It makes me smile that we have all really found each other on substack with our note taking habits. I used to love notebooks and then it felt excessive having multiple so streamed down to one? And then I was feeling overwhelmed with my clashes of tone in one place. So now I have three! I’ve got my journal for unpacking the trauma and personal shit no one else needs to know, a book journal which enormously helps me with the reviews and a planner which helps me w time and organisation and random note taking ideas. Whenever I look at my stack of 3 notebooks, I smile knowing there’s many of us out here doing the same! I love it - it’s a hobby in-of itself
A notebook for the "trauma and personal shit no one else needs to know" 🤣🤣🤣
I think your different notebooks are perfect, and you definitely need them all to be individual instead of in one notebook! Permission to purchase more 🤣
My notebook sister. So many notebooks, so many possibilities!
Last year I was getting really lost in my notebooks, so I decided to keep different notebooks for different projects. But then the stack got unmanageable too... so I tried to consolidate. I am now keeping three notebooks:
1. A paper planner for appointments and project deadlines, tracking my workouts and keeping a list of what I read
2. A personal journal which is my whiny bits, lists, substack post outlines and book notes (used to keep a separate book journal but realizing that for me books = life, so no point in separating)... AND
3. I just added the commonplace book.
For years I have been doing Morning Pages but that has started to feel oppressively whiney and I hope the commonplace book can replace the complaining with a record of what inspires me. I also keep thinking of what my daughter will have from me when I die (so cheerful, I know)... and I think records of my grievances wouldn't be as fun as a record of what made my heart sing.
BOOKS = LIFE, that's for sure! I tried out Morning Pages for a while too (pre-kids) and found something similar. I am obsessed with what you said about a record of grievances versus what makes your heart sing. That is fantastic.
The commonplace book is new to me too, and of course I keep thinking about queen Didion. What I don't do is the personal journal for whiny bits. I HAVE one, but I rarely write in it. And when I do it's for monumental things that I want to document.
Thank you for sharing this! I won't soon forget the grievances vs. heart singing 🫶🏽
I started my commonplace book after reading your post about the year's most beautiful sentences, and I've been doing the same! I save them on my phone to a "commonplace book" folder, then delete as I enter them into the book. It's been such a great way to spend more time with words that struck me :)
That's exactly how I do it now too! Isn't it great?! I am THRILLED you picked this up after reading my post. It's an incredible honor, thank you for sharing! 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽
Oh as a notebook girl, this post made me google the first two in your post as these are new to me. I LOVE notebooks and last year I ended up finishing about 15 notebooks, that includes my diaries, commonplacenotebook and my pocketnotebooks.
Commonplacenotebooks are seriously a game changer.
I am so happy you posted yours! I love reading how others use their notebooks, especially when they introduce me to new ideas I had not heard about before
WOW! 15?! That is so impressive that you can commit and then finish that many notebooks! I love it!
I’m thrilled about my new commonplace notebook. I’m filling it in slowly after I finish a new book, entering in quotes I love. It’s a lovely process 🥹🥹🥹
I have been writing a diary since I was about ten, but honestly I think the change I made in my life with trying to limit my screen time changed it all. I was struggling with remembering things, and even when I would write stuff down on my phone it just never seemed to really stick. So I decided to expand my notes into a commonplace notebook and then last year I decided to add a pocket notebook for quick notes on the go - and that really changed everything for me. So that is why I had such a large number of notebooks/diaries last year ☺️
OBSESSED. Writing in notebooks romanticizes things. Way better than notes on a phone! I currently carry a teeny tiny notebook with me but goodness, idk the last time I wrote in it. Tomorrow is a new day! I will keep this convo in mind and maybe I’ll jot something down 🥹🥹
It’s so cool! It’s $20 for the 90-day planner. BUT, I found mine for 50% off at Barnes and Noble. And I feel like I could use the concepts after 90 days (I will not be buying four of these per year lol). Lmk if you try it!! Check around for a discount since it’s the beginning of the year!
