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
It’s really quite dangerous for me to shop for pen refills at Jet Pens– I think I’ll be disciplined and just get what I need, but then I can never seem to resist throwing in a notebook… …such as this little cutie made by Papier Platz. Though the name sounds French or German, this is … Continue reading Papier Platz Notebook Review
In Parts 1, 2 and 3 of this series, I traced the history of “pocket slim” Filofax models– pocket size, with no snap closure, mostly having smaller rings and no pen loops. But after poring over every catalog in the Philofaxy archives to build up my chronology, there are still some “pocket slim” models I … Continue reading The History of the Pocket Slim Filofax, Part 4: Oddities and Alternatives
I bought these Logical Prime notebooks at Nota Bene in Montreal, a great destination for stationery shopping. These wire-o bound notebooks have a snazzy design that stands out from many of their competitors. I chose a B5 size notebook with a green cover, and an A5 size in grey. The covers are made of a … Continue reading Notebook Review: Logical Prime
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 have to confess that I bought this notebook mainly because I was feeling a little frustrated. I’d made a trip into NYC and was all excited to go to Goods for the Study and browse through lots of fabulous stationery… but then when I got there, I didn’t see anything that I really thought … Continue reading Dressco Stitched Notebook Review
I was reminded of this phrase by a marketing email from Plotter, linking to this post. Techo Kaigi means “notebook meeting,” and the idea is that you should have a meeting with yourself to contemplate your notebooking methods and make sure they are right for you. This is generally done in the fall, when planners … Continue reading Techo Kaigi
Not exactly recent news, but I came across a 2020 series of articles on a Japanese lifestyle website where various fashion industry professionals talk about their use of paper planners. The auto-translated text wasn’t that exciting, but I always love seeing pictures of other people’s notebooks! See more at Begin, including part 2 here, part … Continue reading Japanese Fashion Professionals’ Planners
Every once in a while I spot a notebook that I know would be totally wrong for my personal needs and preferences… but I salivate over it anyway. The Japanese Shibori notebooks below are a perfect example! The dyed patterns and colors are absolutely gorgeous. Alas, I know I’d never use a landscape format A6 … Continue reading Shibori 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
