(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)
Gosh, but I love a good purse notebook. Can you ever have too many? No, you cannot, and this one is a total winner. A purse notebook, for me, is something more robust than a pocket notebook, but still wee and portable. They're perfect for commonplace books, travel journals, meeting notes, or any purpose on-the-go.
The Sunny Light Notebook is really two pieces: The PVC cover and the notebook insert. The PVC cover is smooth and minimal, with just a small logo debossed at the bottom front. It has a built-in faux leather strip bookmark, a pen loop, and an elastic band to help keep the book closed. The cover is shaped to make all of these pieces fit together in a neat package, with space carved out to make room for the pen. Inside, the cover has folder pockets for the notebook insert to slide into. This cover is in a pale green color, and it's also available in yellow, white, blue, pink, and brown. It comes with a small sheet of label stickers.
The cover is perfect for a portable notebook. The PVC is waterproof and durable, so it can survive the inside of even the most chaotic tote bag. The pen loop is on the narrow side, but it can fit a skinny gel pen, or function as a clip loop for any clip pen.
The notebook insert is particularly nice. It's a fairly slim book, but it holds a whopping 160 pages (80 sheets) of Tomoe River S paper. Six of those pages are devoted to a numbered index, and the rest of the pages are numbered and have 2.5 mm grid layout. Not everyone will want to write on both sides of the page, though. While the paper is magically bleed-resistant, there is a bit of ghosting with these thin sheets. It's not enough to bother me, personally, but if you prefer broad nibs and dark inks, it might be an issue for you. It's still a decent number of pages, even if you only use one side.
The notebook (cover and insert) costs $24, with refills costing $8.25. I think both of those prices are fair. It's also worth noting that while the overall notebook is A6 Slim, the insert is extremely similar in size to Field Notes (off by only a tenth of an inch), and the cover is compatible with them. If you happen to have a stack of Field Notes hanging around (don't we all?), this cover would be a snazzy way to transport them.
(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!
