Google turns purchased ebooks into sources for Gemini Notebook

Expert Intelligence lets users question selected Google Play Books titles, combine them with personal files, and generate quizzes, study materials, or audio summaries.

A book purchased through Google Play Books will no longer be limited to traditional reading. With Expert Intelligence, Google is allowing selected ebooks to be added to Gemini Notebook, where users can question them, connect their ideas, or use them as references in personal projects.

The feature follows the approach established by NotebookLM, now integrated into Gemini Notebook: users create a workspace from selected sources and ask questions whose answers are grounded in the provided material. Each response includes citations linking back to the relevant passages.

What changes is the direct access to commercial books. Until now, using a published title in this type of tool generally required owning a compatible file and uploading it manually, which could raise questions about usage rights. Expert Intelligence creates an official connection between Google Play Books and Gemini Notebook.

At launch, the program includes more than 100,000 books from publishers such as Bloomsbury, De Gruyter Brill, Johns Hopkins University Press, Macmillan, O’Reilly Media, and Penguin Random House. Not every book available through Google Play is included. Eligible titles display Gemini Notebook among the options available under the “Tools” menu on their store pages.

Once added to a notebook, a book can be combined with other sources, including personal notes, Google Drive documents, images, or additional references. Readers could compare a management book with a situation inside their company, supplement a textbook with class notes, or apply an author’s recommendations to an ongoing project.

Gemini Notebook can then produce several formats from this collection of material, including sourced answers, summaries, infographics, flashcards, quizzes, and Audio Overviews. The latter turn the selected sources into a generated audio discussion similar to a personalized podcast.

Google highlights possible applications across education, work, and health. A student could create exercises from a textbook and class notes. A manager could compare a workplace issue with advice from a business book. A reader could also combine a health-related title with their journal to organize questions or prepare for a conversation with a medical professional.

That final use case requires caution. A response citing a specific book is not necessarily appropriate for an individual situation. Traceable sources make the information easier to verify, but they do not turn Gemini Notebook into a medical, legal, or financial professional.

Rights management plays a central role in the system. To interact with a book, users must have purchased their own copy through Google Play Books. When a notebook is shared, other participants cannot access or question the title unless they also own it. Google will instead prompt them to purchase their own copy.

This restriction separates Expert Intelligence from a conventional book-summary service. A title does not become freely available to every notebook participant simply because its creator owns a copy. Google also expects citations and generated materials to act as entry points to the original books, presenting the feature as another channel for author and publisher discovery.

The program was developed with several publishing houses and more than 15 authors, including Steven Pinker, Michael Pollan, and Jennifer Wallace. Some authors have curated Featured Notebooks containing additional documents and supporting material. Google is also inviting other publishers and authors to express interest in adding eligible titles.

This collaboration allows Google to position Expert Intelligence as a system built around authorized sources at a time when relations between publishers and AI companies remain strained. The announcement does not explain whether rights holders receive additional compensation or how the use of their books will be measured.

The rollout remains limited. For now, only selected Google Play Books ebooks can be added to Gemini Notebook. Third-party publication subscriptions, business research reports, and textbooks are expected later. Google also plans to make these sources available through the Gemini app and AI Mode in Search.

That expansion could have broader implications for the circulation of paid content. A book or subscription would no longer be consulted solely through its original application, but could be used directly during a search or conversation with Gemini. Google has not yet explained how citations, excerpts, and access restrictions will work across those other services.

Expert Intelligence points toward a library less focused on linear reading. Readers can connect several books with their own documents and turn the material into resources designed for a specific need. Its business model, however, remains tied to a familiar rule: before talking to a book, users must first buy it.