Gemini Notebook connects purchased books to questions you can check

On September 17, 2026, Google described the availability of Expert Intelligence in a Workspace announcement: eligible ebooks purchased from Google Play Books can be added directly to Gemini Notebook alongside other materials for study or work.

Gemini Notebook is an AI assistant for working with sources. This connection brings together a book you are entitled to read and a question you are trying to understand. Readers can ask about concepts, explore questions from their notes and create different kinds of learning materials. Sharing a notebook does not buy the book for someone else: a recipient also needs to own an eligible purchased edition to interact with its content.

Imagine reading a book about communication and wondering how a principle applies to a particular team discussion. You might otherwise move back and forth through chapters and copy your question into a chat tool. A summary alone can make it hard to tell whether an explanation has drifted away from the author’s context.

Try putting the book and your reading notes in one notebook. Ask what problem a concept addresses, what assumptions it depends on and what information is missing from your own example. This is a suggested reading approach: bring the book’s ideas and your questions together to produce notes with sources and room for further inquiry.

A citation gives you a route back to the evidence; it does not make an explanation correct. Read the original passage, its examples, qualifications and surrounding context before deciding whether the idea fits your situation.

First check the book eligibility guidance. The feature supports select English ebooks, rather than every purchase or file you upload to Play Books. Look for Gemini Notebook in the Tools badge on a book’s details page, or Use with Gemini Notebook under About this book for a purchased title. For this ordinary purchased-book route with a work or school account, an administrator must enable Gemini Notebook, Google Play and Google Books for the relevant organizational unit. If you cannot find an eligible title or the entry point, check these conditions before buying anything again.

The following steps use the current desktop import instructions:

1. Add a purchased book. Open Gemini Notebook with the same account you used to buy the book. Create or open a notebook you own. On the left, choose Add sources → Play Books, select an eligible title and add it. A grayed-out title cannot be imported through this route.
2. Choose the sources for this question. You can also add your own reading notes. In the Sources panel, select the book and notes you want to use so that unrelated material does not enter this conversation.
3. Ask something specific. For example: “For the communication principle I marked, explain the problem the author addresses, the conditions under which it applies and one example from the book. Then list two points in my notes that still need clarification. Cite the book when explaining its ideas.” This is a suggested prompt; substitute the principle and questions you are actually exploring.
4. Follow the citations, then record your own understanding. The chat guidance explains that hovering over a citation reveals the passage and clicking it opens the relevant context. Check for omitted conditions and write one conclusion in your own words. To keep an answer, choose Save to note; its citations are preserved.

One question is enough for a useful session. Aim to leave with an explanation you can trace to its source, your own judgment about its conditions and a question to investigate next.