Recommend To Me An A5 Journal

[sombrueil]

Recommend, O paper lovers, an A5 journal for my daily writer.

 

Cream or ivory paper. Not white. Prefer unlined, can tolerate faint dots. I can write straight without assistance, thanks.

 

Rhodia has the kind of paper I prefer, in fact their webnotebooks are basically perfect but are essentially limited to black. And it is quite hard to find unlined ones.

 

Tomoe River paper is too thin for my taste, I use it for letters but there's too much ghosting for a journal. I'm in the middle of my last Leuchtterm1917 journal. Great quality all around but also too much ghosting. I write with wet noodle nibs sometimes, and sketch as well as write. Just want a thicker paper.

 

Hard bound. Of course must lie flat. Sewn not spiral binding. I do not tear out pages.

I don't do "bullet journals" so don't require any of those extra things at all. Just blank please.

 

Suggestions?

 

When I google search all that comes up is Rhodia and Leuchtturm.

 

[carlos.q]

If you like the Rhodia webnotebook you can always get it in orange or silver!

Edited September 11, 2019 by carlos.q

[sombrueil]

Really, silver? Never seen one of those. I have filled many an orange and a black though.

[carlos.q]

Check this site: https://www.gouletpens.com/products/rhodia-medium-webnotebook-silver-dot-grid

[sombrueil]

I think I always opted for blank webnotebooks which only come in orange and black. But if I lower my criteria just a little there are a few I see to try out --

 

Rag and Bone
Ciak (I tried before, some years back, can't remember why I didn't return to them)

Peter Pauper

 

anyone have experience with any of these?

[namrehsnoom]

Endless Recorder notebooks are nice. Ivory paper, compared to e.g. really white Clairefontaine. This is Tomoe River 68 gsm paper, so heavier than the usual 52 gsm Tomoe River variant.

Take a look at https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/346540-the-paper-plane-endless-recorder-a5-notebook/ to get a feel of what it looks like.

[sombrueil]

Endless Recorder notebooks are nice. Ivory paper, compared to e.g. really white Clairefontaine. This is Tomoe River 68 gsm paper, so heavier than the usual 52 gsm Tomoe River variant.

Take a look at https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/346540-the-paper-plane-endless-recorder-a5-notebook/ to get a feel of what it looks like.

 

oh, those look very promising!! thanks!

[XYZZY]

Midori MD notebooks. Cream not white. Stitched. Opens flat. The cover is basically cardstock, but they sell covers, some cheap.

 

Have you tried 68gsm Tomoe River?

[sombrueil]

Midori MD notebooks. Cream not white. Stitched. Opens flat. The cover is basically cardstock, but they sell covers, some cheap.

 

Have you tried 68gsm Tomoe River?

No, just the thin letter paper.

[tpsfp]

Midori MD notebooks. Cream not white. Stitched. Opens flat. The cover is basically cardstock, but they sell covers, some cheap.

 

Have you tried 68gsm Tomoe River?

+1 for MD. They even have a slightly thicker (I think) cotton paper for the notebook, though that is not as smooth.

[XYZZY]

No, just the thin letter paper.

Everybody's obviously different but I really like the 68gsm. To me the showthrough is acceptable. To be clear i don't think the showthrough is great, but I'm happy to put up with it for the other qualities of the paper.

 

One thing to consider is the sample pack from Goulet. When I bought it a year ago it included their A6 book of Tomoe River 68gsm, but of course of other things too.

[mhguda]

I got one of the Midori cotton paper notebooks. Tried it, turned around and went back to the website and ordered four more. I use a heavy black lined guide under the right page - the left page text from the previous written page provides enough guidance to write straight.

And this is while I do love 52gsm Tomoe River and do write on both sides...

[N_Architect]

Can seldom go wrong with Japanese paper....

 

 

 

[sombrueil]

Contemplating a Taroka Enigma.

[XYZZY]

Contemplating a Taroka Enigma.

 

+1 for the Taroko

 

If you decide to order more than one with the idea of spreading out the shipping cost then be sure to pay attention to shipping when you check out.

[BDarchitect]

Another +1 for the Midori MD notebooks. I use them for daily journal entries and love the paper and the overall minimal aesthetic. The darker line halfway down the page is a nice benchmark for marking writing progress and provides allows for other subdivision uses. I have a $3 clear plastic cover they make and it is perfect. I left the white carboard inner sleeve behind the plastic and tucked the notebook in behind that. I run through one in about 2 months and get a half dozen or so at a time.

[wallylynn]

I like the muji notebooks. I use the A5 spiral grid. But they should have plain bound. Cheap enough to have a test.

[sombrueil]

I like the muji notebooks. I use the A5 spiral grid. But they should have plain bound. Cheap enough to have a test.

 

The issue I have with these, as with the Midori MD as I understand them without seeing them in person, is that they are really notebooks not journals. They are for one big thing just too thin. I want a blank hardbound journal I can fill, label with the date on the spine, and then file on a bookshelf. It takes me between three months and a year of daily entries to fill them and I've been doing this for .... forty-five years or so. Although not all that time with a fountain pen. They are not bullet journals (still not really sure what those are) nor sketchbooks, although there are drawings throughout, nor anything disposable at all. I have conserved even my most embarrassing journals from when I was fifteen years old, indeed they are the only objects in my life I have consistently saved over the years. So they need to have some heft and permanence to them.

 

I have one more unopened Leuchtturm in my stack yet -- although the ghosting and even bleedthrough is irritating, I will fill it up anyway -- and have since the start of this thread bought an Endless Recorder, which looks promising. Have not yet ink-tested it. In the mail still is an ambitious purchase, a Takaro Enigma. These three should suffice for a year or more. Hopefully they will answer my needs!

 

As usual FPN has been enormously helpful in pointing me in the right direction.

[wallylynn]

Bullet journal is just a fancy, personalized, to-do list. In a "permanent" book instead of disposable notepad sheets. If you're familiar with Getting Things Done, it's the place for your brain-dump. But really, what's the difference between notebook, journal, and diary? Not much. I still have a few marble notebooks from grade school, they lasted just fine.

 

I had the refillable cover Staples ARC notebook, and bound my own refills for several years. Their disk-bound paper is quite nice. It needs to be sturdier to withstand the disk stress. But the notebook paper was somewhat thin. Binding my own refills let me have exactly what I wanted.

[blackfinger]

Montblanc 146 notebooks. Looks great and performs very well. You can find them lined or blank, gold or silver cut. But be prepared to spend a little xD