. * ★ * Peaches Choi * ★ * .

Jane a Day Journal

Time for another Jane Austen notebook post and this one is a 5 year diary. It's from Potter style and is around £10 on Amazon at the moment but prices do fluctuate (and I managed to purchase it for a lot less when the price was down).

It's quite small (3.2 x 11.4 x 15.9 cm) and the lines are TINY. I have handwriting that is on the smaller side but even I struggled to fit in my comments.

Each date comes with a Jane Austen quote from her novels or letters.

Each page has space for 5 (very miniscule) entries. At first I started off using the journal to comment on each Jane Austen quote but now I use it to summarise what I did in the day so that I can look back at a date at random and see what I did that day.

The pages are thick and white so ink has very little show through on the other side.

Like the other Jane Austen journal I reviewed I would recommend this as a gift for any Janeite! If I had to choose just one or the other I would recommend the other journal as an all rounder as it's more affordable and has more space to write comfortably. But both are great and have different uses and purposes so you could easily own and use both simultaneously.

Jane Austen Journal review

The Jane Austen Journal by Potter style is currently being sold on Amazon for £6.47, which is a very reasonable price for any Janeite! The front cover has the image and quote above and the back cover has this lovely view of the roaming countryside.

It has 160 pages and the product dimensions are 17.8 x 13.2 x 1.8 cm, so it's the perfect size for handbag travel.

I particularly love the inside cover.

The pages are off white and the lines are a kind of pale lime green which sounds unappealing in theory but works really well on the page. You can see the lines clearly but they don't feel like they overwhelm any writing you may do.

Most of the pages are plain but every eighth page or so you get an image and quote from Austen's works.

The pages are very smooth and take ink pen really well without too much show through.

This makes an excellent gift for notebook lovers, especially those who are Jane Austen fans.

Journal of Kori

This is my current every day notebook purchased from a Korean seller on eBay (which is sadly still the only place I purchase all my Korean goodies. Wish there was an easier way to find them here!)

I can't remember exactly how much I bought mine for but it wasn't too expensive, I think it was between £6 and £7. The seller who I purchased from doesn't stock them anymore but there are still sellers on eBay selling for around £12.

There are two type main types of journals I go for: the usual standard black, A5, "conservative" type (which makes up a good percentage of my whole collection) and then the quirky "cute" type. This falls into the latter category.

None of the pages are white or ivory but rather this tea-stained looking colour.

All of the pages are lined and have designs on the bottom of the pages.

Some close ups.

Cute! I generally prefer unlined pages for my scrawling but occasionally I like lines and these little designs in the bottom corners really make this journal all the more whimsical.

If only I could find notebooks like these in UK stores. All we have are giant Pukka pads!

Ciak notebooks

Since I'm totally on a notebook reviewing roll I am continuing on with Ciak notebooks, which are the priciest of the more high quality notebooks I own (Moleskine, Rhodia and Leuchtturm1917).

I paid £14+ for these from Amazon. I purchased one red notebook with plain white pages and one black with lined rainbow pages. What makes this item so unique is the fact that the elastic band clasp runs through the middle of the notebook. I thought it was interesting at first but really it adds nothing more to the notebook than the normal elastic already does.

Erm, I think I'm a little harsh about the notebook above! I wrote that the minute I received the notebook without thinking that I would eventually be posting it to my blog. If I'd have known that then I would perhaps have been a lot nicer - the paper isn't that bad! I was just ranting away to myself. However it isn't good enough for a notebook that is nearly £15 in price. Below you can see the show through which is a point of perpetual annoyance for me.

The black Ciak with rainbow paper is better as the coloured paper masks the obvious show through quite a bit.

Overall both these notebooks aren't bad whatsoever. The actual assembly of the product is very good and it feels sturdy and strong so I assume it will be long lasting. I also like the size as these would fit nicely into a handbag for on the go writing. I'm disappointed by the paper which I don't feel reflects the £14.99 price tag so for that reason I won't repurchase.

Leuchtturm1917 notebooks - I love them!

I currently own three Leuchtturm1917 notebooks and am using and enjoying every single one.

They come in a range of colours available with lines, grids, dotted and plain for somewhere in the region of £7-£12 depending on where you purchase them from. A quick scroll through Amazon shows a plain paper A5 notebook going for £9.94. Certainly not cheap at all but more affordable than the average Moleskine or Rhodia.

The first version I have is a plain paper A5 "Bicolore" (2 colour) notebook in Cornflower Blue/Yellow.

The inside cover, ribbon and elastic tag are bright yellow whilst the hardcover is blue.

Each Leuchtturm1917 notebook comes with a contents page and numbered pages (that also have rounded corners - a feature I particularly appreciate as I find myself getting fewer papercuts on rounded corners than sharp corners).

There's still show through with these pages (which I also found to be an issue with Moleskine and to a lesser degree with Rhodia). You can see it clearly below - I used a grey pen and the words on the next page create this unappealing shadow.

Despite this I really do love Leuchtturm1917s. I haven't found many notebooks that have NO show through whatsoever (unless we're talking about books that use card as opposed to paper but that's a different story) so I do feel that after Rhodia these have become my favourite notebooks (Moleskine is now third).

Most people won't care much for the extra bits that accompany the purchase but I found they made it all the more memorable for me.

You get a card thanking you for your purchase.

A mini leaflet with the tagline "Details make all the difference" - and they certainly do!

Company history, which again I know the average person might not read but really nice for the notebook fan to read about:

Other products:

Stickers to label your notebook (I used two already).

A grid sheet with lines on the reverse side to use as a guide (which I should probably use since I'm always writing wonky!)

I know I've said I love these notebooks already but I really cannot stress how useful I find them! I used to be a complete paper snob and felt let down by the thin paper but now I use this notebook as a free writing journal where I am messy and don't worry too much about how things look on the page and it is perfect for that! I can't recommend it highly enough.

I also own a pink version.

Company name is embossed on the back cover so it isn't as bold and in-you-face as the Rhodia.

Pocket in the back cover to store loose sheets.

First page:

I bought the hot pink plain A5 notebook quite some time ago (March!). Here's the nonsense I wrote on the first page.

You also get a few sheets at the end of the book that are perforated so you could take these pages out without leaving any unsightly tears in your book.