Book

Books are crafted from paper and currently serve no gameplay purpose except in crafting. Books and paper can naturally occur in chests, inside strongholds.

Books were added in Alpha 1.0.11. Their only use was to make Bookshelves, which was used as a purely decorative block. As of 1.9 pre3 (officially released in version 1.0.0), a book is also used to make an Enchantment Table.

As of development snapshot 12w17a books are now editable. An editable book is separate from the simple "Book" and is known as a "Book and Quill". It is craftable by combining a feather, a regular book, and a ink sac in a crafting table in any arrangement.

Crafting
Books are crafted from three paper sheets and one piece of leather in any arrangement.

Note: In Snapshot 12w17a and later, books also require a piece of leather in one of the empty slots. Crafting recipe is shapeless, so can be crafted without a crafting table.

Book and Quills are crafted using one Book, Feather, and Ink Sac in any arrangement.