I'm a recovering bullet-journaler and morning pages journaler. I started this year with a simple, spiral-bound Daily Planner. On the left side is a pre-printed blank day which I label with date and day and then input with my schedule, tasks, goals and longterm things to remember. I edit goals to meals so that I have a daily meal tracker which is more valuable than a daily goals list. I do wish it had a way of holding tasks that need to be done into the future, say after the weekend or next Thursday, but I guess that's what my digital calendar is for. On the right side is a lined page for notes. I use it as a stream-of-concious journal where I am witnessing the day as it passes. This is an exercise in observation, not just what is specifically happening in my own life and livingroom. Sometimes I may be shocked or awed or worried or saddened or fearful or jubilant over what I witness. I hope it will keep my eyes and heart open. In addition, I keep a reading and writing journal. This is not some artistic collection of stats and tea-stained papers collaged into a fancy literary journal. Mine is a bright red Leuchterm. I keep substack ideas on one page, my TBR list over three others, books read on another. For a while I kept a list of pieces I had written on another until I realized most of my pieces evolve toward an ending and don't flash END when when the end. Often I stop writing before they end and they never get logged in. I have a commonplace book, two actually, but I find them endlessly frustrating. They never seem to be in my possession when I actually want to pen something into them. Also since I use them intermittently, I don't always remember I want to put something into it. I am saving sentences from my reading but those I'm scribbling down a scrap and keeping in a MSWord document on my laptop. Is that a journal???
I think a Word document on your laptop could be considered a journal! Why not?! I am so happy to read about your system and everyone else's. We all have SO many different notebooks for SO many different things! Your daily planner sounds great, and in fact all of your various notebooks sound like they're really working for you. The question now is, where do we keep all these books?!
I understand what you mean about the commonplace book never being where you need it when you need it. I put mine on a shelf above my desk so it's literally in my vision every time I sit down at my computer. So far it's working well, but I've only written in it a couple times because I'm using it only for book quotes, and I write them in once I finish a book.
Thanks so much for sharing your system! I just love hearing all this.
1. My Bullet Journal: This is my planner, where I keep track of all of my appointments and to-do lists, but I also have a number of "collections" in it, such as a monthly habit tracker, a blood pressure tracker, a list of purchased items I'm waiting to be delivered, book recommendations, etc.
2. My Commonplace Book: I've been keeping a commonplace book for years in a variety of formats. This year, I'm recording all non-book quotes in Notion, then transferring my favorite one from each day into a five-year journal ala Austin Kleon and posting that one quote in Jillian Hess's Commonplace Book Club on her Noted Substack.
3. My Reading Journal: Another journal I've kept for years. Historically, I just recorded title, author, month finished, and quotes from each book I read, but when I started participating in group reads here on Substack, I expanded it to include the reading schedules for each group read and notes (primarily from the host's posts and podcasts). (My own notes are generally marked directly in the margins of my books.)
4. My TEND Journal: This is new for this year. I am using Mariel Davenport's TEND method of Bible study in the Book of Mark, so, for each set of verses, I record my Examination of the facts; the lesson I Noticed; and how I intend to Do the Word.
5. My Scripture Writing Journal: I have a passport-sized traveler's notebook in my purse. Each day I write down that day's verse from my Bible reading plan and a brief prayer based on that verse. At the front, I keep a running gratitude list.
6. My Prayer Bible: This is not really a journal but functions somewhat like one. Each year, I pick a word of the year and then, in a personal-size Bible, highlight all of the verses involving that word. I also pick other topics about which I might want to pray and highlight those verses in different colors.
I use the first five on a daily basis and my prayer Bible as needed. I also have a variety of journals for specific purposes which I use only when relevant, including travel journals for major trips and a catechism journal, where I write out each question and answer from the Anglican Catechism and the supporting verses (I serve as someone's baptism sponsor and so wanted to really dive into the catechism as he is studying it).
Wow!!! I am SO impressed by this! What kinship we find here 🥰🥰🥰 You have really figured your system out!
