Confession: I have a lot of favourite notebooks. I’ve always loved the promise of a brand-new, blank notebook. And what’s not to love? 

Unique cover designs, various sizes, and thick pages inviting you to write what you need to write or what you want to write. It’s perfection. 

Because those beautiful pages are ready to hear all your brilliant ideas, you need to make sure that you select a notebook that speaks to you.

Notebooks are special.  

The Versatility of Notebooks

You already know how important I think journaling is, but don’t you, like me, feel that you need different notebooks for different projects or even different phases of your life? 

I do. Maybe that’s why I have a collection that I sometimes wonder what I will use them all for. 

No matter how many times I tell myself that I have enough notebooks for journaling and notebooks for writing in general, I still gravitate towards them.

Whenever I wander into a bookstore or a paper shop, I browse through their selection of notebooks and immediately plan out what I’d use them for—will the embroidered journal with blank pages be the perfect notebook for my morning pages or will the notebook with a drawing of Lisbon’s Tram 28 be a good notebook for journaling? 

Don’t be afraid to experiment until you find your favourite notebook

It’s taken me a lot of trial and error to finally know what works best for me and what I keep returning to again and again. So even though I still excitedly pick up new notebooks that I think will fit into my life perfectly, and excitedly flip through its pages, I now tend to stick with what I know works for me. This ensures that I don’t have a collection of unused (expensive!) notebooks and can instead use what I buy and love every moment of list-making, note-taking, and journaling.

My 5 Absolute Favourite Notebooks:

None of these contain affiliate links, nor are we receiving any compensation or commission for referring these items. These are our personal recommendations to share in hopes you will benefit from them too.

Moleskin – Always a Favourite Notebook for Good Reason

#1. Moleskine – The traditional and extremely popular notebook with good reason. These feel decadent, yet are extremely practical. There are so many options to choose from in relation to size as well as paper design. Currently, my favourite moleskin notebooks are the hardcover XL notebooks with plain pages. I find the lined ones to be too scrunched together for my comfort. Bonus—if you order via the Moleskine website, you can get your notebook monogrammed.

Erin Condren – Great for planning

#2. Erin Condren – I’ve been using their yearly agendas since 2013 and I cannot imagine using anything else. Because I love the agenda so much, I decided to try Erin Condren’s other notebooks and found they were also of great quality. When I’m writing, whether it’s to-do lists or longer form writing, my main concern is that I have space and that I am comfortable writing inside of, and I have found that Erin Condren’s agendas and notebooks provide both. My favourite is the Coiled Weekly Life Planner in any of the Vegan options. This year, Isabel and I ordered the same life planner They’re very good quality and functional.

Legal Pads – The Best for Brainstorming

#3. Legal Pads – Not technically a notepad, but I cannot function without these. These are not super beautiful, but they are excellent. I find that they are great for brainstorming or organizing a project. I usually have one on my desk. This lets me easily scribble down ideas while I also work on my computer. These legal pads are becoming harder and harder to find, so stock up!

Mead Notebook – Cambridge Edition – Great for Research

#4. Mead Notebook – Cambridge Edition – I recently discovered these and fell in love with them because they are so similar to a brand that I used to love but were discontinued. I’ve found that these are great for notetaking. Plus, I just found out that Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones and the Six, uses these for her research, so you’ll be in talented company.

Papier – So Darn Pretty and Functional!

#5. Papier – As a gift from me to me, I ordered the Marble Sea hardcover journal and love it. Even though I normally prefer coiled notebooks so that I can write on the lefthand side with more ease, I find these are pretty comfortable in that regard. I still can’t bend the page all the way around, but it’s spacious enough for me to rest my hand on it and write along its pages. 

Any one of these are a great starting point whether you are looking for a hardcover journal, a blank notebook, or anything in between.

-Marilyn

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