# Take a knife to your 850-page book > An 850-page paperback is a bad object. Here's how to cut it into volumes you can actually hold. - Title: Take a knife to your 850-page book · Mattkirkland | Shortify - Summary: An 850-page paperback is a bad object. Here's how to cut it into volumes you can actually hold. If a book is too big to hold comfortably, buy a cheap copy… - Keywords: books, reading, bookbinding, diy, habits, technology, startups, Take, knife, 850-page, book, Mattkirkland - Source: Mattkirkland — https://attainablefelicity.mattkirkland.com/20260915/cut-up-your-books.html - Author: Matt Kirkland - Published: 2026-09-15T07:36:27+00:00 - Read time: 1 min - Topics: books, reading, bookbinding, diy, habits, technology, startups ## Some books are too big Matt Kirkland's book club picked Lonesome Dove. Great novel, Pulitzer and all, but it's an 850-plus page paperback. That is a bad object to hold. > this is an 850+ page paperback! It is what I call Too Big. ## Big books punish you Holding one for the hours it takes to read tires your hands. Reading in bed means hoisting a tome over your head. On a plane it eats half your bag. ## You can just do this Nobody will call the cops for cutting up a book you own. Kirkland says authors don't mind, and he'd happily have you chop up his own too-big book. > You Can Just chop up your book. Nobody will call the cops. ## Buy it, find the breaks Use your own copy, never a library one. Then look for natural seams. Lonesome Dove splits into three Parts; otherwise aim for chapter breaks. > Buy a copy. Don't do this with library books. ## Crack the spine, cut the glue Bend the book all the way open at the break point until you can see the glue strip. Slice into that glue with a sharp X-acto and the surrounding pages stay put. > Bookbinders glue is great stuff - you can slice into it neatly with a good sharp blade ## Give each volume a cover Bare page blocks snag and tear, so fold a manila folder around each one, crease it sharp, trim it, and glue the spine. Elmer's is fine. Label it with a Sharpie. > you're rebinding it for your own convenience ## Key takeaway If a book is too big to hold comfortably, buy a cheap copy and slice it into volumes at the natural breaks, then rebind each one in a manila folder.