Finally! Leuchtturm & Rhodia recognise the Best Notebook Size of All Time

I don't like A5. It's a good enough height, I suppose, but too narrow, and so the bulge of pages at the spine can make for awkward writing near the front and end of the book. It is also annoying to run through a line so rapidly when writing - I just get into the flow of writing across the page and then bam, I'm at the end of it already and hopping down to the next line.

Enter the B5 format notebook. It is a little taller than the A5, and much wider, together an altogether more sensible and writer-friendly package. Thank goodness then that my favourite notebook manufacturers, Rhodia and Leuchtturm1917, have both simultaneously brought out bright new softcover notebooks in the marvellous B5 size!

But that's not all, folks. Even better than B5 alone, and even better than B5 + softcover, is B5 + softcover + DOTGRID. Hallefrickenllujah!!!


Rhodiarama Extra-Large Soft Notebook: 

• £17 @ Bureau Direct

Photo credit: Bureau Direct. Product image compilation by me.

The Rhodia notebook is part of their bright and cheerful Rhodiarama line, available in a wide range of colours and teamed with a contrasting orange elastic. I have only found these at Bureau Direct in the UK, aka home to the Lamy Vista rollerball barrel that one may purchase as a spare part should one be struck by the need to eyedropper a Vista fountain pen. They are available in lined and dotgrid formats.

They are quite expensive there, the £17.5 RRP (incl. VAT) equivalent to around 35 of our puny Australian dollars. International shipping from Bureau Direct is however very fairly priced, and having bought from them before I can attest to their prompt dispatch. Personally I feel the price is worth it to have beautiful, delicious, buttery smooth Rhodia paper beneath my nib, especially in such lovely colours and at this perfect size.

One upside to purchasing from Britain and Europe is the VAT discount to which us antipodeans are entitled; it's like a little discount code on every purchase! This deduction, combined with the 10% discount offered by Bureau Direct for new subscribers - or the 10% discount for all subscribers during the first week of every month - can result in a much more affordable purchase.


Leuchtturm1917 Softcover B5 Composition Notebook: 

• USD$21.5 @ Goulet Pens
• €17 @ La Couronne du Compte

Photo credit: Goulet Pens

Less visually striking than the bicolour Rhodiaramas, but nonetheless handsomely hued in their own right, are the Leuchtturm B5 notebooks. These are also softcover, and feature the front-end contents page and page numbering system beloved of L1917 devotees worldwide.

I have found these in a couple of places now, most notably La Couronne du Compte in Europe, and Goulet Pens in the United States. These are available in dotgrid only at Goulet, or in dotgrid, ruled, or plain at LCdC. I have not seen these anywhere online in Australia yet.

They are priced at US$21.5 at Goulet, a saving of more than $5 over the Rhodiarama list price in the UK. Although shipping to Australia from Goulet is quite expensive, their broad range and excellent customer service keeps pen peeps including myself returning on a regular basis. Added bonus: inordinate amounts of bubble wrap and a free lollipop with every purpose!

These notebooks are flexible in every aspect of structure and function. Photo credit: Goulet Pens

So, which to choose?

For me, the better looks of the Rhodiarama, coupled with the VAT savings and 10% Stationery Wednesday discount offered by Bureau Direct won out this time, and I now have the Sapphire and Raspbery B5 dotpoint Rhodiaramas flying over to me as I type. I'm going to use one as a bullet journal, and the other as an academic writing journal, which should hopefully make my thesis write-up less painful and a lot brighter and more cheerful. Guess which colour therefore will become the writing journal!

I will definitely grab some of the Leuchtturms though the next time I buy from Goulet; I have had a Goulet order brewing for a while, so I daresay it won't be long until I have one of each type to compare. :3