diff --git a/books.pl b/books.pl
index 14bff34..edb64d3 100755
--- a/books.pl
+++ b/books.pl
@@ -206,6 +206,9 @@ for ( my $l; $l < $number_of_pages; $l++){
 	# pull out a random chapter from that book
 	my $chapter_select = int(rand($chapter_list));
 
+	# pop off the last page, as it may be blank, or short
+	pop @{$books[$book_list]{'pages'}[$chapter_select]};
+
 	# get the number of pages in the chapter 
 	my $page_list = @{$books[$book_list]{'pages'}[$chapter_select]};
 	# pull out a random page from the chapter