of how Socrates disapproved of writing things down because he thought it would ruin people’s ability to memorize things. At least I think there something about it in that book… but I can’t find either “Socrates” or “memory” in the index, … Continue reading Do Notebooks Destroy Memorization Skills?
A few months ago, I wrote about my latest work notebook, a vintage Filofax. It’s working so well for me that I wish I had bought a Filofax in this size years ago to use for this purpose. I can’t help regretting all those wasted decades of using random office supply closet notebooks (as well … Continue reading How to Use a Notebook When Your Life Isn’t Busy
Here’s a gorgeous little antique notebook that I recently added to my collection. At over a century old, it is still in pretty good shape! The cover seems to be some kind of faux leather wrapped around cardboard, with the year stamped in gold. The pages have gilt edges, rather faded now. Another nice little … Continue reading 1912 Diary from France
