Hi Julie!
Northbooks here. We want to say a HUGE thanks for this lit review. The exposed spine allows the A5 X to truly lay flat and make it easy to use! We've worked hard on the A5 X's layflat design, so it's gratifying to hear that we met your standards.
All of our Northbooks prior to our latest A5 X style were (and are presently) designed, sourced, and made in the USA. We at Northbooks always wanted to create notebooks with features that our US suppliers could not deliver. We didn't aim to simply move production abroad for the A5 X, or to lessen manufacturing costs to try and increase our profits. We really had difficulties looking for a supplier that can create the layflat design. We still wanted to make a better notebook product, one that we've been striving to create since we started on this journey with Northbooks journals. The first result of these efforts is the A5 X Northbook that lays perfectly flat, has an exposed spine, and contains neatly numbered pages, designed in the US and made in Taiwan.
We're still trying to find a US supplier that can create the A5 X layflat design, but we're thankful that you gave it a shot! We're lucky we have customers like you that trust Northbooks with new endeavors. :)
- Team Northbooks