# Google API: Search Google Books

> Searches Google Books by words, author, subject or ISBN, with language, free-ebook and newest-first options. Ratings counts are not shown by the public book feed; newest sorts the available matches by publication date.

Unofficial. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Google.

- Page: https://fous.com/methods/books.google.com/search-books
- Method: `books.google.com/search_books`, version 1
- Website: books.google.com
- Returns: title, subtitle, authors, publisher, date, description, pages, categories, rating, ISBNs, preview, cover, link
- Effect: read (it gets data and changes nothing)
- Sign-in: none needed
- Cost: 1 credit per completed run (1¢ with pay as you go); failed runs are free
- Verified: Nov 2, 2026

## Inputs

| Field | Type | Required | In the run below | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| `order` | string | no |  | Order matching books by relevance or newest publication. Example: relevance One of "relevance", "newest". Default "relevance". |
| `query` | string | yes | `"Atomic Habits"` | Search words, a book title, author name, subject, or ISBN. Example: Atomic Habits |
| `author` | string | no | `"James Clear"` | Limit results to an author. Example: James Clear Default "". |
| `subject` | string | no |  | Limit results to a subject. Example: cooking Default "". |
| `language` | string | no |  | Book language as a name or two-letter code, or any. Example: English Default "any". |
| `max_results` | integer | no | `10` | Maximum number of books to return, up to 40. Example: 10 Default 10. |
| `free_ebooks_only` | boolean | no |  | Only return books available to read in full with free access. Example: false Default false. |

## Output

From a run on Oct 31, 2026, shortened. Its input:

```json
{
  "query": "Atomic Habits",
  "author": "James Clear",
  "max_results": 10
}
```

Its output:

```json
{
  "books": [
    {
      "title": "Atomic Habits (Tamil)",
      "authors": [
        "James Clear"
      ],
      "isbn_10": "9388241908",
      "isbn_13": "9789388241908",
      "subtitle": null,
      "publisher": "Manjul Publishing",
      "volume_id": "WmqyDwAAQBAJ",
      "categories": [
        "Self-Help"
      ],
      "page_count": 306,
      "ratings_count": null,
      "average_rating": null,
      "published_date": "2023-07-14",
      "cover_image_link": "https://books.google.com/books/content?id=WmqyDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=5&edge=curl&source=gbs_gdata",
      "google_books_link": "https://books.google.com/books?id=WmqyDwAAQBAJ",
      "short_description": "நீங்கள் உங்கள் வாழ்க்கையை மாற்ற விரும்பினால், நீங்கள் பிரம்மாண்டமாக சிந்திக்க வேண்டும் ...",
      "preview_availability": "partial preview"
    },
    {
      "title": "Atomic Habits",
      "authors": [
        "James Clear"
      ],
      "isbn_10": "1473537800",
      "isbn_13": "9781473537804",
      "subtitle": "The life-changing million-copy #1 bestseller",
      "publisher": "Random House",
      "volume_id": "fFCjDQAAQBAJ",
      "categories": [
        "Self-Help"
      ],
      "page_count": 216,
      "ratings_count": null,
      "average_rating": 4,
      "published_date": "2018-10-18",
      "cover_image_link": "https://books.google.com/books/content?id=fFCjDQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=5&source=gbs_gdata",
      "google_books_link": "https://books.google.com/books?id=fFCjDQAAQBAJ",
      "short_description": "He calls them atomic habits. In this ground-breaking book, Clears reveals exactly how these minuscule changes can grow into such life-altering outcomes.",
      "preview_availability": "no preview"
    },
    {
      "title": "Atomic Habits",
      "authors": [
        "James Clear"
      ],
      "isbn_10": "1847941842",
      "isbn_13": "9781847941848",
      "subtitle": "An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones",
      "publisher": "Random House Business Books",
      "volume_id": "-a5puQEACAAJ",
      "categories": [],
      "page_count": 288,
      "ratings_count": null,
      "average_rating": null,
      "published_date": "2019-04-04",
      "cover_image_link": null,
      "google_books_link": "https://books.google.com/books?id=-a5puQEACAAJ",
      "short_description": "A supremely practical and useful book. James Clear distils the most fundamental information about habit formation, so you can accomplish more by focusing on less.",
      "preview_availability": "no preview"
    }
  ]
}
```

## Run it

From code, with a Fous API key in `FOUS_API_KEY`; the answer's `data` holds the output:

```bash
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"method":"books.google.com/search_books","input":{"query":"Atomic Habits","author":"James Clear","max_results":10}}'
```

From an AI agent connected to the Fous MCP server: its `run` with the same method and input. To connect one, give it `set up https://fous.com/SKILL.md`.

