Keep the character, not every conversation
A structured character journal makes the most sense when the same hero returns repeatedly. Field Notes lists spaces for statistics and spells, but also allies, level notes, campaign quotations and a session log. The attraction is connecting a changed ability or new relationship with the character who accumulated it. A chronological notebook can still hold the whole table’s conversation; it does not have to be forced into the same book.
The current pack is specific
The maker now labels the Character Journals as updated for 5.5E. Each has 64 pages, and the current two-pack is designed around one character per book. That makes the spare volume a separate character record, not an automatic continuation with a prescribed campaign length. Use the exact current label when choosing; a photograph of an older pack does not establish the same quantity or interior revision.
A sheet is already a valid alternative
D&D Beyond offers official printable character sheets as well as a digital sheet route. If current statistics are all you need, that may already answer the problem. The Field Notes choice becomes interesting when you also want the longer paper record around those statistics. It does not calculate rules for you or replace the adventure and rules material used by the group.
Give each kind of note a home
For a continuing character, keep the active values easy to find and use the relevant level or session area to record what changed. Do not copy every encounter twice merely to fill the book. For a short one-off game, a printed sheet and a few loose notes may be easier to hand over. Choose the journal for the pleasure and usefulness of keeping one character’s history together, not because a themed notebook is required to play.
Sources & further reading
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