C.R. Gibson Black Bonded Leather Journal, 5'' x 8.2''

I've purchased this notebook twice and will definitely buy it again. It’s perfect—exactly what I need without overspending. The binding is strong, the leather looks and feels great, and the off-white pages are easy on the eyes with nicely rounded edges. The built-in bookmark is a useful touch. Highly recommend.

I own several of these and have filled them as I go. The quality of the books is very high with good paper and binding. Their is a small receipt holder in the back that is perfect for temporary holding of receipts or loose leaf notes. The color is classy and the binding band keeps everything together.

It's trendy, I know, to talk about a "dining experience," a "shopping experience," etc. I think marketing agencies have come up with that terminology to appeal to us. It really fits with some things, however. Reading a real, hardback book is one. The experience of sitting down in a comfortable chair with a hardback book is substantially different from standing on a bus reading the same thing off an e-reader on a smartphone. Location and physical materials do affect the experience.Another place the materials matter is writing. Yes, you can write something in a blog, or if you use paper, yes you can use notebook paper or a legal pad and put the sheets in a manilla folder. But writing in a bound book is just DIFFERENT. That's why blank books are continually popular with a segment of the knowing, literate public.Now to this little book. The Gibson note books are quality bound, with a look and feel that somehow inspires writing. I keep one in a private office at work to make a daily page of inspirational notes. I have another at home for a journal. I will take another--the larger size--with me this coming summer when I ride my motorcycle from the east coast to Sturgis, SD. Every evening, I'll take it out and record the day's sights and sounds. It packs neatly and compactly. It isn't too short for the job or too long--leaving wasted pages that I wouldn't want to use for an unrelated subject. It's just perfect.And as I say, a little book like this inspires writing. I write with a fountain pen. While the paper is perhaps optimal for a ballpoint, it does just fine with a fine point, italic ground nib. I imagine that's why Sheaffer had some of these same books done up with their imprint a few years ago.As Arnold said, "I'll be back."

It's a nice notebook. I haven't written in it yet but I got it to write down my recipes. I will say, and this is just a small thing I noticed not a big deal, in the pics, the pages look more warm tone and thinner, but in person the pages are that cool tone like printer paper and thicker. So they are different from the photos and I noticed some of the reviews pointed out the differences too.

No sense in spending $30+ on fancy notebooks if you actually go through them. Does the job perfectly. Will buy again.

I bought a few of these as they are wonderful for notetaking. The leather holds up well and I like the stretchable strap thing to keep the journal closed. Good for the value as well.

My go to notebook

Markings by C.R. Gibson Brown Ruled Paper Bonded Leather Journal (MJ5-4792)EDIT: Updated 2/23/17. I re-ordered this journal and it is back to it's former glory! More ruled lines per page. No unruled margins. It's the same journal I have ordered multiple times. Very happy it's back. Will keep ordering this in the future.ORIGINAL POST: I have ordered this journal (MJ5-4792) seven times in the past going back to 2013. I use it everyday at work. Until now I would have considered this a 5 star product. The most recent order (8/31/16) however has changed my opinion. The new page design doesn't work for me at all. There are fewer ruled lines per page. I preferred the thinner lines so I could get more writing per page. Also there is now a 1" un-ruled margin. The old version had no un-ruled margins. Again, that means much less writing space for me per page than the old version. The un-ruled margins may work for some people but it's wasted space for me. I will start looking for another product. If CR Gibson sells the old version I will continue to buy that and change my rating to 5 starts. It would have been nice for them to use a different model number if they were going to make this kind of change. I click "buy again" on Amazon for items that I like, but this is now a different product. They should include a picture of the new page design on the Amazon product page. I have included my own photo which shows the old MJ5-4792 on the left and the new MJ54792 on the right.