Reading Slightly Difficult Books with Google Gemini Part 7: Super-Fast Understanding with Triage Notes

Having evolved my 'Reading Sprint Plan'—a short-distance run to finish four slightly difficult books (about 1500 pages) in four days—Gemini and I have reorganized our plan to read new books borrowed from the library and those that have been sitting on my 'to-read' pile.

The first thing I did was triage the books I'm going to read this time. In other words, I conducted preliminary research as preparation before actually reading them. Here, the AI tools Gemini and NotebookLM played a major role. Specifically, I had Gemini read the table of contents for each book while simultaneously gathering related information from the internet to create 'Triage Note 1,' which summarizes the book's overview, central questions, core arguments, key terms important for understanding, and starting points for discussion.

Next, I had NotebookLM read that Triage Note and the table of contents to create 'Triage Note 2.' Why is this note necessary? The information collected in Triage Note 1 was gathered from the vast internet, and it inevitably contains a fair amount of noise.

To address this, NotebookLM filters the information through three lenses—'What' (what the author wants to say), 'How' (how they argue it), and 'Why' (why it is important)—to refine the noise into a high-purity map.

Once you reach this point, the 'thought map' for exploring the book is complete. In fact, if you just want to grasp the overview, reading this note is enough. However, our goal is to gain as many ideas and insights as possible that emerge from reading the book.

Here, I add one more piece of preparation: the 'mindset.' In other words, 'What do I want to gain from reading this book?' It is, so to speak, the purpose of the journey.

For example, my mindset for reading Harari's 'NEXUS' is, 'How will AI evolve from here? And how will we survive?'
is my mindset.

A mindset is like a compass for a map. When reading slightly difficult books, it's easy to get lost and wonder, 'Wait, what am I doing again?' At times like that, looking at the map and the mindset helps you remember the purpose of reading the book.

By the way, if you prepare both a 'thought map' and a 'mindset' and ask Gemini, 'What is the most efficient way to read this?', it will tell you the path to reach exactly what you want to know as quickly as possible.

Well, I have kept you waiting for a long time, but next time I will finally enter the decoding of Harari's 'NEXUS.' By the way, since it is the height of summer tomorrow, I hope to deliver an article about the 'Summer Paperback Fair.' Therefore, the 8th installment of this series will be delivered on Tuesday. I hope you look forward to it. 🙇

Books I am reading as core reading this time.
(I am participating in the Amazon Associates Program.)

Was there a book you liked? If you'd like, please let me know in the comments.

Detailed information about NotebookLM is explained in an easy-to-understand way by the official Gemini Note. If this article has piqued your interest, please take a look.

Thank you for reading until the end.

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Thank you so much!

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