Any tips for a beginner commonplace book keeper? I love Noted and Austin Kleon, too. And I love how many people are as passionate about notebooks as I am!
My only tip would be to always have a way to capture quotes on the go, so that you can transfer them into your written commonplace book later if necessary. Until I discovered Notion, I kept my running list of quotes when I was out and about in Evernote. I still use that app for a lot of things, but the Notion template makes it much easier to find a quote I'm looking for.
I guess I would also suggest thinking through what types of things you want to keep in your commonplace book. Some people keep everything there: quotes from books, magazines, newsletters; overheard conversations; funny things the kids say; . . . I found that I prefer to keep the quotes from books I read in my reading journal instead of my commonplace book; I read so much that those would quickly overwhelm my book, and I like to keep all of those quotes together by book, rather than having them interspersed with other quotes I find in the meantime. I do the same with sermon notes; they stay in my Bible near the relevant verses, so I don't have to look through multiple journals when I want to study a particular passage.
Incredible advice. I don't have Notion but I'm going to download it now. Thank you for this! I think I'll keep my commonplace book be for quotes from books. So it could also be called a reading journal I suppose.
Wow, I feel seen! And also validated 😂 I need to look into the Clear habit tracker (the one I have is beautiful but not all that practical, so I haven’t been sticking with it). I always have so many on the go too—a regular planner, a phd random thoughts notebook, a reading journal, and then a brain dump sort of situation. I LOVE the idea of a commonplace one too!!
I love the phd random thoughts notebook! So the Clear journal also has lots of blank pages. The tracking is designed to use for a year and you can fill the rest however you wish. I’ve used the blank pages for notes from my writing workshop, as well as for habit tracking once I burned through that year. The pages are dotted so it’s pretty easy to do. This makes me think I should add an edit to my post so people know the whole notebook isn’t habit tracking! It’s designed for you to use those blank pages as you see fit.
Oh I also have a journal journal (like a dear diary thing) but seem to only write in it when things are huge. Like when I got my agent or covid made me take my kid out of daycare, lol.
What notebooks do I keep is a loaded question for a journaling coach! But first, I love your prose notebook and have been doing something similar in my notes app. I may have paused a show once or twice to write down dialogue that I think is brilliant (my husband has become used to it!) But when the language flows and there is a beautiful melody to the prose - how can I NOT record it. As for my notebooks - I wrote The Storied Life Journal, a prompted and guided journal (based on my education)that allows for more than a fill in the blank experience. I have a blank notebook for each novel - ideas, passages, quotes... and then I have one more notebook that is generalized to ideas, podcasts, lyrics, articles. This is like the tabs on my computer. As part of my 2025 decluttering, I will be reorganizing the notebooks to have more structure. I'm not sure what this looks like yet, so suggestions are welcome!
Oh wow, you’ve got a notebook for everything! I feel seen! I adore the fact that you pause a show to copy down a line. That is brilliant! And why wouldn’t you do that? I always want to do that when listening to audiobooks, but I only listen to them while driving or walking so that’s difficult.
Going to check out The Storied Life Journal! I don’t have any organization tips for notebook keeping, but if you learn of anything, please share!
I love your quotes journal! I started using a physical reading journal this past year, and though I don't fill out all the sections after I finish reading a book, jotting down some of the lines I loved made for a very fun way to look back on the reading year!
loved MADWOMEN, and that third gorgeous journal! I think writing beautiful sentences out by hand is so wonderful too-- it's the closest I get to the feeling I have for my most favorite books (it's like I want to eat them, lol--- like bake them into a cake and eat them). Writing out the best parts gets me close. Already looking forward to your 2025 round up!
MADWOMEN is so good! I haven't finished it yet but I have underlined many passages already. They're almost all about motherhood, which is unsurprising given the subject matter of the book.
And can we normalize wanting to eat our favorite books and/or sentences we read?! Obsessed with that! I feel the same way! I also find that writing the sentences I love down by hand makes me think about them in new, more reflective ways than just underlining.
