Customer Reviews

This notepad brings out conflicting emotions in me.

Pros: Excellent smooth paper quality (some of the best I've ever dealt with). Page layout is thoughtful. Binding and cover are sturdy. Writing is smooth with Hi-tec-c and Signo.

Personal Cons: Expensive for only 80 sheets (double sided at least). I find myself making excuses not to write in it in fear that my words are not worthy. This isn't scrap paper. I wish they were less expensive (would have been 5/5 if they were the individual notepad price of the 5 packs).

TL;DR - Epic quality meets it's price tag

This notebook is my first experience with Mnemosyne, and I must say that this is THE BEST writing experience I've had in my entire life, which is over 50 years and counting! I absolutely love the smoothness and thickness of the paper. I use Namiki Decimo and several of the older Namiki fountain pens from the 60's and 70's era of Vanishing Point pens - all with fine nibs because that's my preference. I don't own any bold tips on any writing instrument, so I cannot speak to the paper's performance when a lot of ink flows onto the paper with each pen stroke. However, I've also taken copious notes by hand using a 0.5 and 0.7 mm ballpoint, liquid ink, gel ink, and roller ball ink pens; and I've never experienced anything close to bleed-through, skipping, or smearing yet. Of course, I believe I could definitely cause smearing to happen if I tried, but I doubt I'll ever feel compelled to do so. I should say that I'm right handed, so lefties may be more likely to have problems with smearing, depending on whether they 'hook' over the writing surface or not. This notebook is very classy and professional in appearance, and many people ask me about it and where to buy. When not on special discount pricing, an individual B5 notebook is extremely pricey, in my opinion. I'll like get in trouble, but I've found a much, much better price elsewhere. I will continue buying this notebook because it's the perfect size and quality that makes handwriting such a pleasure for me.

I purchased this notebook to serve as my main notebook for work. It is very professional looking and I really like the layout of the pages. The paper is excellent (I disagree with the comments made in previous reviews). I have tried various writing instruments (ballpoint, mechanical pencil, gel ink and fountain pen) and have had no problems. It is very nice paper to write on. For me, the size is perfect. It reminds me of the Mead Cambridge notebook but with much better paper. I will be purchasing this one again.

I’m not certain about statements in the other reviews, and particularly those about the paper being too smooth. The paper has been excellent, though thick gel pens and certain fountain pen ink (Waterman and Private Reserve) try to creep through from one side to the other if applied with a bold tip. However, this is true for every other paper I’ve tried on this site with the sole exception of Kokuyo Cyo-Bo, which I consider the 5-star standard. I’m giving this notebook 5 stars anyway, however, because I think it’s currently rated on the low side. It’s also worth mentioning these notebooks are extremely professional looking. The covers are nice, and all the corners are rounded.

I have loved every Mnemosyne notebook I've tried so far. This is one of my least favorite (my favorite being the 8x11-or-so 5mm gridded one), but that's not saying much. The paper is smooth, which makes it an absolute delight to write with very fine tipped pens. My only problem with it is that I wish the lines were spaced closer together (for those of us with small handwriting, this is important because it feels like we waste so much vertical space with widely-spaced lines!)

Other than that, I like that there are three "sections" on each page - most of the lines are made of tiny dots, but there are three solid lines (one at the top, one 1/3 way down, one 2/3 way down) that separate the page into sections. They aren't exceptionally obvious, so if you want to use it as one continuous page, it wouldn't look weird or anything, but if you do choose to separate the page into thirds this makes it very convenient. I use this notebook for taking notes in class - since usually about 6-10 different topics are covered per class, I use 2-4 sheets each time and take advantage of the separations.

Excellent smooth and soft paper, but it somewhat limits oneself expressions by the layout in each page. Also, is a bit heavy for its size.

This paper brings out the worst in my pens. I've never known paper to be TOO smooth before, but it really is. My gel pens skip on the paper where they don't in any other notebooks, and even my Jet Stream has troubles creating enough friction to lay down consistant ink. On the plus side, I love the layout of the notebook and it's nice and sturdy.

