I wanted to start a Journal for my Granddaughter. Of course I've kept diaries in the past, such as my teenage years, but I wanted this one to be special. After doing many searches online, I found this Moleskine Journal. It has a nice, sleek but plain look, so I thought I'd try it. My reaction? I ended up buying 3 more the day after receiving the first one! It's PERFECT! I read the other customer reviews about which pens work best with the paper in this Journal, and I immediately ordered a bunch of the Pilot G-2 pens (based on another customer's review), and these pens work best (my "ordinary" pen was smudging in the Journal). The pages are nice (I think there're 250 pages per book), the ones I purchased (large) are the perfect size I want (they fit in my handbag), and the Journal itself is just wonderful...no gimmicky look, no teen-ager-y locks, just a plain, sleek-looking Journal. If you're thinking of starting a Journal, or even using this as a store list or To-Do list keeper, I'd highly recommend the Moleskine large.