
The Notebook
A History of Thinking on Paper
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Narrated by:
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Mark Elstob
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By:
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Roland Allen
A Kirkus Most Anticipated Book of Fall 2024
We see notebooks everywhere we go. But where did these indispensable implements come from? How did they revolutionize our lives? And how can using a notebook help change the way you think? In this wide-ranging history, Roland Allen reveals how the notebook became our most dependable and versatile tool for creative thinking. He tells the notebook stories of Leonardo and Frida Kahlo, Isaac Newton and Marie Curie, and writers from Chaucer to Henry James; shows how Darwin developed his theory of evolution in tiny pocket books and Agatha Christie plotted a hundred murders in scrappy exercise books; and introduces a host of cooks, kings, sailors, fishermen, musicians, engineers, politicians, adventurers, and mathematicians, all of whom used their notebooks as a space to think—and in doing so, shaped the modern world.
In an age of AI and digital overload, the humble notebook is more relevant than ever. Allen shows how bullet points can combat ADHD, journals can ease PTSD, and patient diaries soften the trauma of reawakening from coma. The everyday act of moving a pen across paper, he finds, can have profound consequences, changing the way we think and feel: making us more creative, more productive—and maybe even happier.
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Only two somewhat negative thoughts: 1. I was hoping that the author might talk about notebooks or similar in the Eastern world, especially after mentioning wood pulp paper originated in Asia. 2. There were some chapters that seemed more repetitive and only serving to relate the topic to famous figures without novel aspects of the notebook.
An Interesting Look at History
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Enlightening new angle on history!
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Bill Bryson look out!!
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How much can be said about an everyday commonplace
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A Gem!
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It’s not a formal history in the authors own words. It is concise and well written.
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Interestingly Informative
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Some of the reasons include:
- The narrator is exceptional-10/10!
-Even when I was familiar with the subjects covered, I received a lot of extra details because the book was written from the point of view of how the individual or group used notebooks;
- I learned interesting tidbits, like when lined notebooks were first patented; and
- I learned that even in today’s electronic world, the notebook still plays an important role.
As an inventor, my stacks of notebooks are a testament to that last bulleted item!
A fascinating look at an often overlooked powerful tool.
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Surprisingly interesting and captivating
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Never knew I could enjoy a book about notebooks and its history
Remarkable read
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