Like many people who are faced with the need to write things down constantly, I always have at least one (sometimes more) notebooks with me. As a result, I too have discovered the joys of Moleskine notebooks. There are a variety of blogs around which extol the virtues of these wonderful little notebooks (See
Flipping Heck Blog and Anabubula Blog). I agree completely with all the chatter out there about Moleskines, and love them. There is, however, one downside—they are expensive as notebooks go.

Thus, I was thrilled the other day when I was walking through my local Target and noticed a small notebook in the journals section which looked remarkably similar to the Moleskine, but was about $5.00 or $6.00 cheaper. These journals are made by C.R. Gibson Co., and are marketed under the “Markings” label. I decided to take a leap of faith and bought one ($8.99) to give it a try. Somewhat to my surprise, the paper quality is excellent, and writes as smoothly as the Moleskine. They have the elastic band and a pocket in the back—just like the Moleskine.

These notebooks are available in a variety of sizes and come in both black and brown. For their price, they are an outstanding alternative to the traditional Moleskine, if you just can’t justify spending upwards of $15.00 on a notebook.

While I was not able to find any place to order these on the web, I did find a few threads talking about them also being available at Staples and Barnes and Noble, as well as Target.

If you love Moleskines, and happen to see these Markings Notebooks, you should give them a try. Needless to say, I will be going back to Target to pick up a few more.

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