Thank you SO much, I look forward to writing my 2025 roundup! 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽
kolina, I'll know I've gone full delulu when I start considering literally baking some torn pages into a cake. I know my line, and that's it....not saying I won't approach the line, but good to know it's there. HA
Okay, I’m starting the beautiful sentences journal. And also, with All The Colors of the Dark, you must have filled up your entire notebook- that novel is jam packed with exquisite sentences!
YES! I love it! That book was so beautiful. I wrote down many, many sentences! It is a stunner. That said, I felt like it was a little over-complicated. But still a great story.
This is fantastic. I love the notebook for collecting quotes idea. A beautiful sentence will stop me in my tracks, and I often reread them a few times before moving on. Also, I recently read All the Colors of the Dark, and I absolutely loved it. Hands down one of my favorite books of 2024. And the sentences in that one are just stunning. Anyway, now I have to find my own journal for capturing these things.
Thank you, Jason! I hope you do find a notebook to keep your quotes in, so far I am loving it! All the Colors of the Dark had the most beautiful prose. It was such an impressive book, I loved it too! And I wrote down many, many passages once I was done with it.
It makes me smile that we have all really found each other on substack with our note taking habits. I used to love notebooks and then it felt excessive having multiple so streamed down to one? And then I was feeling overwhelmed with my clashes of tone in one place. So now I have three! I’ve got my journal for unpacking the trauma and personal shit no one else needs to know, a book journal which enormously helps me with the reviews and a planner which helps me w time and organisation and random note taking ideas. Whenever I look at my stack of 3 notebooks, I smile knowing there’s many of us out here doing the same! I love it - it’s a hobby in-of itself
A notebook for the "trauma and personal shit no one else needs to know" 🤣🤣🤣
I think your different notebooks are perfect, and you definitely need them all to be individual instead of in one notebook! Permission to purchase more 🤣
And I completely agree, it's totally a hobby!
My notebook sister. So many notebooks, so many possibilities!
Last year I was getting really lost in my notebooks, so I decided to keep different notebooks for different projects. But then the stack got unmanageable too... so I tried to consolidate. I am now keeping three notebooks:
1. A paper planner for appointments and project deadlines, tracking my workouts and keeping a list of what I read
2. A personal journal which is my whiny bits, lists, substack post outlines and book notes (used to keep a separate book journal but realizing that for me books = life, so no point in separating)... AND
3. I just added the commonplace book.
For years I have been doing Morning Pages but that has started to feel oppressively whiney and I hope the commonplace book can replace the complaining with a record of what inspires me. I also keep thinking of what my daughter will have from me when I die (so cheerful, I know)... and I think records of my grievances wouldn't be as fun as a record of what made my heart sing.
BOOKS = LIFE, that's for sure! I tried out Morning Pages for a while too (pre-kids) and found something similar. I am obsessed with what you said about a record of grievances versus what makes your heart sing. That is fantastic.
The commonplace book is new to me too, and of course I keep thinking about queen Didion. What I don't do is the personal journal for whiny bits. I HAVE one, but I rarely write in it. And when I do it's for monumental things that I want to document.
Thank you for sharing this! I won't soon forget the grievances vs. heart singing 🫶🏽
I started my commonplace book after reading your post about the year's most beautiful sentences, and I've been doing the same! I save them on my phone to a "commonplace book" folder, then delete as I enter them into the book. It's been such a great way to spend more time with words that struck me :)
That's exactly how I do it now too! Isn't it great?! I am THRILLED you picked this up after reading my post. It's an incredible honor, thank you for sharing! 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽
Oh as a notebook girl, this post made me google the first two in your post as these are new to me. I LOVE notebooks and last year I ended up finishing about 15 notebooks, that includes my diaries, commonplacenotebook and my pocketnotebooks.
Commonplacenotebooks are seriously a game changer.
