Black Bonded Leather Journal, 5'' x 8.2''

These 240 page Markings journals and 400 page Moleskines are my go-to journals. I have been using these for over 10 years. Great quality, binding holds up beautifully after years of use, college ruled and they are solid ruled lines, not dotted (pet peeve of mine). They are similar to the Moleskines but more cost effective and have a back pocket, ribbon marker, and elastic closure strap. My only beef is the pages until around 2020 used to be more ivory toned and now are white and the paper is a bit more stiff. But minor issue. I use ball point pens and Bible highlighters, so no bleed through in that regard.

I have used these journals for daily personal use for years. They’re the only journals I use (I just bought two because I’m 1/3 through my 2018 one already and I’m always paranoid they’re going to stop making these). They’re affordable and feel like quality. The binding is strong. The 5x8 size is perfect for writing in bed without it feeling too cumbersome or feeling like you have no place to rest your hand. I love the ribbon marker, the band closure to keep it shut, and the pocket for notes or photos in the back. The ivory pages are the perfect color—not too bright white so it doesn’t hurt your eyes to look at it too long (I write for a long time sometimes). I use Pentel RSVP ballpoint pens only and they work great on these pages. No smudging, no bleeding, no skipping. In all, I’m in love with these journals. I’ve considered Moleskins because of their reputation, but I just can’t be pulled away from these!

This journal is the perfect size to carry around with you. It's larger than a paper back but thinner than a hard bound book. The book is bound, not glued together which keeps the pages secure and doesn't allow the spine to break with excessive use. The pages are fairly thin, not best to be used with an ink pen but a ball tip works fine, the lines of the pages are also fairly thin and perfect for someone who writes small. I'm very picky about how large the lines are in my journals and this one is perfect. The back of the book also has an expandable pocket to put small keep sakes and pictures. The elastic that keeps the book closed is good quality and doesn't wear out quickly. I've carried around and filled three of these books now and they have all held up fantastically.

I ordered this and the moleskin Large. This cover is much more durable to water damage, sweaty or dirty paws, & book bag shoving. This book has fewer pages & therefore is much more portable in pocket...big pocket--think apron or scrubs. It's a well-made book & the back pocket is super handy for time-card or necessary loose sheets. The band keeps the book closed and therefore all the pages & the covers protected from unwanted folding or crunching. The place marker keeps it speedy to open to your next entry. Nice paper weight. I only wish they made a plain page one--no grid, not ruled.

As others have mentioned, this is a high-quality, functional, and attractive little journal. It IS made in China for those of you concerned about location of manufacture. At a little over 12 bucks, I thought it was a very good deal. The only issue I have so far with this journal is NOT with the journal itself, but rather with Amazon's PACKAGING. Based on my personal experience purchasing mail-order books, all books should be shipped BOXED to avoid corner (and sometimes cover) damage. Amazon chose to ship my journal in a soft-sided bubble envelope, which did NOT prevent my journal from having its corners bent during shipping; not badly bent, but bent enough such that had I had the opportunity to choose from among a stack of these journals in an actual store, I would have selected another. If you decide to order this book, be sure to instruct Amazon (How? Not sure!) to BOX THE BOOK FOR SHIPPING! DO NOT SHIP IN A SOFT ENVELOPE! You will be much happier with the end result. -1 star for inappropriate packaging by Amazon. -Pete

Just what I was looking for. Obviously this isn't super high quality leather or anything (obviously some very thin faux-leather strapped over some cardboard), but it feels nice, looks very nice, and the pages are all an off-white color that keeps it from looking cheap like pure white I think would. The pages also have some thickness to them which adds to the feeling of quality (relative to this price-point). The pages are also plain as can be (no fields for date/title etc.), this doesn't bother me at all, just figured I'd note it. There is no spot for a pen or pencil either, which I thought would have been nice, but again, not a bother to me at all.

Not the same Markings Notebook I've come to love! I've been a loyal customer of Markings Notebooks since 2015, purchasing around 10 of them. The quality was always excellent, with beautiful cream-colored pages. I recently purchased a new one for 2025 and am extremely disappointed. The paper is now thin, bright white, and feels incredibly cheap. It's like a completely different product. I'll include photos comparing the old and new versions, but even they won't fully capture the difference in feel. It seems the company has drastically cut corners, sacrificing the quality I relied on. Sadly, I won't be buying these anymore.

The hard covers make it very convenient to write in and the size makes it very easy to take around without being so small that you have to flip the page every 300 words. The journal's overall build is very, very solid and it looks great when set down on a table in a coffee shop next to your macbook and cup o joe. The elastic band is tight enough to slight indent the covers, but it'd the perfect tightness to not let things such as charging cables or other papers slip into the journal when you're packing your messenger bag. GET IT!

Por fuera, el cuaderno luce sobrio y elegante; por dentro, el papel vuelve agrable la escritura. Utilizo pluma fuente y el papel absorbe bien la tinta, además de que esta no traspasa al reverso. La impresión de las hojas es de rayas, hecho en falta un poco mas de espacio, las lineas son compactas y mi letra es grande

The best notebook

Quality for binding got better, paper quality is mid.

I ordered two of these because I thought the first one was a dud, but both of them the lines on the page only reached half way across the page, and the rest was blank. Left little to no room to write on them and I knew this must have been a technical error because I had one of these notebooks before. I just went to walmart and bought one there where I could look at the pages beforehand and make sure the lines went all the way across the page. Beware when buying. Wouldn’t recommend.

Perfeito, muitas páginas e muito bonito. Ótima compra!