Here are some mock-ups of suggested ways to improve tedious crafting:
-Recipes in the log are filled in not as book entries but as actual combinations from those books. The ones you can craft have crafting button near them. In the ones you can't, red numbers show which ingridients you are lacking and there is no crafting button.
[Linked Image]

-Alternatively, recipies combinations which you can craft are shown in a separate window. Combination result is selectable, crafting is done with the crafting button:
[Linked Image]