Try using a glue stick to glue an ordinary piece of paper onto the page when you want to work on it ..... not do the whole book at once, just one page.  That one should stay smooth, but the ones underneath that you have glued together will make the pages thicker, more solid, and easier to work on.  It will also make the book thicker, so perhaps gently tear out each third glued page as you go, just to thin the book back out a bit.

@Former-Member