Take 7 pocket diaries by Alix Norman

Being a control freak, I couldn’t survive a month, let alone the whole year, without my diary. Or, to be more exact, my three diaries: work, social and finance (though the last always seems rather more empty than the other two). My New Year’s resolution is to have only one diary of a manageable size, and with that in mind, it was off to the stationers to see what would keep me in order for 2008…
 
MAVROMATIS – silver with pen
This looks a great deal more expensive than it actually is; the silver-sided pages and the dinky pen give it a certain class. It contains all the usual bumph – clothing sizes, conversion tables, international holidays, dialing codes – and seems to be very British based. The sunrise and sunset times in London are something I didn’t expect, but possibly they come in useful in a cloud-covered country: “Do you think it’s daylight yet Doreen?” “Well I don’t know Kevin, let me just check my diary.” The downside is that you get a two week view, and with only two lines per day, you’re not going to fit much in.
Price: ?1.50
 
NEXT – mini striped
I’m all for efficiency and miniaturisation, but this diary is definitely for a lady of leisure: as long as you’ve only got one lovely luncheon per day, you’re fine; any more, and you’ll be clipping in bits of paper. It’s got all the usual facts and figures, the only thing of interest being the miniature map of the M25 orbital; I guess if you’re stuck in traffic with nothing but a magnifying glass for company, that and the elastic band around it could keep you entertained for at least five minutes. As with many of the others, this gives a weekly view. This is definitely present material – perhaps for those less-favoured family members.
Price: ?4.00
 
SOLONEION – floral
The Soloneion has by far the widest range of diaries, including planners, calendars and filofaxes, and all reasonably priced. This floral number was the cheapest of our selection, and it’s well thought out, with adequate space in its weekly view. Intriguingly, it boasts a list of chronological cycles and eras (of which I could make neither head nor tail) as well as the usual charts. And it also lists this year’s eclipses (watch out for the total lunar eclipse here in Cyprus on February 21). A mine of useful information, as well as a decent diary.
 
MOUFFLON PAPHOS – royal horticultural
This diary is for those with larger pockets – both in size and depth – but well worth it. Measuring 10.5 by 14.5 centimetres, this is the 2008 offering from the Royal Horticultural Society. The helpful staff at the Moufflon pointed out that each weekly view has a full page nineteenth century colour print of rare and unusual plants from around the world, reproduced from anthologies at the RHS Lindley Library, acknowledged as the world’s finest horticultural library. Green-fingered or not, this is definitely a diary to use and to treasure.
Price: ?5.99
 
MARKS & SPENCER – striped
I felt this one was rather overpriced, but as the other M&S diaries were all over five pounds, it was this or nothing. It has the standard weekly view, and the facts and figures are all very British. There’s plenty of travel information – airport, car hire and ferry phone numbers – though I can’t help but feel that a world traveller might have a diary that was just a little more substantial. I don’t know how long the plastic cover will hold up, or how soon the pages will fall out of the binding rings. Like the Next diary, this is really more of a kids’ present than a working planner.
Price: ?3.00
 
MAVROMATIS – brown with pen
The largest diary that we reviewed, this was a favourite with the men in the office. Personally, I can’t see it. It’s got a proper fastener (which would just slow me down) and stitching detail on the leather-look cover (tacky to my mind). It’s basically the same as the previous diary from Mavromatis, but definitely aimed at the male market. The bigger size means you could fit more in each day, but if you’ve got that much going on, then surely you could afford something a little more classy.
Price: ?2.25
 
SOLONEION – navy agenda
This is definitely my personal favourite. Never mind the fact that all the charts and facts are in German, this is the diary I will be using in the coming year. The surrealist full-page illustrations – lots of airy landscapes and endless stairs, ? la Magritte – are by a chap called Buchholz, and I’ll definitely be framing them come 2009. It has the fairly standard weekly view with plenty of space, and each day is divided into hours, which I always find useful. And there are dinky little icons showing the phases of the moon. Practical and pretty.
Price: ?3.40
 
 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.