Google's Notebook AI Can Now Read Your Books With You
A new feature called Expert Intelligence lets Gemini Notebook pull from books you've bought on Google Play, so you can chat with them, build recipe collections, or prep for a tough work conversation.
Key points
- Google launched Expert Intelligence inside Gemini Notebook, letting users query books purchased on Google Play Books.
- More than 100,000 titles from publishers including Penguin Random House, Macmillan, and O'Reilly Media support the feature at launch.
- Fifteen authors, among them Michael Pollan and Steven Pinker, built customised "Featured Notebooks" with added source material.
- Users who share a Notebook cannot share paid book content with people who have not bought the title.
- Google plans to expand Expert Intelligence to AI Mode in Search, the main Gemini app, and eventually to scholarly and magazine articles.
Imagine asking a book a question and getting a straight answer. That is now what Google's Gemini Notebook, a free AI note-taking tool that organises your sources and lets you interrogate them, can do with books you own.
The feature is called Expert Intelligence. It connects your Google Play Books library to Notebook, so a title you paid for becomes a live source you can question, summarise, or build on.
What can you actually do with it?
Quite a lot. Steven Johnson, editorial director at Google Labs, demonstrated two cases to The Verge: one where Notebook used Michael Pollan's Food Rules to generate a personalised recipe book, and another where it applied the management advice from Kim Scott's Radical Candor to coach someone through a tricky employee conversation.
Beyond question-and-answer, you can use the book as raw material for plans, infographics, or even an AI-generated podcast episode on the topic. The full text stays readable inside Notebook too, so you are not bouncing between apps.
"I'm really interested in the idea of building a collection of people whose work you really value, and kind of creating your own dream team of advisors that are just available to you wherever you go," Johnson told The Verge.
Do you need to pay for the books?
Yes, and Google built fences to make sure that matters. If you share a Notebook with someone who has not bought the same book, they can see the title listed as a source but nothing inside it. Clicking it sends them to Google Play Books to purchase their own copy. Authors and publishers earn from those sales, which is the point.
At launch, the catalogue covers more than 100,000 titles. Penguin Random House, Macmillan Publishers, Johns Hopkins University Press, and O'Reilly Media are among the publishers on board. Titles that work with Expert Intelligence show a "Gemini Notebook" badge under the Tools section in Google Play Books.
| Publisher | Included at launch |
|---|---|
| Penguin Random House | Yes |
| Macmillan Publishers | Yes |
| Johns Hopkins University Press | Yes |
| O'Reilly Media | Yes |
| 15 author-curated "Featured Notebooks" | Yes |
The 15 Featured Notebooks are a nice extra. Authors including Pollan, Scott, Steven Pinker, and Jennifer Wallace each built their own custom version, adding extra source material and an intro letter, making it feel closer to a personal tutorial than a search result.
What happens next?
Google intends to bring Expert Intelligence into AI Mode in Search and the main Gemini app, both of which already read from Notebook. Scholarly articles, magazine pieces, and newspapers are on the roadmap too, though no date has been confirmed.
Common questions
Is Gemini Notebook free to use?
Gemini Notebook is free. The cost is in the books themselves, which you buy normally through Google Play Books at their standard prices.
Does my book data stay private?
Google says other users cannot access content from books you have not bought. As with any cloud tool, the books you add do pass through Google's servers, so check Google's privacy settings if that matters to you.
Which books support Expert Intelligence right now?
Look for the "Gemini Notebook" label under the Tools badge on any Google Play Books listing. The catalogue started at over 100,000 titles in mid-2025 and is growing.
