Fountain pens led to collecting inks, and there are. So. Many. Gorgeous. Inks.

And even though I always have an ink for a mood or purpose, I can’t help but add to the ink hoard 🤣

You're so very welcome! If you're just getting into fountain pens, can't find any in-person resources near you, and are in the Continental US - feel free to send me a DM.

I regularly put together starter packs to help folks get started in FPs.

*gestures around* I know things aren't great out there, but if you need any of the following:
- to know that someone cares
- to feel less alone
- a place to go all in on a new/developing interest
... the fountain pen community is full of wonderful people.

IMHO, fountain pens are a great rabbit hole to fall into. Lots to learn, but also infinite variations for self-expression. There's always the perfect ink for a certain mood, or a certain story - assuming you draft by hand. If you don't, you might find yourself wanting to!

I'm so excited to actually be able to step foot in the store! I've been ordering from them for years now.

Now we’re back at the hotel, and I’m icing the bottom of my right heel. I spent way too much time at my desk the last couple of weeks standing, without my impact mat 🤦‍♂️ Bad, bad me.

We have another walking tour scheduled for tomorrow. However, before we do that, I would like to go to Papier Plume.

It came up, because I’m a dork and was totally taking notes as we walked around. Being me, of course I was using one of the Jinhao 599As I brought with me.

Also found out that the tour guide is also a fountain pen aficionado - he was carrying a couple of Kaweco Sports. I totally had a giddy moment about meeting one of my people out in the wild 🤣

One of us! One of us!

First walking tour of the trip conquered and then @morganmoreauwrites.bsky.social and I stumbled across and got dinner at The Vampire Cafe. Braised pork belly starter to share, and we both got the Gator Po’boys for main.

Dinner was amazing, and we knocked something off our “NOLA Must Do” list 😁

I came back to fountain pens a few years ago, after not having used them in a couple of decades. I dove in, headfirst, exploring brands and learning my preferences. I don't actually know the full pen count now, but it's a lot.😳

Officially in NOLA! Currently waiting on the AirPort Express bus to depart. An $8 Jazzy Pass for $3 days was far preferable to $40-70 for a rideshare. 🙄

I do like them for this as well! I grabbed a rainbow 12-pack of the 599As because the sharks are currently too narrow-bodied for comfortable writing. I’m debating getting a second set and swapping in stub nibs.

2/ The text in red was written after I put on my wrist braces and, wow, I always forget how nicely my handwriting flows when I remember to move my whole arm.

A photo of an open Mnemosyne B5 notebook. The visible page is covered in cursive, in black and red ink. A red Jinhao 599A fountain pen lays across the open page. A ziploc bag, containing six other Jinhao 599A pens in orange, black, highlighter yellow, plum, navy, and strawberry pink.

1/ Broke out the Jinhao dupes of Lamy Safaris for this trip to NOLA - I didn’t want to bring my nicer fountain pens or my reading journal along, just because that kit gets heavy. Still, I had to write down my thoughts on the book I finished today.

14/ ...consequences of giving that trust can tear one to shreds.

The book ended on exactly the perfect note. I'm only disappointed that I have to wait for the next book to release.

13/ As frustrating as Laurel's refusal to trust and confide in Spencer was, it was also understandable. Love can absolutely feel like a glass butterfly - delicate and prone to shattering into thousands of beautiful shards that embed themselves in one's skin. It's hard to trust in it when the ...

A 52 Book Club's 2026 Reading Challenge graphic for a fulfilled prompt. Prompt: # 52 - Published in 2026 Book Title: Learning to Bleed by Cat Rector The book cover dominates the right half of the graphic. OP has given this book 5 stars. #📚💙 #booksky #the52bookclub #the52bookclub2026

12/ Today, I finished reading Learning to Bleed by @catrector.com, and OMG. Firstly, I picked up the book at 6%, after starting it on the 12th. Today, I DEVOURED the remaining 94%. Just as beautifully painful as Coal Gets in Your Veins, and yet so full of hope.