I am so happy you posted yours! I love reading how others use their notebooks, especially when they introduce me to new ideas I had not heard about before
WOW! 15?! That is so impressive that you can commit and then finish that many notebooks! I love it!
I’m thrilled about my new commonplace notebook. I’m filling it in slowly after I finish a new book, entering in quotes I love. It’s a lovely process 🥹🥹🥹
I have been writing a diary since I was about ten, but honestly I think the change I made in my life with trying to limit my screen time changed it all. I was struggling with remembering things, and even when I would write stuff down on my phone it just never seemed to really stick. So I decided to expand my notes into a commonplace notebook and then last year I decided to add a pocket notebook for quick notes on the go - and that really changed everything for me. So that is why I had such a large number of notebooks/diaries last year ☺️
OBSESSED. Writing in notebooks romanticizes things. Way better than notes on a phone! I currently carry a teeny tiny notebook with me but goodness, idk the last time I wrote in it. Tomorrow is a new day! I will keep this convo in mind and maybe I’ll jot something down 🥹🥹
I really hope it works out for you!
and how did I miss that the clear habit journal is by James Clear - I still use his book Atomic habits for so much!
It is a brilliant book!!! Life-changing in the truest sense.
There can never be too many notebook posts!! I will read them all. And now I’m totally inspired to start a journal of my favorite sentences ❤️.
Woohoo! If you do, please share! And I agree, give me alllll the notebook posts!
Veryyyyy tempted by this essentialism planner!
DEEDI, go find it discounted somewhere!!! I got mine for $10 at Barnes & Noble because it was after New Years!
Im so intrigued by this essentialism planner! Thanks for sharing💜
It’s so cool! It’s $20 for the 90-day planner. BUT, I found mine for 50% off at Barnes and Noble. And I feel like I could use the concepts after 90 days (I will not be buying four of these per year lol). Lmk if you try it!! Check around for a discount since it’s the beginning of the year!
I'm a recovering bullet-journaler and morning pages journaler. I started this year with a simple, spiral-bound Daily Planner. On the left side is a pre-printed blank day which I label with date and day and then input with my schedule, tasks, goals and longterm things to remember. I edit goals to meals so that I have a daily meal tracker which is more valuable than a daily goals list. I do wish it had a way of holding tasks that need to be done into the future, say after the weekend or next Thursday, but I guess that's what my digital calendar is for. On the right side is a lined page for notes. I use it as a stream-of-concious journal where I am witnessing the day as it passes. This is an exercise in observation, not just what is specifically happening in my own life and livingroom. Sometimes I may be shocked or awed or worried or saddened or fearful or jubilant over what I witness. I hope it will keep my eyes and heart open. In addition, I keep a reading and writing journal. This is not some artistic collection of stats and tea-stained papers collaged into a fancy literary journal. Mine is a bright red Leuchterm. I keep substack ideas on one page, my TBR list over three others, books read on another. For a while I kept a list of pieces I had written on another until I realized most of my pieces evolve toward an ending and don't flash END when when the end. Often I stop writing before they end and they never get logged in. I have a commonplace book, two actually, but I find them endlessly frustrating. They never seem to be in my possession when I actually want to pen something into them. Also since I use them intermittently, I don't always remember I want to put something into it. I am saving sentences from my reading but those I'm scribbling down a scrap and keeping in a MSWord document on my laptop. Is that a journal???
I think a Word document on your laptop could be considered a journal! Why not?! I am so happy to read about your system and everyone else's. We all have SO many different notebooks for SO many different things! Your daily planner sounds great, and in fact all of your various notebooks sound like they're really working for you. The question now is, where do we keep all these books?!
I understand what you mean about the commonplace book never being where you need it when you need it. I put mine on a shelf above my desk so it's literally in my vision every time I sit down at my computer. So far it's working well, but I've only written in it a couple times because I'm using it only for book quotes, and I write them in once I finish a book.
Thanks so much for sharing your system! I just love hearing all this.
