This book sounds fascinating! It was just reviewed in the New York Times: Rome, 1950: The diary begins innocently enough, with the name of its owner, Valeria Cossati, written in a neat script. Valeria is buying cigarettes for her husband when she is entranced by the stacks of gleaming black notebooks at the tobacco shop. … Continue reading The Forbidden Notebook
If you’re not familiar with the term “mudlark,” it means someone who digs around in a riverbed at low tide to see what sorts of treasures they might find. I felt like I’d found some treasure when I discovered Johnny Mudlark’s diary! I first saw some of these images on Pinterest, and was led to … Continue reading A Thames Mudlarker’s Notebook
I’ve been reading everyone’s year-end recaps and new year’s resolutions and feeling like I need to jump on that bandwagon! But I can’t say I have any sweeping overviews or grand intentions. I’m kind of a creature of habit when it comes to notebooks, so “new year” doesn’t mean there’s that much new to talk … Continue reading 2022 –> 2023!
It’s that exciting season again, when next year’s planners are announced by Nolty. This year there are a few changes to their product line-up– a couple of discontinued versions of the diaries, and some new formats. Fans of B6 size planners will find some new products. There are also some new notebook/diary options where you … Continue reading Nolty 2023 Diaries Now Available
I spotted the image below in a recent New York Times article about Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the filmmaker who directed the Beatles documentary “Let It Be.” The diaries described as follows in the article: He has preserved much of what he went through with the Beatles in diaries, which he has kept since the “Ready Steady … Continue reading Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s Diaries
I recently went to the Morgan Library in New York City, primarily to see the Holbein exhibition that’s currently being shown there. (Well worth seeing and it closes soon, so go if you can!) The Morgan is also currently showing an exhibition about Woody Guthrie, which happens to feature quite a few notebooks! This composition … Continue reading Woody Guthrie’s Notebooks
Shocking news from a publishing industry newsletter: Sen. Ted Cruz Slams Blank Book Sales for ‘Potentially Offensive Content’ Sen. Ted Cruz (R.-Tex.) took his crusade against books he deems objectionable to a new level this week when he warned against the dangers of selling diaries, journals and other blank books to minors. Just days after … Continue reading Banned Blank Books!
I’m a fan of Paperblanks notebooks. I own several of them but I had never actually used one until quite recently, when I decided to bite the bullet and try using a Paperblanks Flexis notebook as a daily journal. I’ve been coveting these notebooks for a while– there are some very cool cover designs, and … Continue reading Paperblanks Flexis Notebook Review
A nice little piece in the New York Times about keeping a commonplace book, by Charley Locke: I’ve never been a journal person, though not for lack of trying. A monogrammed duffel bag in my parents’ basement holds many old diaries — a furry leopard-print one from elementary school, Moleskines with unbroken spines from college … Continue reading On Keeping a Commonplace Book
These Harvard Coop diaries mark the beginnings of my serious obsession with little black notebooks. I started using them at around the age of 9. Before that, I’d had some 3 x 5″ spiral notebooks, and I liked to get the little Hallmark month-to-a-page planners that drugstores would give out for free, but I barely … Continue reading Harvard Coop Diaries