diff --git a/client/src/pages/NoteFormPage.tsx b/client/src/pages/NoteFormPage.tsx
index f8d8e73..0ad7595 100644
--- a/client/src/pages/NoteFormPage.tsx
+++ b/client/src/pages/NoteFormPage.tsx
@@ -4,11 +4,15 @@ import { fetchBooks } from "../api/books";
 import { saveNote } from "../api/notes";
 import { logout } from "../api/auth";
 
+const NEW_BOOK_OPTION = "__new__";
+
 export function NoteFormPage({ onLoggedOut }: { onLoggedOut: () => void }) {
   const queryClient = useQueryClient();
   const booksQuery = useQuery({ queryKey: ["books"], queryFn: fetchBooks });
 
   const [book, setBook] = useState("");
+  const [isAddingNewBook, setIsAddingNewBook] = useState(false);
+  const [newBookTitle, setNewBookTitle] = useState("");
   const [page, setPage] = useState("");
   const [text, setText] = useState("");
 
@@ -26,14 +30,25 @@ export function NoteFormPage({ onLoggedOut }: { onLoggedOut: () => void }) {
     onSuccess: onLoggedOut
   });
 
+  function handleBookSelect(value: string) {
+    if (value === NEW_BOOK_OPTION) {
+      setIsAddingNewBook(true);
+      setBook("");
+    } else {
+      setIsAddingNewBook(false);
+      setNewBookTitle("");
+      setBook(value);
+    }
+  }
+
   function handleSubmit(e: FormEvent) {
     e.preventDefault();
-    const trimmedBook = book.trim();
+    const trimmedBook = (isAddingNewBook ? newBookTitle : book).trim();
     const trimmedText = text.trim();
-    if (!trimmedText) return;
+    if (!trimmedBook || !trimmedText) return;
 
     saveNoteMutation.mutate({
-      book: trimmedBook || undefined,
+      book: trimmedBook,
       page: page ? Number(page) : undefined,
       text: trimmedText
     });
@@ -61,16 +76,35 @@ export function NoteFormPage({ onLoggedOut }: { onLoggedOut: () => void }) {
         </label>
 
         <label>
-          Book / topic (optional)
-          <input
-            list="book-options"
-            value={book}
-            onChange={(e) => setBook(e.target.value)}
-            placeholder="Select or type a new one"
-          />
-          <datalist id="book-options">
-            {booksQuery.data?.map((b) => <option key={b.title} value={b.title} />)}
-          </datalist>
+          Book / topic
+          <select
+            value={isAddingNewBook ? NEW_BOOK_OPTION : book}
+            onChange={(e) => handleBookSelect(e.target.value)}
+            disabled={booksQuery.isLoading}
+            required
+          >
+            <option value="" disabled>
+              {booksQuery.isLoading ? "Loading…" : "Select a book / topic"}
+            </option>
+            {booksQuery.data?.map((b) => (
+              <option key={b.title} value={b.title}>
+                {b.title}
+              </option>
+            ))}
+            <option value={NEW_BOOK_OPTION}>+ Add new book / topic…</option>
+          </select>
+          {isAddingNewBook && (
+            <input
+              value={newBookTitle}
+              onChange={(e) => setNewBookTitle(e.target.value)}
+              placeholder="New book / topic name"
+              autoFocus
+              required
+            />
+          )}
+          {booksQuery.isError && (
+            <span className="error">Couldn't load existing books/topics — you can still add a new one.</span>
+          )}
         </label>
 
         <label>
diff --git a/client/src/styles.css b/client/src/styles.css
index f9f05c9..f57507a 100644
--- a/client/src/styles.css
+++ b/client/src/styles.css
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ label {
 }
 
 input,
-textarea {
+textarea,
+select {
   font: inherit;
   color: var(--text);
   background: transparent;
@@ -80,6 +81,10 @@ textarea {
   padding: 0.55rem 0.65rem;
 }
 
+select {
+  color-scheme: light dark;
+}
+
 textarea {
   resize: vertical;
 }
diff --git a/server/src/routes/notes.ts b/server/src/routes/notes.ts
index f1e353b..b72b8f3 100644
--- a/server/src/routes/notes.ts
+++ b/server/src/routes/notes.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { Router } from "express";
 import { noteInputSchema } from "@notes/shared";
-import { getOrCreateBookPage, getParentPage } from "../nextcloud/bookCache.js";
+import { getOrCreateBookPage } from "../nextcloud/bookCache.js";
 import { appendEntry } from "../nextcloud/webdavClient.js";
 import { formatEntry } from "../nextcloud/noteFormatter.js";
 
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ notesRoutes.post("/", async (req, res) => {
   const { book, page, text } = parsed.data;
 
   try {
-    const targetPage = book ? await getOrCreateBookPage(book) : await getParentPage();
+    const targetPage = await getOrCreateBookPage(book);
     const entry = formatEntry(text, page);
     await appendEntry(targetPage, entry);
     res.status(201).json({ ok: true });
diff --git a/shared/src/schemas.ts b/shared/src/schemas.ts
index 0ec3edd..8da594e 100644
--- a/shared/src/schemas.ts
+++ b/shared/src/schemas.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ export const loginInputSchema = z.object({
 export type LoginInput = z.infer<typeof loginInputSchema>;
 
 export const noteInputSchema = z.object({
-  book: z.string().trim().min(1).max(200).optional(),
+  book: z.string().trim().min(1).max(200),
   page: z.number().int().positive().max(1_000_000).optional(),
   text: z.string().trim().min(1).max(5000)
 });