Merry Wanderer of the Night:
journal

I've become obsessed with drawing recently. I used to draw all the time in high school and when I got to college I just stopped. I can't explain it. Luckily I just go Make Yourself Happy by Lucy Knisley while I was in Chicago from this great store called Quimby's Bookstore. Make Yourself Happy was a staff recommendation, and even though I couldn't really figure out what the book was about I really wanted to buy a graphic novel I'd never even seen before. So I got this one. Apparently Lucy Knisley is most well known for her graphic travelogue, French Milk

, which I've heard of but never read. Make Yourself Happy is a collection of journals from 2009-2010, which cover her life as a 24-year-old graduate student, published artist, and all around awesome person.

What I most enjoyed about Make Yourself Happy was Knisley's outright honesty. She loves She's the Man, Pride and Prejudice, she reads romance, she feels bad about herself, she's selfish, and she is lazy. Basically, she is a twenty-something girl living in Chicago-- which was an experience I could totally relate to. Knisley is easy to love because she's just like your best friend. She doesn't try to be hip, she doesn't try to be anything. I love the inner dialogue in the HourLies, which are a series of short comments for each hour of the day. They are two panels usually, and just show the most important things from that hour. These were great because they made me think back over the course of my day and realize how many observations I could have saved through writing or drawing, but didn't.

The longer portion of the book is a travelogue of a trip to Paris Lucy took with her boyfriend during the summer. She is totally paranoid in the beginning, attempting to plan outfits that will make her look romantic and beautiful, only to get to Paris and spend a lot of the time in her underwear (understandable). In the travelogue she includes found objects, like a written poem, as well as larger, more detailed drawings. The travelogue appears about 3/4 of the way through the book, which is perfect timing because we get a break from her regular routine and see something different, but we've also gotten to known her up to that point so can understand her more fully in this new environment.

I really loved Make Yourself Happy and I'm quickly becoming obsessed with Lucy Knisley's work, which you should check out at her website. Make Yourself Happy is self-published by Knisley and can be purchased from her website for $15. Worth every penny.

I give this graphic journal an A.

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Ever since I saw the Moleskine Passions Book Journal I was overcome with lust. I decided to purchase it as a gift to myself for my hard work during midterms (and hopefully I worked as hard as I thought I did!). I've never been a huge fan of Moleskines, mostly because they carry a pretty hefty price tag and I don't take notes very often. I normally just takes notes inside the book I'm reading when I have a thought, and I don't every have my Moleskine when I want to take a note down about something I want to write or read. But I think this Book Journal might have changed my entire view on Moleskine.

This book is so organized, which I love. The book pages are in alphabetical order and on each page there is a space for the title, author, nationality, publisher, dates read, first edition (y/n), year, original language, awards, notes, quotes, and final opinion plus rating. So essentially everything I want to remember about a book after I read it. I really think this is going to help me stay organized for reviews as well. I haven't reviewed a book I've written about in here yet, but I have finished a book and filled out a page. I can already see a huge difference in how I read. And here is the really amazing thing, I have not left home without my journal since I bought it. I cannot even explain how amazing that is. There have been days where I thought to myself, "Eh, I won't really need that today," but then I always reconsider and end up slipping it in my bag.

At the back of the book there are sections where you can name your own tabs. So far I have tabs for Bookshops, Magazines, Readings & Signings, and Podcasts. The first four of those were labels that came with the book that I chose, but the last one I made myself with a blank tab. Following the tabs are more blank pages, which you could use for a never ending list of things. I'm using them for a Wish List and a List of Books Read in 2010.

My favorite thing about this journal though is probably the fold out compartment in the back. Here I can keep receipts for books, the labels that came with the book, recommendations, random notes, bookmarks, and whatever else I want. Another great quality is the book has three bookmark ribbons to mark three different important pages at any time. This is especially helpful since I'm usually reading a few books at a time, so I can keep my in progresses marked for quick notetaking!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.