A5 Age Bags

I think I own more Age Bag notebooks than any other kind. I love them! In fact, I've said before, that if I was only allowed one notebook type for the rest of my life, I would probably choose Clairefontaine Age Bags. (NB... I said one notebook type, not one notebook!).

"Why? What's so amazing? They look like a pretty simple, no-frills notebook."

Yes, my friend. And that's exactly it.

When I boil it down, what I want from a notebook is really very simple. I want a book that I can make notes in. The clue is kind of in the name...

When I make notes, by preference, I use fountain pen. I realise many of you don't, but there are still some of us out there who do, and if a notebook is good for a fountain pen, it's almost certainly equally good for a non-fountain pen. The reverse of that is absolutely not a given!

I just want a notebook with amazing paper, that lies flat (or can be persuaded to without breaking the notebook), and doesn't cost the earth (literally and figuratively).

Age Bags have Clairefontaine paper, and plenty of it. 96 sheets/192 pages of 90 gsm, certified PEFC, smooth, satin-white paper to give you all the details. The notebooks come in dot-grid or plain, and despite the fountain-pen friendliness of the paper, it's possible to see a line-card reasonably easily through it, if you wanted to keep your writing straight.

The cover is made of sturdy card with a leather-effect texture and minimal branding. The corners are rounded and the notebooks can withstand a decent amount of bashing about in a bag without suffering ill effects.

The paper is sewn-bound with a cloth spine, so the books will lie nice and flat without requiring brute strength.

What more would I want?

"But what about a ribbon marker?"

Use a Post-It note.

"What about index pages?"

They're not index pages. Index pages are at the back of a book and are organised alphabetically. You actually mean a Table of Contents, and you could just draw your own.

"What about the pocket in the back cover?"

Putting anything in one makes the pages lumpy to write on. And it's perfectly possible to stick a bit of paper there yourself if that's the deal-breaker.

I recognise that there are others in the world who want more frills, but if you actually just want a jolly good notebook, then these are perfect. And they don't break the bank, either, at just £9.

Available in plain (blue cover; red cover) or dot-grid (brown cover).