The Author Notebook Review

In the last few years, Tomoe River paper has become very popular, and for good reason, it's amazing for fountain pen use. It's actually my favorite paper to use, so I get excited when I see notebooks made out of Tomoe River paper, such as the Author notebook, made by GLP Creations. GLP Creations was very kind and sent me a notebook for review. 

I have been using this notebook daily for the last six weeks and only have a few empty pages left. Right off, I am impressed with how well this notebook has held up. I have thrown it in my backpack and purse probably a hundred times at this point, and it still looks brand new.

The cover:

The notebook has a soft leatherette cover, a black elastic closure strap, a grey bookmark and a black storage flap inside the back cover. The bookmark has frayed just a little bit on the end, but it's nothing a little bit of clear nail polish can't fix.

The notebook does stay open after use, so the elastic band is helpful to keep it closed. You can roll this notebook up. The cover is very bendable, but sturdy.

Details:

The inside cover lists the details of the paper: 192 pages, 7mm rule, Tomoe River 68gsm, and made in Taiwan. Even after 6 weeks of heavy use it still does not lay flat without something keeping it open, so I put some pens on it to keep it flat. The notebook does open flat in use, it just won't stay open flat on its own. The paper is 5 inches wide and 8 1/4 inches tall, which is a bit narrower than the average A5 notebook, but The Author is designed to be a travel notebook.

Table of Contents

I love that there is a table of contents. There are three pages, but they are a thick white paper and not actually Tomoe River paper. I think they did this so the contents page will dry fast. I did find it interesting that the contents pages are bright white, but the rest of the paper in the notebook is ivory.

I love notebooks that have page numbers. I do think the page numbers are very dark compared to the light grey of the lined paper. I wish the numbers were a bit more grey than black, but I'm still glad they are there. I do like that they included a page of blotter paper since Tomoe River paper does have a long dry time.

The paper:

I love Tomoe River paper. It's my favorite. I have come to love the 68gsm more than the 52gsm, so this paper is great for me. 

Pencils and gel pens perform well, no issues there. I do prefer this 68gsm over the 52gsm for pencils, since it has just a bit more tooth to it.

Overall, this notebook has held up surprisingly well. I'm impressed with how well the cover and binding have handled my rough use. I'm looking forward to seeing what GLP Creations comes up with in the future.

Disclaimer: This product was sent to me free of charge for the purpose of this review. All photos and opinions are my own. There are no affiliate links on this page.