A 52 Book Club's 2026 Reading Challenge graphic for a fulfilled prompt. Prompt: # 04 - Has a Dust Jacket Book Title: The Memory Puller by Kris K Haines The book cover dominates the right half of the graphic. OP has given this book 1 stars. #📚💙 #booksky #the52bookclub #the52bookclub2026

11/ Next I finished The Memory Puller by Kris K Haines, for main challenge prompt 04 - Has a Dust Jacket. This one was a slog. Insta-lust permeated the pages, and there were inconsistencies in logic that I just couldn't get past. I finished, but only just barely.

10/ ... to cast her aside. I know this was written in an era in which women had few choices, but man... the levels of toxicity were off the charts. Again, not romantic at all. Just frustrating, even if beautifully written. I only rated it as high as I did due to Newton's narration.

9/ ... were to her, they still took advantage of her in accepting those funds.

Her willingness to marry Rochester once he was disfigured and blind, despite his lies, was just *sad.* She literally made herself his eyes and right hand, because she perceived that he finally needed her too much...

8/ the book feeling as though it was a proto-feminist work. All I saw in Jane was someone who was so desperate to belong that she was willing to sacrifice the fortune she'd inherited. She *bought* her way into a family because she wanted one so badly. And no matter how nice that set of cousins...

A 52 Book Club's 2026 Reading Challenge graphic for a fulfilled prompt. Prompt: # 21 - Written in the 1800s Book Title: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte The book cover dominates the right half of the graphic. OP has given this book 3 stars. #📚💙 #booksky #the52bookclub #the52bookclub2026

7/ Having finished that mini challenge, I went back to the main challenge and FINALLY finished listening to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, as read by Thandiwe Newton.

I have so many thoughts, and I just... *sighs* I don't know how this is a romance. Even a Gothic one. I did not come away from...

6/ rumination on how people become lost to despair, and how finding oneself can lead back to hope. It also illustrates how vital community and support structures are, without being preachy about it.

Novella length, I read this one in a couple of hours.

The cover for The Fourth Island by Sarah Tolmie, featuring a lone figure in a currach (small boat), adrift in a dark, tumultuous sea, the oar lost and floating in the waves behind them.

5/ ... reading journal.

Fortunately, I was able to move onto The Fourth Island by Sarah Tolmie. This was a welcome palate cleanser, and I relished every page.

Gentle, poetic prose, very folklore-ish in construction, it was a marvelous read in style alone. However, it’s also a thoughtful...

4/ ... not present in these pages. I also absolutely hate insta-lust and the conflation of lust and love, both of which were present in spades. I rolled my eyes with nearly every page I read, but I was determined to finish it. Mostly so that I could write my not-at-all-flattering impression in my...

3/ I did not enjoy The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love. The author tried to go for zany adventure with romance and spice thrown in, but the book fell very, very flat for me. The zaniness came out in attempts at humor and slapstick, and writing physical comedy well is a gift. One that was...

The graphic for the #52bookclub February mini-challenge, which featured three 'This or That' prompts based on book titles: Scarlett or Letter, Crime or Punishment, and Fourth or Wing.

The completed reads for the #52bookclub February mini-challenge. OP read Prompt - Scarlet Book: Crimson Flower by Matt Lesniewski, Matt Kindt, and Carlos Badilla Prompt: Letter Book: Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence Prompt: Crime Book: Forensics by Val McDermid Prompt: Punishment Book: The Hanging of Ruth Blay by Carolyn Marvin Prompt: Fourth Book: The Fourth Island by Sarah Tolmie Prompt: Wing Book: The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton

2/ ... February mini-challenge, which featured three 'This or That' prompts based on book titles: Scarlett or Letter, Crime or Punishment, and Fourth or Wing. Being the over-achiever that I am, I decided to read a book for each prompt.

At April, I only needed to conquer Fourth and Wing.

The cover image for The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love. It features a sketch of a bird in flight, in yellow line art, against a magenta background. #📚💙 #booksky #the52bookclub #the52bookclub2026

1/ Just realized that's mid-April, and I haven't posted about any of my recent reads - I finished a fifth book for the month just a few minutes ago, and I must share.

My first read for April was The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton. I read this as part of the #the52bookclub ...

I very much look forward to reading it! Good luck with the campaign - you got this!