Books look plain, but they run the entire enchanting side of Minecraft. Bookshelves, the enchanting table itself, and every enchanted book all start with a plain book. They are also a quick source of emeralds. Best of all, they are cheap to make.
This guide covers the recipe, the other ways to get books, and everything they are used for, from enchanting to trading. Everything here is accurate for the latest 2026 version of Minecraft.
Quick answer: craft a book from 3 paper and 1 leather. Place them anywhere in the crafting grid and you get one book. Paper comes from sugar cane and leather comes from cows, so books are easy to mass-produce.
Book at a Glance
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Recipe | 3 paper + 1 leather |
| Yield | 1 book |
| Also found in | Ancient city, village, shipwreck, and stronghold library chests |
| Reclaim from | Bookshelves (break without Silk Touch) |
How to Craft a Book
The recipe is shapeless, so placement does not matter:
- Add 3 paper and 1 leather anywhere in the crafting grid.
That gives you one book. Since paper is made from sugar cane and leather drops from cows, horses, and llamas, you can churn out books as fast as you can farm the two ingredients.
Other Ways to Get Books
You do not always have to craft them:
- Break a bookshelf. A bookshelf broken without Silk Touch drops 3 books. If you find an abandoned build with bookshelves, that is free books.
- Loot chests. Books generate in ancient city chests, plains and desert village house chests, shipwreck map chests, and stronghold library chests, which are especially full of them.
- Disenchant with a grindstone. Put an enchanted book on a grindstone, and you get a plain book back (plus some XP), which recycles books you do not want.
What Books Are Used For
This is where books earn their keep, and almost all of it feeds enchanting.
- Bookshelves: 6 wooden planks + 3 books. Bookshelves placed around an enchanting table raise the level of enchantments you can get, up to the maximum. Our guide on how many bookshelves for level 30 has the exact setup.
- Enchanting table: 1 book + 2 diamonds + 4 obsidian. The book is a core ingredient in the table itself.
- Enchanted books: you can enchant a plain book at an enchanting table using lapis lazuli, then apply that enchantment to gear with an anvil. This is how you get exactly the enchantment you want onto the right item.
- Book and quill: 1 book + 1 ink sac + 1 feather, used to write in-game text.
- Chiseled bookshelf: stores books for display and can be read with redstone, useful for decoration and builds.
Pro Tip: Books Are Easy Emeralds
Books are also a solid villager trade. A librarian villager buys books, and librarians are the single most valuable villager to build a trading hall around because their higher tiers sell powerful enchanted books like Mending, Unbreaking, and Efficiency. Farming plain books to level up a librarian is one of the smartest early moves in the game. See our best villager trades for emeralds guide for the full plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Combine 3 paper and 1 leather in the crafting grid. The recipe is shapeless, so you can place the items in any slots and you get one book.
Three paper and one piece of leather. Paper is crafted from sugar cane and leather comes from cows, horses, llamas, and a few other mobs.
Break a bookshelf without Silk Touch for 3 books, find them in loot chests (stronghold libraries are full of them), or disenchant an enchanted book on a grindstone.
Crafting bookshelves, the enchanting table, enchanted books, a book and quill, and a chiseled bookshelf. They can also be traded to librarian villagers.
Combine 6 wooden planks and 3 books. Bookshelves around an enchanting table increase the enchantment levels you can reach.
Yes. Librarian villagers buy books for emeralds, and leveling a librarian unlocks trades for powerful enchanted books like Mending.
Books are the quiet foundation of everything enchanting, so it pays to keep a stack around. Farm some sugar cane for paper, grab leather from a few cows, and you will have all the books you need. Next, put those books to work with our complete enchanting guide.
