Digital reading has transformed how we store and consult books, but now Google takes a significant step forward by making ebooks much more interactive. The new Expert Intelligence feature allows you to add titles purchased on Google Play Books directly to Gemini Notebook, the service formerly known as NotebookLM. This integration opens the door to questions, summaries, and insights based on the full text of the book, turning every volume into a dynamic resource for students, professionals, and avid readers.
With over one hundred thousand eligible titles at launch, the feature does not cover the entire catalog but already offers a wide selection of works. Once a supported book is added, Gemini can answer specific questions and provide citations that link each response to the original passage. Not only that, the tool can generate flashcards, quizzes, reports, infographics, and even podcast-style Audio Overviews, making study and review much more effective. The ebook does not have to sit alone in the notebook, as Gemini Notebook also accepts Google Docs, PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, and EPUB files, allowing you to compare the book with your own notes or other material.
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How to add an eligible ebook to your notebook
The process to integrate an ebook is simple and straightforward. When you open the book's page on Google Play Books, simply select the Tools badge and choose Gemini Notebook among the available options for eligible titles. Alternatively, you can go directly to Gemini Notebook, click Add sources, and look for Google Play Books, then select the desired volume, which will appear in the Sources panel. It is important to note that only ebooks purchased through Google Play Books are supported by this integration, while manually uploaded files in your library will not work. However, you can always upload a PDF or EPUB directly to Gemini Notebook, thus bypassing the limitation.
Create a spoiler-free character guide
Anyone who has returned to a fantasy novel after a break knows the difficulty of remembering fourteen characters, three kingdoms, and at least two almost identical names. With Gemini, you can ask to create a spoiler-free guide that explains who each character is, highlighting relationships and key details, without revealing what happens later. Simply use the prompt 'Create a spoiler-free guide to the characters introduced through Chapter [NUMBER]', specifying for each their identity, connections, and what to remember.
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Get back on track without starting over
If you have abandoned a book for weeks, you likely remember the main plot but not the small details needed to continue. Gemini can provide a summary of important events, character relationships, and unresolved questions up to the point where you stopped, without including spoilers from later chapters. The suggested prompt is 'I have read through Chapter [NUMBER] but haven't picked up this book in a while. Remind me of the important events, relationships, and unanswered questions'. Since the response is AI-generated, there is a small risk it might reveal too much, so it's advisable to check the citations before reading the full answer if you want to avoid spoilers.
Start a book club with deep discussion questions
Gemini can generate a discussion guide that goes beyond simply asking whether everyone liked the ending. With the prompt 'Create 10 book-club questions about this book', focusing on character motivations, central themes, difficult decisions, and the ending, you avoid questions that can be answered with a simple fact from the text. To make the conversation more specific, you can ask Gemini to focus on a particular character, relationship, or theme.
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Turn the book into a podcast
Gemini Notebook's Audio Overviews turn source material into a podcast-style conversation between AI hosts. For nonfiction, you can ask to explore the author's central argument, the strongest evidence, and any ideas that might be reasonably questioned, keeping the discussion conversational and using examples from the book. For fiction, you can ask to discuss how the main character changes throughout the story, focusing on the decisions that drive that change rather than simply retelling the plot.
Apply the author's advice to your life
A business or self-help book may contain hundreds of pages of advice, but you often need help with a specific problem. Gemini can extract the relevant ideas and organize them into a practical plan. The suggested prompt is 'Using only the principles outlined in this book, help me create a practical plan for [GOAL]', asking to separate the author's recommendations from the AI's suggestions, cite relevant sections, and identify anything to discuss with a qualified professional. Be especially careful with books on health, mental health, money, or law, as neither the book nor the AI interpretation replaces professional guidance.
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Test your memory with personalized quizzes
Instead of rereading your highlights, you can ask Gemini to create a ten-question test to evaluate your understanding of the book, including five multiple-choice questions, three short-answer questions, and two that require applying the ideas. After answering, you can see the correct answers. You can also specify which chapters to cover or ask to increase the difficulty in subsequent rounds.
Explore untold scenes with experimental fan fiction
For a more creative approach, Gemini can imagine an original scene showing what might have happened between two characters after a specific event, keeping consistency with the book but without copying passages or imitating the author's style. The result must be labeled as unofficial fan fiction. However, Gemini may limit or refuse requests involving copyrighted characters or distinctive styles, and owning an ebook does not grant rights to its characters. Treat this exercise as purely personal unless you have permission to publish.
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Sharing a notebook containing an ebook does not give others a free copy. Recipients must purchase the same title on Google Play Books to interact with the material. According to Google's sharing documentation, access to artifacts generated from the notebook may also require ownership of the source ebook. This restriction is central to Google's approach, ensuring access to the text only after purchase, making Expert Intelligence an extension of the ebook rather than a replacement. In a landscape where AI is revolutionizing reading, such features could soon extend to other platforms. For example, the integration with Google Play Books echoes the creativity seen in Crumbl's Minecraft-inspired cookies, where creativity meets technology. Similarly, the ability to generate personalized content aligns with current trends, such as the focus on privacy and responsible AI use. For further reading, see also Google Maps renaming Lake Ontario, another example of how Google is redefining its services.
