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Readables Naturals


Bill

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In response to a question on Pentrace, I posted some info about the Readables Naturals line of pocket and A5 size journals. For those who might be interested here, these are close to Moleskines except for the cover materials which are more like the B&N clones. The paper, pocket, marker are similar. They come in nice colors that are close to ivory, tan, khaki/olive drab, burgundy, black, and "Indigo" which is more like the steel blue of Ottoman Azure. They are distributed by Books-A-Million (the parent company of this store). The main stores may not be available to some US readers, but there may be other "subsidiary" stores like the one here. They have no ISBN numbers. I don't know about ordering opportunities.

 

Here is a grab shot of ones I bought today. They are still packaged so the colors will not look as saturated as in person.

 

Bill

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Hi Bill, are these available online? I have looked at the website and couldn't find them. We do not have Books a Million stores here. They look very nice. Is the paper better than Moleskine?

"'I will not say, "do not weep", for not all tears are an evil."

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The Pentracer couldn't find them online either. The Books-A-Million site lists stores only in the Great Lakes region and South. The fine print on the label says "Distributed by Books-A-Million, Inc., PO Box 19768, Birmingham, AL 35219" so I imagine they are exclusive to their own stores just like the Barnes & Noble Chinese clones are exclusive to B&N. I'm not sure if they can be ordered directly from BAM. If so, we could list the stock numbers on FPN.

 

The ivory/off-white paper appears the same as the Moleskines and is prone to bleeding with some ink/pen combos. I've only seen ruled versions. The line width is the same as the 'skines. Last night I did a direct comparison between a Moleskine and a Natural using two dozen pens with a wide variety of nibs and inks. The results were nearly indistinguishable. If anything, the Natural may have had a slight edge. While the hard cover is like the B&N clones, the paper and construction matches the Moleskines.

 

I still like the brighter paper on the $4.95 B&N clones but they don't seem to be as well constructed as the others. So far, I've used them up before they had a chance to fall apart. The only B&Ners I will keep a while are the yellow ones I bought to track my mother's cancer sojourn, and the car maintenance/gas log books.

 

I use one Natural as a car log and I've started another for a several-month project at work so I hope to learn how it holds up.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Bill

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Very thorough, Bill. I checked the site and determined there is no listing for them. No stores in my area so I'll stick with Moleskines and Black 'n Reds. The paper in the latter is outstanding. Now if they'd just offer a better quality cover...

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Bill,

 

Thanks for this assesment of Readables Naturals. Do they come in the cahir styly [like the thin moleskines] or just in journals?

 

Also, if they have cahirs, are the last pages perferorated? That's the only thing I don't like about the Moleskine cahirs.

 

Judybug

So many pens, so little time!

 

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...Do they come in the cahir styly [like the thin moleskines] or just in journals?

I've not seen anything but the journals, and if there is a cahier version they don't stock it. They do carry a wide range of journals including the full Moleskine line so I suspect that there is not a Naturals cahier.

 

Ah, Black n' Reds! Margana, if Moleskines used the paper in the B n' Rs, I'd be hooked and wouldn't be seeking out alternatives ;-)

 

Bill

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Ain't that the truth.

Isn't sanity really a one-trick pony, anyway? I mean, all you get is one trick, rational thinking! But when you're good and crazy . . . ooh hoo hoo hoo! . . . the sky's the limit!

--The Tick

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Moleskine could upgrade its paper or B n' R could upgrade its covers. Either way would be okay by me.

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Thanks for the review of the Readable naturals, Bill. I was hoping the paper was better than Moleskine as that's the only thing that holds me back from using them.

 

I also like the B & R notebooks, but my favorite is the Rhodia and Clairefontaine pads. The paper is heavenly to write on. :)9

"'I will not say, "do not weep", for not all tears are an evil."

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  • 2 months later...

I'm using a Readable right now. My girlfriend (now wife) gave it to me for Christmas '04. I have just now started journaling and started using it this week. I use a small Moleskine planner and like the Readable a bit better for writing due to it's slighly larger size (4x6) and slightly wider lines. The contruction seems decent. I would like to see it with a "slicker" cover like the Moleskine rather than the rougher, cloth covering. I'm usin a Pelikan M75 GO in M with Pelikan 4001 Black ink. It writes fairly wet and bleedthrough only occurs every once in a while for me. I imagine a F nib would do better. I have Books-a-Million all over town (I live in AL) so I'll have to take another look and see what's available 2 years later.

 

My very inexperienced $0.02

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  • 4 years later...

I rediscovered this notebook in that I found one I'd purchased in 2007. I think the line has been discontinued, as no Web search brings them up. That's a shame, as I was suddenly struck by how thin (and therefore light) it is. And the fabric-covered boards of the covers were available in subdued but non-black shades, nice and unassuming. Darn!

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  • 10 months later...

I just found these at the Indianapolis Indiana BAM. The paper now has some coating or sizing on it that makes the ink from my pens write as if they were on wax paper. :bawl:

 

I like the construction so far but the fact I can't write on it with fountain pens is a bummer.

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