Enchanted Book

An enchanted book is an item which allows players to add enchantments to weapons, tools, or armor by combining the enchantment book with one of these items on an anvil. Enchanted books look like a book with a red ribbon around it. Enchanted books are single-use. In Survival, enchanted books are the only method to obtain certain enchantments, such as Silk Touch on shears, or Unbreaking on a sword. Enchanted books glow like other enchanted objects.

Naturally Occurring
Enchanted books can be found in chests located in dungeons, strongholds, desert temples, jungle temples, mineshafts and villages. Enchanted Books can also be obtained by trading with librarian villagers and a rare catch from fishing.

Enchanting
Players can create an enchanted book by enchanting a book on an enchantment table, which will yield a single enchantment(as of Snapshot 13w39a, sometimes 2 or 3, but these only can apply one enchantment for different tools, e.g a book would have knockback I and feather falling IV, but only one of these will be applied). Enchanted books are single-use. Books are less "enchantable" than other materials, which reduces the probability of receiving some high-level enchantments.

Usage
To use an enchanted book, the player must place an item in the first slot in an anvil, and a book in the next. In order to complete the enchantment, the player must have the required amount of experience. Note that using an enchanted book gets significant discounts at the anvil. In fact, combining a weak book with a powerful item can save enough levels for a player to also rename the item, and still pay less than if they renamed without the book.

Enchanted books themselves can be combined to create a single book with increased or multiple enchantments, much as when combining tools or weapons. Currently, this works even in survival mode. As of 1.7, multi-spell books can also be obtained by fishing. If a book is applied to an item which can't take all of its spells (consider a book with Thorns and Luck of The Sea), the appropriate spells are transferred, while (in survival mode) the unusable ones are lost.

Enchanted books do not exhibit their enchantment (e.g. hitting a mob with enchanted book of Sharpness will not do more damage).

Creative Mode
The player can enchant any block or item with any enchantment in creative mode. As a result, a pickaxe with Sharpness will do more damage, and a stick with Silk Touch can dig up grass blocks. (Once created, such a tool still works if the game is switched to Survival mode.) The books can be found in their appropriate tabs. (e.g Silk Touch in the Tools tab, Fire Aspect in the Weapons tab etc.) If a block is enchanted, it will not have the purple effect seen on it as a resource if it is placed.

Survival Mode
Enchanted books can only be used with a limited set of items. Besides the usual targets for the various enchantments, they do allow applying some enchantments that can't be done at an enchantment table. This includes boosting enchantments such as Sharpness or Thorns to their maximum power, and the following special enchantments:

Trivia

 * In Creative mode, "combining" a regular book with an enchanted book on an anvil, will enchant the book like any other miscellaneous item, not promote it to an Enchanted Book.
 * Enchanted books found in dungeons can contain any enchantment available to players, including those normally only obtainable on books via the anvil - rank 5 of Sharpness, Bane of Arthropods, Smite, Power and Efficiency.
 * Enchanted books can put enchantments previously impossible to get on a few other items, but enchantments will only work on tools, armor, and weapons, and some enchantments are item-specific. Enchantment restrictions are lifted in Creative mode, and unusually-enchanted items created this way remain useful in Survival mode.
 * Enchanted Books do not use the reddish book texture from the Book and Quill and Written Books.
 * Enchanted books and potions take up the most amount of space in the creative mode inventory.
 * When obtained through the give command, the Enchanted book will have no attached enchantments, but will still shine as if it is enchanted.