short reviews of random notebooks i've used so far this year (june 2025)
been notebook-ing it up recently so i want to talk about them.
hobonichi weeks 2025
i like it. i thought i'd be making more use of the right hand side given i'm still grinding it out at uni and have a lot to do, but i don't often find myself using the whole page which is interesting. i really like the extra fun stuff like the top 100 list and the extra pages at the back, even though i haven't really figured out what to fill it up with. and i like the monthly pages although that might be just because i didn't have them with my last couple of planners. i am excited to go back and decorate it all nice now i've got some time on my hands.
traveller's notebook passport insert (grid)
itty bitty, though i didn't really think much of it until my classmate mentioned how small it was in class once (likely place for a classmate to be). i like the smallness, though i did find it hard if i wanted to write something down and then reflect on it afterwards bc it just takes up a lot of pages as a result of the small pages? i also lament the rather thin cover, but i suppose it was intended to be used with the leather covers they have.
traveller's notebook (bigger version) insert (plain)
i sort of liked the tn passport so i decided i would try the bigger version. i don't like it, but i think it might be my choice of the plain paper, but i also think the cover is a lot weaker than the passport because it's bigger (more floppy). maybe it's the version i got as well, but at least in the passport one there's a cool little passport layout on the back, but this has nothing fun. also a bit unwieldy for me (too much on the wide and tall side for my preferences). i guess it's helped me decide i'll probably get a passport leather cover if i do decide to try out the journal system they have going on.
midori a5?
a lot of people had good things to say about it so i wanted to try it out. i immediately messed up the cream white cover when i went out but the paper so far feels nice and there's a lot of pages so my goal of finishing a sketchbook this year has been extended lol (i think i can do it though).
saffice? lihit lab inc.
i was thinking about notebooks that open up vertically and how they're associated with journalists or news reporters in my mind so when my last commonplace/rando book ran out of pages i wanted to get one. but i also realised that i just hate spiral notebooks, so i got this one, which is still spiral, but instead of the typical ones they had these floppy soft plastic loops to attach all the paper together. it's got a pocket at the back, but it's a bit flimsy. so far it's mainly been used to write down my s2 severance thoughts, Shinymas W.I.N.G. route thoughts, details of characters i want to put in my newly made tomodachi life island (rip old one you will be missed...), list of arknights stories to read, and stuff i want to do once the semester's over (now!!!)
muji b6 slim light grey grid
i thought i would hate this when i went in the store and checked it out, but i've been wanting to try it and i needed a new notebook so i got it anyways. i don't like how obvious the cover can be about my sweaty hands :"( and some of the pages have been more stuck in than others, so it becomes a bit uneven (idk how to describe this. but i think you'd know if you saw it). but i forgot how nice muji paper is in general (smooth. sleek.) and i am just glad to have a bit more of a hard cover than my previous one (tn plain...). i like the b6 format (skinny but tall) notebooks i think.