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How To Craft A Book In Minecraft: Multiple Ways To Do It Right

by Mehal Rashid
Jun 7, 2025
9 min. read
Graphic showing the text "How To Craft A Book In Minecraft"

Books in Minecraft are surprisingly essential items.

Want that high-damage Density enchantment on your mace weapon? You’ll need bookshelves for that and an enchanting book, crafting both of which require books.

Or if you want a book and a quill to write a book, that too requires books.

The book crafting recipe in Minecraft itself isn’t complicated, but gathering the ingredients can feel like work.

This guide will walk you through how to craft a book in Minecraft from the very start to finish. You’ll learn exactly what materials you need, where to find them, and how to put them all together.

On top of that, we’ll show you other ways to obtain books without even crafting, plus some extra uses of books you might’ve overlooked.

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How to Craft a Book in Minecraft: 3 Simple Steps to Get it Right

In Minecraft, each book needs just three paper and one leather, but those ingredients don’t exactly fall from the sky.

Here’s how to obtain them and craft a book.

1. Arrange Paper

To get paper, you’ll need sugarcane.

Sugar canes are tall green reeds that grow near water bodies in some biomes.

It only grows on dirt, sand, grass, or podzol, and only if there’s water right next to it.

Unless you enjoy wandering shorelines every time you need paper, you should start a small sugarcane farm in Minecraft.

Plant a few sugarcane seeds near water, give them time, and when they grow taller, only break the top parts. Leave the bottom piece in place so it grows back.

Now, to make paper from sugar canes, drop three sugar canes into one row of the crafting table, and you’ll get three pieces of paper.

Don’t forget to move the paper to your inventory.

Image showing Minecraft inventory.
Image showing Minecraft inventory.

2. Arrange Leather

A book only needs one piece of leather.

Cows, mushrooms, horses, mules, llamas... basically, anything with hooves or fluff might drop leather when killed or destroyed.

There's also the odd chance you’ll fish up leather as junk.

If none of these are nearby, you can craft leather from rabbit hides. You’ll need four rabbit hides to craft leather.

Again, drag the leather to your inventory when you’re done.

Image showing crafting recipe on Minecraft.
Image showing crafting recipe on Minecraft.

3. Craft Book

Once you’ve got both your paper and your leather, it’s time to put them together. Head to the 3x3 crafting grid.

Place your three papers in a straight line, doesn’t matter if it’s horizontal or vertical, and then slot in your leather right next to the paper line, in any slot.

A book will pop up in the result box. Drag it into your inventory, and there you have it: a book that you crafted yourself in Minecraft.

If you want to get your hands on a book in Minecraft, other than learning how to craft a book in Minecraft, the next section is for you.

Image showing how to craft a book in Minecraft.
Image showing how to craft a book in Minecraft.

Other Ways to Obtain a Minecraft Book

That was the crafting recipe for book in Minecraft.

However, crafting isn’t the only way to get your hands on a Minecraft book.

Depending on your play style, there are other methods that may be easier or more efficient.

  • Looting bookshelves: If you break a bookshelf block without using Silk Touch, it drops three regular books.

Image showing a bookshelf in Minecraft.
Image showing a bookshelf in Minecraft.

  • Looting chests: Several types of loot chests have a chance to contain books (e.g. library chests, map chests, desert house chests, plains house chests, and regular ones). Out of all of them, library chests are your best bet, offering a whopping 89.2% chance of containing at least one book.

  • Enchanted book: If you’ve got an enchanted book you don’t want anymore, you can throw it onto a grindstone. Disenchanting the book this way turns it back into a regular Minecraft book and gives you a small experience boost.

Image showing an enchanted book in Minecraft.
Image showing an enchanted book in Minecraft.

  • Librarian villagers: In Java Edition only, librarian villagers will literally throw books at you if you have the Hero of the Village effect active. That means you’ve just survived a raid, and your local villagers are very impressed. The effect lasts for 40 minutes, during which you’ll receive gifts (including books) and discounts on trades.

Uses of Books in Minecraft

Now that we’ve looked at how to craft a book in Minecraft and alternative ways to get your hands on them, you might be wondering, what exactly are you supposed to do with books?

Turns out, books in Minecraft have more uses than just collecting virtual dust.

  • Make enchanting books: A plain book, when placed on an enchanting table with some lapis lazuli, can be transformed into an enchanted book.

  • Craft a bookshelf: You’ll need three books, along with wooden planks to craft a bookshelf. When bookshelves are placed near an enchanting table, they enhance the enchantments you can get.

  • Make a written book: If you're feeling a little creative or want to leave a message behind, you can turn a regular book into a book and quill. To do this, you’ll need to combine the book with an ink sac and a feather. Once you’ve got a book and quill, you can write in it anything from notes and instructions to full-on in-game journals. And when you’re done writing, signing the book turns it into a written book. Just note that after signing, the contents are locked and can’t be edited again.

Image showing a book in Minecraft.
Image showing a book in Minecraft.

  • Store books in chiseled bookshelves: Chiseled bookshelves let you store books. You can place books in or take them out manually. Just hold the book in your main hand and interact with the chiseled shelf to place it.

  • Trade books for other items: To get an enchanted book from a librarian, you’ll have to trade a regular book plus emeralds.

FAQs

What is the recipe of book and quill in Minecraft?

To craft a book and quill in Minecraft, you need one book, one ink sac, and one feather. This item allows you to write and save your own custom messages as written books.

How to obtain a book in Minecraft without crafting it?

You can get a book in Minecraft without crafting in the following ways:

  • Looting chests in structures like village libraries or desert houses
  • Breaking bookshelves without Silk Touch
  • Disenchanting enchanted books using a grindstone
  • Receiving them as gifts from librarian villagers when under the Hero of the Village effect (Java Edition only)

How to craft paper in Minecraft?

To craft paper in Minecraft, place three sugar cane in a horizontal row on a crafting table. This will give you three sheets of paper, which is one of the main ingredients needed to craft a book.

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