Journals – More Fun Than Plain Old Notebooks

Some friends of mine are moving out of the city today and before they left, I wanted to get them each a small gift. When thinking about what to buy, I recalled a conversation I’d had with him about keeping a journal, not a daily diary but for a specific purpose and with her, we’d talked about starting to run for fitness.

By now you know where this is heading – I did give them each a journal.

For him, I got a journal with a Maltese Falcon cover. The cover is a replica of Dashiell Hammett‘s The Maltese Falcon, 1930 First Edition. The artwork is quite stunning and there was a temptation to buy one for myself.

For her, my choice was The Beginning Runner’s Journal by Laura G. Farres; Sport Medicine Council of British Columbia; Lynda Cannell; Drew Mitchell. This is a diary based on a 13-week program that includes physical preparation, injury prevention, and time management tips, along with photographs and practical exercises. I did actually have one of these for myself until a foot injury made be abandon any running aspirations.

I was impressed at the number of journals that the bookshops had displayed and then I remembered it is that time of year when people are starting new journals for many different reasons and purposes. (You can see some of the diaries that have been published, and have become collectible, on the AbeBooks homepage carousel.)

For those of you considering keeping a journal (or journals), or if you even just like to browse through them, I thought I’d put together a “collection” of some nice ones that I came across: