Posts filed under Notebook Reviews

Traveler's Company Spiral Ring A5 Slim Paper Pocket Notebook Review

Reading is fundamental, they say. Reading comprehension? Even more so in my book. That’s something I learned about first hand with the Traveler's Company Spiral Ring A5 Slim Paper Pocket Notebook.

Reading that product description, I thought “Cool. An A5 slim spiral notebook with an added pocket inside. Count me in.” I couldn’t have been more wrong. This is an A5 slim “notebook” full of pockets. That’s literally all there is. 16 sheets, with pockets on the front and back of each page, making for 32 slots of storage. The entire notebook is pockets!

I was flummoxed when I opened this up. I honestly thought it was a mistake - there is no way I would have ordered this on purpose. Then I re-read the product title - which is all I ordered from, no pictures or product description - and I still couldn’t wrap my head around what I missed. As it turns out, I missed all of it. Japan got me, once again.

What this notebook is is a storage folder. It’s honestly hard to even call it a notebook - folder may be a better term. It’s made to hold anything from stamps, to notes, to stickers, to receipts, to tickets - any loose items that you want to hang on to, either for storage, or for future use. And for that, it is fantastic.

As confused as I was upon receiving this product, it makes me smile. It is so specific, and not something I had ever seen before. Sure, you could use a coupon folder, or the like, to perform the same task, but the Traveler’s Company made it. One of the coolest stationery companies in the world. They know better than me, right? So I better find a good way to use it. And I think I did.

I’ve mentioned the visual journal I keep for mind-freeing and creative purposes. Most of its contents are cut from magazines and washi-taped into a notebook. The Traveler’s Paper Pocket Notebook has been hugely beneficial in helping me sort my images before I use them.

Before, I would just stack things up on my desk, or use them as I cut them out. This notebook allows me to flip through various images and pick and choose what I want to put in my journal. Maybe an image that I had set aside by itself works better with an image I found a few weeks ago. I can sort by artist, or size, or color palette and pull from the notebook as needed. Somehow, this notebook opened things up and allowed me to be more creative.

Aside from my paper trimmings, I’ve found it to be a good place to store note cards. I’ve talked about how I use my cards to sketch out product ideas for Nock, and I like to keep those together for inspiration. Instead of a stack on my desk, they now live in this pocket notebook as well.

Products like this are why I love stationery so much. This shouldn’t exist. No one in a creative meeting should go “I’ve got it! A notebook … full of pockets!” But they did. And I love them for that. And I’ve found a new product that I love, purely by mistake.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)


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Posted on March 18, 2019 and filed under Traveler's Notebook, Notebook Reviews.

Raymay Kenko Adjustable Book Stand Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her first novel, The Bone Weaver’s Orchard, now available where books are sold!)

If you are happily ensconced in an analog bubble, as I am--and I suspect a number of you are--it can be galling when digital necessity rears its ugly head. I love to write a lot, and I love to do that with pens in notebooks, which does neither of us any good if I'm writing down thoughts I'd like to share with you. Thoughts like: This Raymay Kenko Adjustable Book Stand is the bee's knees and is a super handy tool if you spend a lot of time typing up handwritten work.

In the course of half an hour, my thoughts on this product went from "This seems pretty handy" to "Oh, this is nice" to "Okay, now I can't live without this" to "This is my book stand 'Stan' and we're best friends now."

The design for this product has been fine-tuned over the course of 58 years, and its simple perfection reflects that. The frame is made from steel, with a thin but strong supportive base. The kickstand can slide up and down the center bar to adjust the reclining angle. The kickstand is tipped in silicone so it doesn't slip against the steel base. At the very front of the base is a hinged bar with silicone-tipped arms that hold the book open for easy viewing. The whole thing folds down flat for easy transport.

The steel is strong enough to hold heavy books or tablets, and the silicone prevents the support bar from scratching pages or screens. It can hold a book up to A4 size, and does well with smaller notebooks also. I imagine a very small notebook might not work as well with the front page holders. Very beefy novels may not fit on the base, either, as the front strip is a bit narrow and doesn't leave enough room between the back support and the page holders for Epic Tomes. But for general use cases, it's perfect.

I tried this out with A6 and B6 hard and softback notebooks, and all were well supported and stayed open nicely to display the work inside. Having the pages upright and facing me has helped tremendously with my work, which can sometimes consist of typing up 400-600 pages of scribbles. It has saved me back, neck, and eye strain. Needless to say, Stan the Stand now has a permanent place on my desk.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)


Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on March 14, 2019 and filed under Raymay, Notebook Reviews.

Kokuyo Buncobon Dot Cover Notebook Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her first novel, The Bone Weaver’s Orchard, now available where books are sold!)

These sweet little Kokuyo Buncobon Dot Cover Notebook is designed to resemble Japanese paperback novels--a charming paper cover, the perfect A6 palm-of-your-hand size--with an additional eye for usability.

The notebook measures 4.1" by 5.8" and will fit in your favorite A6 notebook case or cover. It does come with a paper cover over the plain cream cardstock, and then another plastic cover over that. I found the plastic cover to be crinkly and irritating, so I set it aside fairly quickly. The paper cover has a pretty dot pattern, and it stays on with a folding flap that also serves as the notebook's index. The paper cover isn't terribly durable, though. And considering the generous page count and the fact that the book will probably be in use a while, an additional cover might not be a bad idea.

The cover itself is softcover cardstock with blue tape binding. The binding is glue, and it claims to lie flat, but I found mine needed a lot of training to even come close, and then I worried about whether the binding would hold together after such abuse. I prefer sewn bindings, but this one is working well so far.

Inside the notebook you'll find 70 sheets of 5mm grid 70gsm ivory paper. The paper has a bit of texture and tooth to it, but in a crisp, pleasant way. It's surprisingly good paper for a notebook with a large number of sheets and a price tag under $5. It held up well with most pens. Not Sharpie, of course, but everything else did very well. There's a touch of show-through with a very wet, dark rollerball, but the fountain pen did great.

A nice feature of this book is its searchable function--there are spaces along the side edge that are designed for color coding that will be visible from the fore-edge, so you can flip to the section you need with ease. Combined with the index, it's a powerful little organizational tool. And it's got a sweet wee ribbon bookmark, too.

These are fantastic little notebooks. Not perfect, no, but the compromises are fair and worth it for what you do get. I love that there are enough pages to see me through a larger project, and that I can use my fountain pens, all without making my wallet weep. I think these would make great bullet journals or planners. They'd be wonderful for class notes. Perfect for novel research! I may use mine as a travel journal for an upcoming trip. Needless to say, it's a versatile book and very impressive for the price. Kokuyo knocks it out of the park again.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)


Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on March 7, 2019 and filed under Kokuyo, Notebook Reviews.