Today, I will thoroughly explain a workflow for scanning physical books and feeding them into NotebookLM, which completely transforms the reading experience!
First of all, everyone is so busy that they can't find time to read, right? I'm sure of it (lol).
I can't read much either, and even more problematic is that I immediately forget the contents of the books I do manage to read.
When you're reading, you're often burning with motivation, thinking, "Oh, I'll put this into practice," or "I want to do this," or "I want to use this book's content in my life..."
Especially with business and self-help books.
But after 2 or 3 days, instead of applying it to your life, haven't you forgotten what was even written in the first place? (w)
For those people, I recommend this workflow: turn the book's content into a PDF, feed it into NotebookLM, and use various functions to truly make the book your own.
It's the 2026 version of what used to be called "Jisui" (self-scanning), where people would cut the spine off books and run them through a scanner!
Why is this so great?
First, regarding how the reading experience changes, here is the general flow I follow.
By doing this, things change like this:
- Before reading: You can grasp the overall picture of the book in 3 minutes, speeding up your reading and understanding.
- While reading: You can read while checking things with NotebookLM, so you never get stuck wondering, "What does this mean?"
- After reading: You can turn it into a podcast for review, create a To-Do list on how to apply it to your life, and have the AI brainstorm with you.
Personally, I recommend the final "personal application" part.
With normal reading, you finish the book and that's it. But when you ask NotebookLM, it translates the book's content into your own context, creates To-Do lists, and suggests ways to utilize it.
You can't go back to just regular reading!
The workflow consists of 3 steps!
For those who think "this sounds difficult...", here is the gist of it.
- Turn the paper book into a PDF using a smartphone + camera arm + scanning app.
- Upload the PDF to NotebookLM.
- Read while interacting with NotebookLM.
A camera arm can be bought for about 2,000 to 3,000 yen. This is the one I use:
Next, the smartphone. iPhone or Android is fine.
There are dedicated cameras with stands for book scanning, but personally, I don't recommend them much.
Maybe it depends on the price, but I bought a cheap one before and stopped using it because it often went out of focus.
After all, iPhone and Android cameras are excellent.
Finally, for the scanning app, I mainly use Adobe Scan or vFlat Scan, but recently Google Drive allows free scanning too, so there are many options.
Recommended Scanning Apps
This depends on preference and cost, but here are my findings:
① Google Drive Auto Scan
- Completely free, works with just a Google account.
- Accuracy exceeds expectations (comparable to paid apps).
- Goes straight to Google Drive, so integration with NotebookLM is instant.
- However, there is a "24 pages per file" limit, so a whole book will be split.
② Adobe Scan
- Scanning speed is incredibly fast (it's almost scary lol).
- Excellent auto-capture that follows page turning.
- Fingers will show up in the shot (but it's fine for NotebookLM to read).
③ vFlat Scan
- The finish is incredibly clean.
- Automatically splits double-page spreads into single pages.
- Automatically removes fingers from the image (amazing).
- If you plan to re-read the PDF itself, this is the most readable.
To be honest, I usually use Adobe Scan because speed is life.
But for books I want to keep as clean PDFs or might re-read, I use vFlat Scan.
I plan to write a detailed article about the specific usage and choice of each app later.
How does reading with NotebookLM specifically change things?
This is the most important part. PDF conversion is just a means; the real deal is the reading experience in NotebookLM.
Here is how I typically use it:
- Create a podcast-style audio overview before reading to grasp the summary.
- Add my own information (add summaries of my own background generated by AI).
- After reading, ask for specific actions: "Based on this book and my current situation, what daily actions should I take?"
Especially that last part—having it think of the first step you can take tomorrow—is incredibly useful.
You might have your own ideas like "I should do this," but getting an objective opinion from AI is huge.
If you tell NotebookLM your "current situation," it combines the book's content with your reality to give incredibly specific suggestions.
This usage might be biased toward business and self-help books, but I want book lovers to try it.
A few points of caution
I've written about the fun parts, but there are a few things to be careful about.
This is strictly for personal use. Distributing scanned PDFs to others or publishing them online is absolutely prohibited.
Some might worry about giving data to Google even for personal use, but as far as I've confirmed, it is recognized as acceptable. However, it's at your own risk, so if you're uneasy, you don't have to do it.
For now, just try scanning one book
You'll need to buy at least a camera arm, but once you have it, I want you to try scanning one book. You might not be used to it at first, but once you are, scanning takes only 5 to 10 minutes.
It might be a hassle, but let's do our best while listening to a podcast or something.
Once the scan is done, try asking NotebookLM questions, creating audio, videos, or slides.
The way you enjoy reading will change, and those unread books on your shelf will finally become yours.
I plan to turn this digital reading technique into a series, diving deeper into scanning app details and book review methods.
If you subscribe to my Substack, I'll deliver real-time updates on how a 50-something freelancer realizes "doing what you love for a living" in the AI era.
Have a happy reading life!