I have quite a journal stack this year:
1. My Bullet Journal: This is my planner, where I keep track of all of my appointments and to-do lists, but I also have a number of "collections" in it, such as a monthly habit tracker, a blood pressure tracker, a list of purchased items I'm waiting to be delivered, book recommendations, etc.
2. My Commonplace Book: I've been keeping a commonplace book for years in a variety of formats. This year, I'm recording all non-book quotes in Notion, then transferring my favorite one from each day into a five-year journal ala Austin Kleon and posting that one quote in Jillian Hess's Commonplace Book Club on her Noted Substack.
3. My Reading Journal: Another journal I've kept for years. Historically, I just recorded title, author, month finished, and quotes from each book I read, but when I started participating in group reads here on Substack, I expanded it to include the reading schedules for each group read and notes (primarily from the host's posts and podcasts). (My own notes are generally marked directly in the margins of my books.)
4. My TEND Journal: This is new for this year. I am using Mariel Davenport's TEND method of Bible study in the Book of Mark, so, for each set of verses, I record my Examination of the facts; the lesson I Noticed; and how I intend to Do the Word.
5. My Scripture Writing Journal: I have a passport-sized traveler's notebook in my purse. Each day I write down that day's verse from my Bible reading plan and a brief prayer based on that verse. At the front, I keep a running gratitude list.
6. My Prayer Bible: This is not really a journal but functions somewhat like one. Each year, I pick a word of the year and then, in a personal-size Bible, highlight all of the verses involving that word. I also pick other topics about which I might want to pray and highlight those verses in different colors.
I use the first five on a daily basis and my prayer Bible as needed. I also have a variety of journals for specific purposes which I use only when relevant, including travel journals for major trips and a catechism journal, where I write out each question and answer from the Anglican Catechism and the supporting verses (I serve as someone's baptism sponsor and so wanted to really dive into the catechism as he is studying it).
Wow!!! I am SO impressed by this! What kinship we find here 🥰🥰🥰 You have really figured your system out!
Any tips for a beginner commonplace book keeper? I love Noted and Austin Kleon, too. And I love how many people are as passionate about notebooks as I am!
Thanks so much for sharing. I love this.
My only tip would be to always have a way to capture quotes on the go, so that you can transfer them into your written commonplace book later if necessary. Until I discovered Notion, I kept my running list of quotes when I was out and about in Evernote. I still use that app for a lot of things, but the Notion template makes it much easier to find a quote I'm looking for.
I guess I would also suggest thinking through what types of things you want to keep in your commonplace book. Some people keep everything there: quotes from books, magazines, newsletters; overheard conversations; funny things the kids say; . . . I found that I prefer to keep the quotes from books I read in my reading journal instead of my commonplace book; I read so much that those would quickly overwhelm my book, and I like to keep all of those quotes together by book, rather than having them interspersed with other quotes I find in the meantime. I do the same with sermon notes; they stay in my Bible near the relevant verses, so I don't have to look through multiple journals when I want to study a particular passage.
Incredible advice. I don't have Notion but I'm going to download it now. Thank you for this! I think I'll keep my commonplace book be for quotes from books. So it could also be called a reading journal I suppose.
Thank you for this!
Wow, I feel seen! And also validated 😂 I need to look into the Clear habit tracker (the one I have is beautiful but not all that practical, so I haven’t been sticking with it). I always have so many on the go too—a regular planner, a phd random thoughts notebook, a reading journal, and then a brain dump sort of situation. I LOVE the idea of a commonplace one too!!
I love the phd random thoughts notebook! So the Clear journal also has lots of blank pages. The tracking is designed to use for a year and you can fill the rest however you wish. I’ve used the blank pages for notes from my writing workshop, as well as for habit tracking once I burned through that year. The pages are dotted so it’s pretty easy to do. This makes me think I should add an edit to my post so people know the whole notebook isn’t habit tracking! It’s designed for you to use those blank pages as you see fit.
Oh I also have a journal journal (like a dear diary thing) but seem to only write in it when things are huge. Like when I got my agent or covid made me take my kid out of daycare, lol.
