(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)
The Midori MD notebooks easily make it into my top three at every incarnation, and these Light versions are no different. I mean, as far as awesomeness. They're different from the other MD notebooks in that they are lighter, as you might have guessed. These books come in a 3-pack of 48-page, staple-bound goodness. They're great if you need something light to carry, but with more work space than a pocket notebook. They make great planning books, or overflow books for when you run out of pages in your main notebook but still need a bit of space to finish a project.
The construction is simple, but good. Plain cream cardstock with an embossed logo, triple-staple-bound with gorgeous ivory Midori paper. The staples appear to be brass, though I haven't found confirmation of this. The cardstock cover is meant to be covered in some way (though mine hasn't been--the pale cardstock does show dirt and wear quickly) and you can fit two of these slim books into a Midori cover (or probably any A5 cover). They'd make amazing inserts for a traveler's notebook.
The light versions come in all the Midori sizes: A6, B6 slim, A5, and A4 variant; they all come in blank, 5 mm grid, and lined. The grid is a bit small for handwriting, unless you have wee letters and a very fine pen. The print is very fair, though, so when you need space, it fades into the background. They all come with a sheet of labeling and indexing stickers.
The paper, like all Midori paper I've used, is phenomenal. It's thick, crisp, has just the right amount of tooth, and hosts liquid inks like a boss. It doesn't feather, it shows off beautiful sheening and shading, and doesn't allow bleed-through. There is a faint ghosty show-through, but I actually love that (and it's not prominent). The only thing it couldn't handle was Sharpie, the lightsaber of inks. With all this ink imperviousness, though, comes a long dry time. About 30 seconds for a wet line of fountain pen ink. But that's what blotting paper is for.
Like their heftier cousins, these are notebooks I want to stockpile. Stacked like firewood for rainy days, when the ink is flowing and the nibs are rolling. This three-pack is only $13 at JetPens, or just under $4.50 a book. That is crazy good value. Let the stockpiling commence.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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