eddowding/vault/Operations/Claude/skills/research/book-summarizer

Book Summarizer Skill

Transforms a .md book into a rich, referenceable knowledge artifact.

When to Use

• User provides a markdown file of a book (converted from epub/pdf)
• User says "summarize this book" or "extract insights from..."
• Processing books for the Knowledge/Books/ folder

Architecture

Pass 1 (Sonnet 1M): Structure & Theme Extraction Pass 2 (Sonnet 1M): Quote Mining & Evidence Collection Pass 3 (Opus): Synthesis, Connections & Actionable Insights

Execution

Pass 1: Structure & Themes

Use Sonnet with this prompt:

You are analyzing a book to extract its deep structure. Read the entire text carefully.

TASK: Identify the book's architecture and core arguments.

OUTPUT FORMAT:

## Core Thesis
[1-2 sentences: What is the author's main claim?]

## Structural Overview
[How is the book organized? What's the logical flow?]

## Key Themes (max 7)
For each theme:
- **Theme Name**: [descriptive label]
- **Summary**: [2-3 sentences]
- **Chapter Coverage**: [which sections address this]

## Author's Methodology
[How does the author build their case? Evidence types, rhetorical strategies]

## Intended Audience & Purpose
[Who is this for? What action/belief change does the author want?]

## Tensions & Nuances
[Where does the author acknowledge complexity? Counterarguments addressed?]

Pass 2: Quote Mining

Use Sonnet with this prompt:

You are a scholarly reader extracting the most valuable passages from this book.

TASK: Find quotes that are quotable, insightful, or essential to understanding.

CATEGORIES TO EXTRACT:

## Thesis Statements (3-5)
[Passages where the author states their core argument most clearly]

## Memorable Lines (5-10)
[Beautifully written, surprising, or highly quotable passages]

## Key Evidence (5-10)
[Specific data, stories, or examples that support major claims]

## Counterintuitive Insights (3-5)
[Ideas that challenge conventional wisdom]

## Actionable Wisdom (3-5)
[Practical guidance or principles that can be applied]

## Controversial Claims (2-3)
[Bold statements that might provoke debate]

FORMAT FOR EACH QUOTE:
> "Exact quote here..."

**Context:** [1 sentence explaining where this fits]
**Why Notable:** [Why this quote matters]

Pass 3: Synthesis (Opus)

Use Opus for deep synthesis:

You are synthesizing a book analysis into a permanent knowledge artifact.

You have:
1. Structural analysis (themes, methodology, organization)
2. Curated quotes (thesis statements, memorable lines, evidence)

TASK: Create the definitive summary that makes re-reading unnecessary for reference purposes.

OUTPUT THE FINAL SUMMARY:

---
title: "{BOOK_TITLE}"
author: "{AUTHOR}"
date_read: "{DATE}"
rating: [1-5]
tags: [books, {genre}, {themes}]
status: summarized
---

# {BOOK_TITLE}
*by {AUTHOR}*

## One-Sentence Summary
[The book in a single, memorable sentence]

## The Core Argument
[3-5 sentences: What is this book really saying? Not a description—a distillation.]

## Why This Book Matters
[2-3 sentences: What's the significance? Why should someone care?]

## Key Insights

### 1. [Insight Title]
[2-3 sentences explaining the insight]

> "Supporting quote..."

### 2. [Insight Title]
[Continue for 5-7 major insights...]

## The Best Quotes

> "Quote 1..."

> "Quote 2..."

[Include 5-7 of the absolute best, most referenceable quotes]

## Practical Applications
- [How can this be applied?]
- [What should change based on this?]
- [What decisions does this inform?]

## Connections
- **Agrees with:** [Other books/ideas that align]
- **Disagrees with:** [Contrasting perspectives]
- **Builds on:** [Foundational ideas this extends]
- **Reminds me of:** [Personal connections, projects, situations]

## Critical Assessment
**Strengths:** [What the book does well]
**Weaknesses:** [Gaps, blind spots, overreaches]
**Who Should Read:** [Specific recommendations]
**Who Should Skip:** [Who won't benefit]

## If You Only Remember One Thing
[The single most important takeaway—make it stick]

---

*Summarized by Claude on {DATE}*

Output Location

Save to: Knowledge/Books/Summaries/{Book Title} ({Author}).md

Agent Orchestration

1. Read the source .md file (full content)
2. Launch Sonnet agent (Pass 1) → save to temp
3. Launch Sonnet agent (Pass 2) → save to temp
4. Read both temp outputs
5. Launch Opus agent (Pass 3) with combined context
6. Write final summary to Knowledge/Books/Summaries/
7. Offer to delete source .md if desired

Example Invocation

User: Summarize ~/Downloads/Thinking-Fast-and-Slow.md

Claude: I'll process this book in three passes:
1. Structure & themes (Sonnet)
2. Quote extraction (Sonnet)
3. Deep synthesis (Opus)

[Executes passes...]

Created: Knowledge/Books/Summaries/Thinking Fast and Slow (Daniel Kahneman).md

Key insight: [preview of main takeaway]

Tips for Best Results

• Source markdown should be clean (not OCR garbage)
• Books under 200k tokens work best for single-pass
• For very long books (500k+ tokens), consider chapter-by-chapter processing
• Non-fiction works better than fiction for this format
• If the book is technical, adjust quotes toward "key definitions" and "core principles"