Northbooks Blank Notebook Journal | 5x8 Unlined Notebooks Plain Journals | Soft Cover Eco-Friendly Premium Recycled Cream Color Paper 96-Pages | Made in USA

I was looking for a Moleskine or a Leuchtturm dot grid notebook for bullet journalling but they were both out of stock; and then I found this one - and I LOVE it! I just bought the three pack for when I fill up this one - and my son wants his own now, too.I wanted a dot grid (not lined or squared) and this book has that. I love the size of the grid. Not too big, not too small. I use a Pilot G-2 0.38 pen and my writing fits perfectly in the grid.I wanted a soft cover because my purse is small and I carry this thing around with me everywhere and didn't want a hardcover taking up precious space or making my purse too bulky/inflexible. The cover is a heavy paper and I thought it would fall apart easily but it has really stood up, especially considering how many times each day I use the book. And it's attached to the pages really well. I am not concerned about the pages detaching from the cover and falling out.I haven't used the Moleskine or Leuchtturm so I can't compare page thickness, all I can say is that I'm completely happy with the quality of the pages in the Northbook. I use Staedtler Triplus Fineliner pens for color and have no issues with bleeding through. Sometimes I can see the black pen on the other side but not much.There are no frills, but that's okay because the price is right. No ribbon, but I have a feeling a ribbon would make me nuts. Instead I use little post it book marker stickers that just barely peek out the side (see pic) so I can find my important pages fast and that has been perfect. Better than just one ribbon! It also doesn't have an elastic closure which is a little bit of a bummer (but again, price) but I have found a way around that: I use a binder clip to keep the pages closed which doubles as a pen holder! (see pic) The Leuchtturm is wider, which I thought would be nice, but I haven't found a time when I wish the page was a quarter or half an inch wider, and being a little narrower means it fits in my purse better, so it's fine.My biggest wish, however, is for more pages. It's nice that this book is slim, but I would happily trade some slimness for more pages. Like, double the pages. That's the only thing that has me poking around for other options.

I purchased this notebook in dot-grid to start a bullet journal and I (so far) haven't been disappointed. When it comes to finding a notebook with dot-grid pages, from my research, it seems that you're pretty much limited to either Moleskine, Leuchtturm, or Northbooks. I read through a bunch of the other reviews on this notebook and while I agree, $10 ($9.99 - the price of this notebook at my time of purchase) is a little much for a small notebook, compared to Moleskine or Leuchtturm (which, for dot-grid pages, can run you from $18-$25) you get a pretty good product for the price and it's made in America. Since I wasn't sure if I would keep up with bullet journaling, I didn't want to invest $25 in a notebook that I may end up not using, so the comparative price of this book was a definite draw.Since I've been using this multiple times a day, I'm hoping the binding holds up for the life of the journal (AKA, when I finish the last page). Unfortunately, it doesn't lay flat. When I'm making lines with a ruler, I have to do some finagling to get my lines from edge to edge. Maybe as I break it in it will get a little looser, I have only had it for a week.I haven't had any problems with bleed-through. There is ghosting (I use Sharpie pens and Pilot Precise V5 RT) but not enough to bother me or hinder writing on the backside of pages. The most ghosting I get comes from highlighters, so I try to use a light hand with those. I would definitely recommend this little notebook to someone and, if it holds up like I'm hoping it will, I will continue to use these in the future.

I was very excited for this notebook to begin bullet journaling. It is a great little notebook, but not perfect for what I want. I have been using it everyday for three months so far, and I plan on using it up completely, but not buying it again for bullet journaling.Cons:🔹I don't like that it doesn't lay flat. Usually this is not a big deal for me, but since it is not a full sized notebook it gets really annoying.🔹The gel pens that I use can be seen through the other side of the paper.🔹The notebook is smaller than a normal notebook, which I thought I would like because it's easy to carry around in my bag, but there is not enough room on each page for the style of bullet journaling that I'm after.Pros🔹 The quality of paper is really good. It feels thick and sturdy. (So I think the gel pen problem is just with those pens specifically)🔹The grid format is not extremely prominent like it would be in a composition notebook.🔹The small size makes carrying it around easy.I would buy this notebook again for just keeping in my bag for notes and things, but not for bullet journaling.

I got this as my very first bullet journal because it was the least expensive one that I could find that had decent reviews. So I'm here to add yet another good review! This is definitely the perfect journal to start with if you're new to bullet journaling or if you just want an ultra-customizable book.I love how easy it is to personalize this journal. With the covers being made of rather soft cardboard, you can draw or paint directly on them. I covered the outside covers of mine with pretty duct tape and added a folder inside the back cover, because it does not come with one. This made it durable enough to travel.The pages are a little thin and very smooth, but I found that most pens do not bleed through them and there is very minimal ghosting with things like Sharpie Pens, Tombows, and Crayola Supertips. Do not use regular Sharpies, alcohol based markers, or traditional watercolors in this book - they will bleed.