Very attractive and neat. I love everything about this book except for the fact that the papers are way too smooth. The pen that I typically use on a day to day basis always skips on these papers (and not on others). I've had to change pens just to use this book.

The paper is better than American notebook paper - meaning (I haven't tried out fountain pens) but gel pens won't bleed as much.

Really - I recommend that everyone please review each product that they purchase. The reviews really help.

Back to my review - regardless of how sturdy the outside is, my main problem is that the papers tend to rip apart so easily - since this is a spiral notebook. Great. All my papers would fall out. This is not why I purchased a spiral notebook for the first place.

I LOVE this notebook! The paper is very smooth, very clean. The line spacing is perfect. I don't often use the headers at the top, but they're great when you need them. I'm a fountain pen user, and we are always searching for the perfect notebook and paper for our pens. This paper is fantastic - showed no bleedthrough, no feathering, and the ink drying time is great. The pen I've used so far with this paper is a gusher, and bleeds through just about every paper I've used it with - except this. I've already recommended Maruman to several other people, and I doubt I'll go back to those 'other' brands any time soon.

I like this paper a lot. I am using Lamy Safari fountain pens loaded with J Herbin inks. I find this paper writes very smoothly. There is no bleed-through, and the ink dries quickly. A pleasure to use.

The best notebook I have ever written on.
I love its smoothness and its quality.
I'm writing this review to get my second notebook.
Sure the price tag may be a bit Hefty but it is genuinely worth the money.

Just got mine the other day and I hate to say it, but I'd much rather be writing in my Rhodia and/or Doane pads.

The paper quality feels great and is slick - some people like that, some people hate it, it makes no difference to me (I just use the right pen for the right paper type.)

What really killed this notepad for me was the construction. It warped after a day in my backpack and now all the pages flex up, so when I go to write in it I sorta gotta push the page down to flush it against the table surface I'm on, but then the cover buckles - it makes writing in it a total chore.

Compared to the Doane pads that have a solid cardboard back, or similar Rhodia graph/spiral-bound pads, this Mnemosyne really didn't hold up.

I like very much this notepad, works smoothly with my Lamy Safary (Iroshizuku Asa Gao blue ink) and Noodlers X-feather (black) and Pelikan FP 215.
I use a J Herbin blotter and leave inside the pad, the size of the blotter is perfect.

I'm gonna purchase another of this, a little expensive, but worth it.

The paper is very thin and smooth; silky. 5 stars for Mnemosyne. I'm using it as an agenda and I love how the 24 lines on each page are broken up into 3 sections; I don't even need to count off lines and tick-mark anything to get my days straight.

I LOVE this notebook!! I only ordered one to see if I liked it, now I am going to order more---the BEST notebook I have written on in a long time!!

A perfect WhiteCoat pocket notebook! I would recommend it to anyone in the medical field (or any field where you have to carry a notebook in a large pocket). It has a hard back, unlike the Mnemosyne "to-do" notepad, which has a floppy back without any support for writing with the notebook in your hand. Smooth paper, like all the other Mnemosyne notebooks. I'm probably getting at least 3 more!

The sheets on the notepad are smooth as silk yet the drying times are faster than what you would find on a Rhodia notebook. The lines are comparable to a college ruled type and each sheet has a place for a date and a subject. The only draw back on these I have found are the coiled binding. On some of my pages (2 being exact) the paper has been folded in where the binding meets the paper. Other than that I have really enjoyed the notepad and would buy again.

I love these notebooks! The paper is wonderful, it feels beautiful under pen and ink alike. The size is just right for jotting down notes, smaller than a standard steno pad but bigger than a traditional pocket notepad. The lines are spaced just right and the areas for date and title are appreciated. The microperforation at the top makes for a clean tear and overall attractive sheet. I use them for notes at my desk and at the lab bench, it's a perfect little notebook!

The pages are exquisite. The lines are light, well spaced, and consistent. Writing action with a good quality pen is excellent and allows frantic note taking with little resistance. The binding allows the cover to be folded over flat, keeping a neat appearance when open.