Kindle’s highlight file usually sits untouched after export. I care about what I read, so I want a way to talk back to my own reading. Dumping a year of Kindle highlights into Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) is just the first step for serious readers.

Over a few weekends, I turned that graveyard into a working resource and tested ways to make it earn its keep. Some replaced a potential Readwise subscription. Others changed how I write. One prompt even diagnosed my hidden obsessions. Thanks to Gemini Notebook and its tools, this seems to be the tip of my knowledge iceberg.

Your highlights are a graveyard

Most highlights get made once, then forgotten

Amazon buries your highlights in a single text file called My Clippings.txt, sorted by book with zero context or connections between them. Upload that file to Gemini Notebook as a source, and it stops being a list. It becomes a database you can query with Gemini Notebook prompts. You can also split out individual book highlights if you’re actively drafting from one of them and want to exclude the rest of your library from a specific query.

I used to think highlighting was the finish line. But it’s scientifically a bad way to “remember the good part” later. Now, I try to type a short note under the better highlights. Gemini Notebook synthesizes both the personal note and the book quote together.

Gemini Notebook and its array of Studio tools give those highlights somewhere to go afterward. You can query book by book or go through the entire smorgasbord of a year’s worth of highlights.

Group these highlights by theme, not by book. List the top five recurring topics and one representative quote for each.

Open My Clippings.txt in Notepad++ or any standard text editor and run a quick Find/Replace to strip metadata strings if you want your source file to be neater.

Your obsessions hide in plain sight

Your reading reveals what you actually think about

Ask Gemini Notebook to find ideas that repeat across unrelated books, and it’ll show you a pattern you will never notice on your own. I’d highlighted some version of the same line about attention in twelve different books, across memoirs, business titles, and novels I’d forgotten I’d even finished. It’s the same problem that once pushed me to try turning my Kindle notes into a mind map — another way to force connections to resurface periodically.

Sometimes I don’t consciously chase a topic; I just pick up whatever looks interesting for the next read. It’s here that Gemini Notebook can reveal the patterns, as it doesn’t rely on keywords but uses semantic relationships. And sometimes that can give us serendipitous insights. So, a Seneca quote on “time” can link up with a modern productivity book quote on “time blocking.”

But do stay alert, as Gemini Notebook might try too hard to connect two completely unrelated fiction and non-fiction highlights. While it won’t hallucinate, it can over-generalize. Check the attributions when you’re unsure.

Find recurring ideas that show up across at least three different books. Quote the specific highlight from each.

Build a commonplace book from the highlights

Turn scattered quotes into outlines you can use

I’m working on a book, and Gemini Notebook now doubles as my commonplace book. I ask it to pull every highlight relevant to a chapter I’m drafting, and it hands me quotes I’d forgotten I ever marked, sorted by which idea they actually support.

This saves hours of manual outline generation. Even when drafting a blog post, asking Gemini Notebook to gather supporting references from your reading history provides quick research jump points.

It’s an instant boost, but we must be careful not to adopt generated summaries verbatim. Gemini Notebook’s explicit source-grounding feature, with inline citations, is critical for avoiding plagiarism.

Pull every highlight related to [topic]. Group them by the sub-idea they support, and note which book each came from.

Interview a year of your own reading

Ask questions instead of scrolling for answers

Interactive mode in the Audio Overview turns your highlight file into your own podcast show you can participate in. It’s a return to the same method that finally got me through my read-it-later list without letting it pile up unread. Instead of hunting through hundreds of clippings, I asked what my books said about a specific topic, and got a synthesized answer from the sources.

With the right questions, the exercise can feel like a real reading review at the end of the year (or whenever) and not a gimmicky chatbot layer on top of my notes.

Hearing an audio overview of “your reading year” on a walk can land differently than reading a list. As you listen, you can continue prompting Gemini Notebook in the chat panel. I ask a few preliminary questions to get a bird’s-eye view of the audio discussion. You can even use the interactive Quiz for a more active review.

Based on these highlights, what did I learn about [topic] this year? Cite the specific books and quotes that support your answer.

A free Readwise alternative you own

Skip the subscription; Gemini Notebook has workarounds

Readwise resurfaces old highlights and builds spaced-repetition habits around them, for a price. Gemini Notebook does the resurfacing part for free once your highlights become a source, and there’s no import fee or account to manage.

I am always tempted to pay for Readwise because of its automated daily push notifications (email/app widget) that require zero willpower. Maybe a recurring Google Tasks reminder or a Google Calendar event with a direct link to the Gemini Notebook could serve as a rough gap-filler.

Otherwise, Gemini Notebook can adequately cover search, resurfacing, and cross-book connections. If you’re a light user, that’s the whole alternative to a Readwise subscription for free, minus the daily email reminder, but with the added power of prompts and the Studio tools. I am also trying out a free way to get Kindle highlights into Obsidian without a Readwise subscription at all.

Pick five highlights randomly. For each, ask me a question that tests whether I remember why I saved it.

Your old highlights are worth a second look

Don’t wait for a full year’s worth of clippings like me before trying this. Export your My Clippings.txt today, upload it as a source, and ask Gemini Notebook one question you’ve never thought of while reading. Find a single theme you keep highlighting and see what you get back. You might find a pattern; you’ll definitely find a few highlights worth revisiting.