fountain pen notebook, Tomoe River paper, The Author (Anthracite/Dot Grid)

I've been using this notebook daily for about a month now. For me, this notebook fits into the category of "you get what you pay for." I gave this product a five-star rating, and I won't belabor the points others with similar ratings have made. The paper is extraordinary. I write with fine to medium nib fountain pens, and sometimes with 1.1 stubs, and I like them all to lay down a wet line. The TR paper handles the ink as you'd expect---it is silky smooth, with no feathering or bleed-through, even with deeply colored inks. The paper has nice absorbency, so the ink seems to dry relatively fast, as compared to some of the Rhodia papers I use. I use both sides of the page and I have experienced no issues whatsoever. I purchased the forest green cover and I love it. It has a thin, brown/tan edging-line that peeks through, which adds a beautiful and sophisticated touch. Unlike some of the other reviews, I don't find the logo obtrusive; rather, I think it is quite tastefully done. The cover has a nice hand-feel and a pleasant thickness. It has been durable and has easily handled being carried in a stuffed backpack and briefcase. Bottom line: I recommend and will definitely purchase this notebook again!

The Author is a pleasure to write in, which is probably a given since it uses Tomoe River paper. But aside from that, The Author distinguishes itself by its near A5 size, quantity of paper while remaining compact, soft textured cover and overall construction quality. My opinion is that it is a luxurious upgrade to the Rhodiarama. I certainly enjoy writing in it, similar to the feeling I get when using my Traveler's Notebook. I used a Pilot with flex fine nib and Lamy with medium nib with Iroshizuku Amo-iro ink and Noodler's Dostoyevsky ink, respectively. Both work nicely. I then tried a Lamy with OM nib filled with Iroshizuku Kon-peki ink, but the ink laid too think. I couldn't vary my strokes. But that probably has more to do with the ink and nib. Regardless, no bleed through or feathering (although The Author does come with blotter paper). I am looking forward to different color covers. Perhaps, also a detachable pen holder like what Traveler's offers for its notebook. (I tried using a Quiver single pen holder, but it made The Author bulky and not easy to write in. And it was hard to install and remove. Granted, Quiver does warn against using their pen holders on soft cover notebooks.) I also want to add that GLP Creations is very responsive to inquiries about The Author. I think the fountain pen community and lovers of fine stationery always have dozens of questions before making a purchase, and we are certainly discerning critics of pens and stationery. After all, our passion can get quite expensive.

I love almost everything about this notebook. 68gsm Tomoe river paper (my favorite), numbered pages, Leatherette cover, a bit narrower than standard a5 size (my preference), has just the right amount of pages (not too little, not too much), nylon bookmark cord, can be folded to lie flat, elastic band, and even has a rear pocket and a sheet of blotter paper. So why do I say almost great? The elastic band popped off in normal use after just two weeks. Maybe i had a fluke bad glue attachment. Maybe not. Doesn't matter to me. I can live without the band. Overall, this is an excellent notebook at a fair price. I'll definitely get another one. Update 10/20/18 When I originally posted my review, I was quickly contacted by GLP and sent a new book free of charge. That is superb customer service, and another reason to consider this book. Also. Another reason I find myself liking this notebook so much is the brightness of the paper. This notebook has the brightest (or whitest) Tomoe River paper I've used in a notebook so far. How does The Author stack up against other notebook papers? I've added some photos. Update 10/20/18 Sorry guys, forgot to mention the books in the pictures. In all the pics, the Author is on the bottom. Pic 1 is the Taroko Cream. Pic 2 is the Seven Seas Writer. Pic 3 is the Apica CD Premium. Pic 4 is the My. essential Clairefontaine. Pic 5 is the Midori MD.

The notebook itself is really nice and the color of the cover is lovely. But for some reason I find this TR paper a little too toothy for my taste. My fountain pens feel scratchy and drag. I enjoy a buttery smooth writing experience with little to no feedback and it just feels like I'm writing on copy paper.

I love this notebook. It ticks all my boxes.. well all but one. Beautiful softcover, white paper, lined paper, bookmark, back pocket, index and numbered pages. And of course good quality paper but it’s Tomoe River 68gsm so that’s covered. I also like the sheet of blotting paper and the size A5 slim. So what’s not perfect? See photo #2, the paper used for the index is not fountain pen friendly. The ink feathers on it. I will use my ballpoint for the index from now on. But on the pages themselves there is no feathering or bleeding at all. You can see that there is writing on the other side of the page… but only until you fill that page with writing. Only wish they would sell it in a local store. Will buy all the colours eventually, I’m sure.

Without doubt value for money. From its leather cover to its Tomoe River paper well suited for fountain pens I didn't regret a bit but well appreciate this gem.

The Author notebook works as advertised. Flexible fake leather cover, high quality paper, bookmark ribbon, index pages, elastic closure, and a sheet of blotting paper. The index pages and end papers are some thicker paper, which is fair enough. The notebook paper itself is Tomoe River (I got lined), with faint grey dotted lines and page numbers. Line spacing is about 7mm, which is relatively close. As you’d expect for Tomoe River, with fountain pen inks there is no feathering, no bleed through, and some faint show through. Ink does take a little while to dry, though, which isn’t unexpected given the paper properties. The end papers, however, do feather quite noticeably. The page count is 192, and the pages are perfect bound. The leather cover smells like real leather (but not very strongly), even though it isn’t, and the edges have been coloured brown, as you can see in the product pictures. As for size, it is about 5mm taller than other A5 notebooks (Leuchtturm1917, Clairefontaine My Essential), and 13mm narrower. This may have an impact if you want to use it with a notebook cover, although as it has its own flexible cover, I think that less likely. The My Essential has 184 pages (as against 192) at about the same thickness, and Leuchtturm 250, and almost twice as thick due to the board covers. It feels a bit more classy and durable than the My Essential, and less like a brick than the Leuchtturm, which also has the least fountain-pen-friendly paper. So far (which obviously isn't very long) this is a very appealing new notebook; I'll update if more extensive use reveals something bad. This is about twice the price of the Clairefontaine (and has a much nicer cover), and clearly more expensive than the Leuchtturm, which varies a lot more in price. When it comes right down to it, this is a high quality notebook, and the main deciding factor is likely to be if you like the idea of a flexible cover or not.

Wonderful.

Eines der hochwertigsten Notizbücher die ich jemals hatte. Das Tomoe River Papier ist wie gewohnt super, egal ob für Füller (mit wirklich egal welcher Tinte) oder für Zeichnungen mit Bleistift. Die Verarbeitung ist hervorragend und das Cover extrem angenehm zu halten. Absolute Kaufempfehlung!