What notebooks do I keep is a loaded question for a journaling coach! But first, I love your prose notebook and have been doing something similar in my notes app. I may have paused a show once or twice to write down dialogue that I think is brilliant (my husband has become used to it!) But when the language flows and there is a beautiful melody to the prose - how can I NOT record it. As for my notebooks - I wrote The Storied Life Journal, a prompted and guided journal (based on my education)that allows for more than a fill in the blank experience. I have a blank notebook for each novel - ideas, passages, quotes... and then I have one more notebook that is generalized to ideas, podcasts, lyrics, articles. This is like the tabs on my computer. As part of my 2025 decluttering, I will be reorganizing the notebooks to have more structure. I'm not sure what this looks like yet, so suggestions are welcome!
Oh wow, you’ve got a notebook for everything! I feel seen! I adore the fact that you pause a show to copy down a line. That is brilliant! And why wouldn’t you do that? I always want to do that when listening to audiobooks, but I only listen to them while driving or walking so that’s difficult.
Going to check out The Storied Life Journal! I don’t have any organization tips for notebook keeping, but if you learn of anything, please share!
Thank you! Yes, I see you 🩷✍🏻
🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽
I love your quotes journal! I started using a physical reading journal this past year, and though I don't fill out all the sections after I finish reading a book, jotting down some of the lines I loved made for a very fun way to look back on the reading year!
That’s fantastic! That’s how I hope to use my commonplace book. We’ll see what it ends up turning into 🤪
I'm pretty sure that Ann Fadiman is where I first learned of common place books, and then began to keep one years ago. If you haven't read her book Ex Libris take a look. This essay is from that book: https://slate.com/culture/2020/02/anne-fadiman-never-do-that-book-courtly-carnal.html also this-- but I prefer long hand: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/10/technology/personaltech/make-digital-commonplace-book.html
I use a 5x7 ish moleskin classic notebook. Enjoy the day
A perfect notebook!
Okay looking at these links now! Hadn’t heard of Ex Libris but now I’m intrigued. Thank you!
Any tips for a new commonplace book keeper?
loved MADWOMEN, and that third gorgeous journal! I think writing beautiful sentences out by hand is so wonderful too-- it's the closest I get to the feeling I have for my most favorite books (it's like I want to eat them, lol--- like bake them into a cake and eat them). Writing out the best parts gets me close. Already looking forward to your 2025 round up!
MADWOMEN is so good! I haven't finished it yet but I have underlined many passages already. They're almost all about motherhood, which is unsurprising given the subject matter of the book.
And can we normalize wanting to eat our favorite books and/or sentences we read?! Obsessed with that! I feel the same way! I also find that writing the sentences I love down by hand makes me think about them in new, more reflective ways than just underlining.
Thank you SO much, I look forward to writing my 2025 roundup! 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽
kolina, I'll know I've gone full delulu when I start considering literally baking some torn pages into a cake. I know my line, and that's it....not saying I won't approach the line, but good to know it's there. HA
DELULU ☠️☠️☠️
Okay, I’m starting the beautiful sentences journal. And also, with All The Colors of the Dark, you must have filled up your entire notebook- that novel is jam packed with exquisite sentences!
YES! I love it! That book was so beautiful. I wrote down many, many sentences! It is a stunner. That said, I felt like it was a little over-complicated. But still a great story.
This is fantastic. I love the notebook for collecting quotes idea. A beautiful sentence will stop me in my tracks, and I often reread them a few times before moving on. Also, I recently read All the Colors of the Dark, and I absolutely loved it. Hands down one of my favorite books of 2024. And the sentences in that one are just stunning. Anyway, now I have to find my own journal for capturing these things.
Thank you, Jason! I hope you do find a notebook to keep your quotes in, so far I am loving it! All the Colors of the Dark had the most beautiful prose. It was such an impressive book, I loved it too! And I wrote down many, many passages once I was done with it.
Good luck with the commonplace quote book!