Knowledge · Enchanting · 1.21

How to Make a Book

Three sheets of paper and a scrap of leather. A humble book, yet the doorway to bookshelves, enchanting and every story you care to write.

The recipe

Three paper and a piece of leather. Paper itself comes from sugar cane.

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Grab the grids on Astroworld crafting or look up paper and leather.

What books unlock

The book is a gateway ingredient. Here is what it leads to.

Bookshelf

Three books plus six planks. Ring an enchanting table with fifteen for the best enchants.

Enchanting table

A book over two diamonds and four obsidian. The heart of every enchanting setup.

Book & quill

Book plus a feather and an ink sac. Write, sign and copy your own in-game books.

Enchanted book

Carries an enchantment you apply to gear at an anvil, including ones a table cannot roll.

Books and enchanting

Books are the backbone of enchanting. One goes into the enchanting table, and fifteen bookshelves around it unlock the strongest spells. Pull enchantments off enchanted books and onto your gear at an anvil.

Quick answers

What is the recipe?

Three paper and one piece of leather, placed anywhere in the grid. That makes one book; it is a shapeless recipe.

Where does paper come from?

Three sugar cane in a row makes three paper. Sugar cane grows by water, so a small farm keeps you in endless paper.

Why do I need books?

They build bookshelves, which power up an enchanting table, and they are the core ingredient of the enchanting table itself.

How do I write in a book?

Craft a book and quill from a book, a feather and an ink sac. Write your text, then sign it to lock it into a permanent written book.

What is an enchanted book?

A book carrying one or more enchantments, from an enchanting table, fishing or trades. Apply it to gear at an anvil.

How many bookshelves for max enchants?

Fifteen bookshelves placed one block away around an enchanting table unlock the highest-level enchantments.

Where do I get leather?

Cows, mooshrooms, horses, mules, donkeys, llamas, goats and hoglins drop 0 to 2 leather. You can also craft one leather from four rabbit hide.

Can I craft a book and quill without a feather?

No. The book and quill needs a book, one feather and one ink sac. Feathers drop from chickens, ink sacs from squid in water.

How many bookshelves does one book make for me?

A bookshelf takes three books and six planks, so three books per shelf. Fifteen shelves need 45 books, which is 135 paper and 15 leather.

Do bookshelves placed against the table work?

No. The enchanting table needs one block of air between it and each bookshelf, and the shelves must be at the same level or one block higher. A block in the gap blocks that shelf.

Can lecterns or chiseled bookshelves boost enchanting?

No. Only normal bookshelves count toward enchantment power. Chiseled bookshelves store written books and trigger redstone, but they do not raise enchant levels.

Paper supply and common mistakes

Books eat paper fast once you start on bookshelves. Plan the sugar cane first.

Sugar cane only grows on grass, dirt, sand, red sand, mud or moss next to water. Plant it one block from a water source so it spreads to next-door blocks.
Break the top blocks and leave the bottom one. The stalk regrows on its own, so a strip of cane keeps feeding you paper.
Three cane in a row makes three paper, and three paper plus one leather makes one book. A full bookshelf wall of fifteen costs 135 paper and 15 leather.
The book recipe is shapeless, so the four items can sit in any slots. The paper recipe is not. Three cane must be in one horizontal row, not stacked or scattered.
Do not confuse a written book with a book and quill. A signed written book cannot be edited again, but it can be copied at a crafting table with a blank book and quill.
Bedrock and Java share these recipes, item names and bookshelf rules, so the same setup works on both.

Apply enchanted books at an anvil, compare every enchantment, or look up the book, paper and sugar cane in the items database.