I have a gigantic (encyclopedic) collection inside Readwise that I can use with NotebookLM. During INTED2025 I shared how I use NotebookLM to remember everything I have read.

During one of my Prsctical AI Workshops I showed my collection of 9,271 quotes that I keep in a single notebook that Google can read. This means I have a lovely digital notebook containing snippets I have read and highlighted.

If you use NtebookLM you might wonder how I circumvent the limitations of 50 sources often specified by NotebookLM projects. The key thing is that each source can have up to 500,000 words in it, so when I compile my quotes and snippets into giant documents, I can easily fit a quote collection from Readwise size into a single notebook. I have more than 86,000 quotes in my collection.

Here is my worflow.

  1. I use Chrome extensions, OCr scanners, Readwise, and Kindle to highlight passages.

  2. Then I send the highlights into ReadWise where I can sift and organise them. I have hundreds of web clippings and selections from print media too.

  3. I scroll through my imported quotes with Readwise and choose the one I want to add to a Notebook.

  4. I use Readwise’s Export to Docs feature, which formats each quote so that it works brilliantly inside of NotebookLM. (Author, title, and page number will be attached to each quote.)

  5. Once Readwise creates the docs I add them all as sources to my “Reading History” notebook.

  6. Then I import the massive Reading History file into NotebookLM.

Readwise AI lets me ask questions, brainstorm, and explore new ideas inside the context window of books and manuscripts I have sourced, validated, and criss-checked. And of course, I can always click on citations to jump back directly to the original quotes themselves.

I show this worflow with screencaps and hands-on sessions I run with European educators.