6 Best Notebooks for Every Girl

What makes for the best notebooks? Notebooks might be commonplace, but boy are good ones hard to discover! So, naturally, I made it my mission to find, test, and review a few. If you’re looking for a good, high-quality notebook to take class, meeting, or project notes, then one (or all!) of these are more than up for the job.

Erin Condren Journal

The Erin Condren Journal is more than just a notebook. It’s anything you want it to be! These are prompted journals focused on whatever area you want to focus on. Journals for recipes, budgeting, wellness, self-care, productivity, and more await for you to peruse and decide which area of your life needs a little extra consideration.

They’re easy to use and inspire you with thoughtfully guided content to help you achieve your goals, build good habits, and live more intentionally. There are so many covers to choose from made from a sturdy laminate material. Each journal is coiled and they have different layouts, depending on the journal you choose. Nearly all are tabbed, perforated, and include a pocket folder.

Personally, I’d buy two or three of these. They’d help me really buckle down and hone in on those aspects of my life, allowing for self-improvement and a more intentional life. And for $27.50, there’s no reason not to splurge a little on multiple journals!

Zequenz Notebooks

I’ll admit, these notebooks are kind of basic. However, they’re made with great paper and are easy to write in, thanks to the super flexible cover and bookbinding. The cover only comes in solid colors, but you do get to choose from red, black, purple, orange, pink, and silver. They come in four sizes (mini, small, medium, and large), and are also available in regular ruled, graph, or blank paper. Essentially, Zequenz provides whatever kind of flexible notebook you need for school, work, or life in general — there’s even a magnetic bookmark that comes with each notebook.

I’ve included this notebook on the list not only because of the plethora of options, but also because it lays flat. When it comes to notebooks, the ones that have the option to lay flat have always been my favorite. It’s easy to write in without the page curving towards the center, and there’s no metal coil to interrupt your flow. So when you’re trying to write things down quickly and concisely, there’s nothing stopping you.

Leuchtturm1917

In all honesty, I was really skeptical of this notebook because it doesn’t look all that special — in fact, it looks a lot like Moleskine notebooks. It only comes in solid colors — although there’s a wide range of colors to choose from. They also come in soft and hard covers, varying numbers of pages, and four different page types (dotted, plain, ruled, or squared).

When I received it though, I was impressed by the quality in which it was made.(I kind of, maybe fell in love with it.) The pages are a creamy color and somehow seem to strike the perfect balance between thin and thick. You can see through the pages somewhat, but the paper doesn’t bleed at all. The pages are numbered also, so it’s a really useful notebook to use for projects or bullet journaling. It comes with a built-in index for you, two ribbon bookmark, an elastic band, and a nice accordion pocket on the back cover. The A5 hardback Leuchtturms will cost you $27.50 and the A5 soft covers are $22.95—the cost varies depending on the size.

EcoQua A5 Notebook by Fabriano

If perfect-bound and book-bound notebooks aren’t your thing, but you still want paper with a grid, you need to check out this notebook from Fabriano. The EcoQua A5 comes in several colors, is spiral bound, and its pages are all gridded (and a calming creamy color). This makes it feel like a much nicer spiral-bound notebook than any I’ve ever found from Walmart or Target. The pages are actually really wide for an A5, so you get extra room to write—SCORE. I personally like how thin the cover is because it makes it easy to flip open and close without snagging.

The pages inside are actually gridded—not dots—so do consider that before purchasing. However, the lines are in grayscale and aren’t completely overwhelming like others. There are a lot of benefits to grid paper; for me, the biggest is that the lines help control my handwriting and give a sense of organization to the page.

This notebook is only $14.99 on Amazon (much cheaper than others on this list) and is also environmentally friendly. As an added bonus, both the cover and pages are made with ecologically friendly paper, so you can rest easy.

Erin Condren Notebook

I honestly don’t think there’s anything I dislike about the Erin Condren notebooks. The thick wire coil pretty much makes everything in life okay; it’s super durable with sturdy paper, a solid thick cover, and fun prints and colors. I always feel like notebooks are either too small or too big, and it’s nearly impossible to find one that’s the perfect size, but this one is. A single page is just enough to carry me through a whole day of work without wasting or needing space.

The top of each page has a colored banner that’s the perfect place for labeling. You can write the date or the focus of the page there so that it stands out among the rest of the writing. I’m always so excited to write in the notebook — and honestly struggle to keep myself from writing inconsequential things simply for the sake of writing.

If you’re in school, I think this can be a great notebook for classes that don’t require pages upon pages of note-taking. Technically, it can work for large amounts of notes as well, but that seems like a bit of a waste of such a great notebook. I like to use it for the lists, ideas, and inspirations that I want to carry around with me. I use mine almost exclusively for creative ideas, blog brainstorming, and personal goal-setting.

The notebook ends with a section of blank pages — a signature of Erin Condren — you can use for doodling, outlining, or sketching. I’ve used this space for my planner’s color-coding key and blog flowcharts. Oh, and the covers are changeable! You can order extra covers online and change them out whenever you want.

Kate Spade Notebook

I’m a sucker for non-coiled binding. Makes me feel like I’m carrying around my favorite book—except it’s a functional part of my day. What first drew me in were the cool cover options; quite a few caught my eye. But then I fell in love with the vegan leather, the bleed-proof pages, and the lightweight design that makes it perfect for carrying in any bag.

It includes 168 lined pages and an interior pocket to store loose notes. It also has a built-in bookmark for easy organization and an elastic band closure to keep pages secure while traveling. Jot down goals, dreams, desires, and more in this cool, simplistic notebook. For $23.70, you can’t lose!

When a notebook looks this good, it’s not easy to pass up. Wouldn’t you rather be the girl with the bomb-ass school supplies and work accessories than the one carrying around a Mead notebook? Yeah, me too.

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*Updated December 18, 2023.