(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.)
Leuchtturm has spent nearly a century perfecting the notebook, and as far as my personal tastes go, this is their best model yet. They've taken all the goodness of a standard Leuchtturm and distilled it into this softcover, smaller size.
The most discernible feature of this notebook is its soft cover. It's lightweight and flexible, but still adds an appropriate amount of structure. The cover material has a nice, subtle texture. It's not as smooth or as glossy as the standard Leuchtturm, but has more of a matte, pebbly feel to it. Where the old standard Leuchtturm exudes old-world elegance and wants you to bring your Mont Blanc to a very important meeting, this snappy wee version screams "grab your TWSBI; we're going camping".
The A6 size is a bit taller and narrower than a Field Notes pocket notebook (and of course thicker, with more pages), but it fits nicely in a pocket or in the pocket notebook cases I have, including my Nock Hightower and Sinclair. I daresay, it may replace my current carry system of three standard pocket notebooks. The double ribbon bookmark and table of contents make it ideal for multi-subject use, and the generous number of pages means I can take it away for the weekend without worrying I'm going to run out of writing room. It's a great compromise between a pocket notebook and a full-size journal. I had thought to make it strictly an ink log--but I keep reaching for it. This notebook wasn't built to sit on a desk. It has places to go.
Inside, there's the familiar Leuchtturm quality. 121 thread-bound pages of their ink-proof, acid-free paper. The paper is smooth and lightweight, and it held up beautifully to every ink and nib combo I threw at it, including a very wet Sailor zoom nib and a juicy TWSBI 1.1 stub. There was no bleeding, almost no show-through, and only microscopic feathering (with only a few of the inks). You can get the paper in dot grid, graph, lined, or blank.
The thread binding allows the notebook to lay open flat--though it takes a little training before it does this well--and the elastic closure band keeps it closed without getting in the way. The expandable pocket holds a good amount of flotsam, but too much of it will affect the overall flexibility and slim profile of the book. There are also eight perforated sheets at the back for those analog info-sharing moments. And of course, it comes with a few labeling stickers.
The Leuchtturm1917 Softcover Pocket Notebook is available in a variety of colors, from wild to professional, and I want them all. And bonus: they won't take up much space on the blank book shelf.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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