(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 her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)
This Maruman Bodoni A5 Notebook is the ultimate in minimalist elegance. I wouldn't normally think that about something so aggressively orange, but the design of it is so sleek that it screams fancy. But it's not! JetPens has the Maruman Bodoni notebook for just $17.50. And it does come in Black or Blue if you need something for your more formal writing events.
The cover is made from a very thin sheet of faux leather. It's firm enough to serve as a writing surface, but soft enough to be flexible. The front inside cover is a rounded folded flap embossed with a portrait of Giambattista Bodoni, who was a typographer and printer in Italy in the 17th century. The inside back cover is a folder pocket where the notebook's insert slides in. The cover closes with an elastic band around the middle.
The insert is an A5 Maruman notebook with 40 sheets of 60gsm blank paper. A 3-pack of the refills costs $13.00. Because they're so slim, you might need a few extras on hand. Other thin notebooks will fit in this cover, as well, so you can substitute your favorite if you have a preference.
The paper inside the insert was fairly good, although it did show some feathering and bleeding with liquid inks in broad nibs. Dark rollerball ink had enough show-through that it would be difficult to use the back side of a page. The paper was fantastic for fine nibbed pens, gel pens, or pencils. The notebook has a glue binding that allows the pages to be cleanly removed, but has enough hold that the pages stay attached if you don't peel them.
The highlight of this notebook is really its slim simplicity. While it's not enough paper for penning an epic work of writing, it would be great for meeting notes. It's thin enough to slip it into a laptop sleeve alongside your tech and it was great to take traveling when I needed to pack light.
While it might not be fine leather or the best quality paper, it looks and feels like a very fancy product and it's been quite enjoyable to use. If you're looking for a well-made, minimal, elegant notebook without the high price tag, this is perfect.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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