## Ask your agent

- Find the newest books on machine learning written in Spanish, show me up to 15 with publisher and page count
- What book has ISBN 9780143127741? I need the title, authors, and a cover image
- Search Google Books for free ebooks by Jane Austen that I can read in full
- List 20 cookbooks about Korean cuisine with their descriptions, ratings and preview links
- Use Google to pull up books by Yuval Noah Harari in French, sorted by most recent publication date

## Input schema

```json
{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "query"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "order": {
      "enum": [
        "relevance",
        "newest"
      ],
      "type": "string",
      "default": "relevance",
      "description": "Order matching books by relevance or newest publication. Example: relevance"
    },
    "query": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Search words, a book title, author name, subject, or ISBN. Example: Atomic Habits"
    },
    "author": {
      "type": "string",
      "default": "",
      "description": "Limit results to an author. Example: James Clear"
    },
    "subject": {
      "type": "string",
      "default": "",
      "description": "Limit results to a subject. Example: cooking"
    },
    "language": {
      "type": "string",
      "default": "any",
      "description": "Book language as a name or two-letter code, or any. Example: English"
    },
    "max_results": {
      "type": "integer",
      "default": 10,
      "maximum": 40,
      "minimum": 1,
      "description": "Maximum number of books to return, up to 40. Example: 10"
    },
    "free_ebooks_only": {
      "type": "boolean",
      "default": false,
      "description": "Only return books available to read in full with free access. Example: false"
    }
  }
}
```

## Output schema

```json
{
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "books"
  ],
  "properties": {
    "books": {
      "type": "array",
      "items": {
        "type": "object",
        "required": [
          "title",
          "subtitle",
          "authors",
          "publisher",
          "published_date",
          "short_description",
          "page_count",
          "categories",
          "average_rating",
          "ratings_count",
          "isbn_13",
          "isbn_10",
          "preview_availability",
          "cover_image_link",
          "google_books_link",
          "volume_id"
        ],
        "properties": {
          "title": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "authors": {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {
              "type": "string"
            }
          },
          "isbn_10": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ]
          },
          "isbn_13": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ]
          },
          "subtitle": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ]
          },
          "publisher": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ]
          },
          "volume_id": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "categories": {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {
              "type": "string"
            }
          },
          "page_count": {
            "type": [
              "integer",
              "null"
            ]
          },
          "ratings_count": {
            "type": [
              "integer",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Null when the source does not report a ratings count."
          },
          "average_rating": {
            "type": [
              "number",
              "null"
            ]
          },
          "published_date": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ],
            "description": "Publication date, as a year or full date."
          },
          "cover_image_link": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ]
          },
          "google_books_link": {
            "type": "string"
          },
          "short_description": {
            "type": [
              "string",
              "null"
            ]
          },
          "preview_availability": {
            "enum": [
              "full view",
              "partial preview",
              "no preview"
            ],
            "type": "string"
          }
        },
        "additionalProperties": false
      }
    }
  },
  "additionalProperties": false
}
```

## See more

- [Google API: Get book](https://fous.com/methods/books.google.com/get-book.md): Looks up a Google Books book by title or ISBN. Returns its details, reader ratings and the Google Play ebook offer in a chosen country.
- [Google API: Search Google News](https://fous.com/methods/news.google.com/search-news.md): Finds recent Google News articles about a company, person or topic for a country and language, in Google News order, optionally within a time window, with each article's publisher link resolved.
- [Google API: Search patents](https://fous.com/methods/patents.google.com/search-patents.md): Finds Google Patents about an invention. Optional filters: inventor, assignee, country, filing date and publication stage. Legal status is the site's estimate.
- [Google API: Get place reviews](https://fous.com/methods/google.com/get-place-reviews.md): Finds a place on Google Maps by name and location and returns its public reviews in the chosen order.
- [Google API: Search Google Hotels](https://fous.com/methods/google.com/search-hotels.md): Finds places to stay in a city or area for given dates on Google Hotels, with nightly and total prices, hotel class, guest ratings, amenities, address and cheapest booking site. Optional filters for price, stars and rating; vacation rentals are left out. Prices and availability can change.
- [Google API: Search Chrome extensions](https://fous.com/methods/chromewebstore.google.com/search-extensions.md): Finds Chrome Web Store extensions by keywords in store order, with each listing's developer, users, rating, rating count, short description and store link. Some listings omit developer, users or ratings.
- [Google API: Search Google Play apps](https://fous.com/methods/play.google.com/search-apps.md): Finds Android apps on Google Play by keywords, in Play search order, with each listing's developer, star rating, price and currency for the chosen country, download range and link. Results are limited to apps shown on the public search page.
- [Google API: Get hotel reviews from Google Hotels](https://fous.com/methods/google.com/get-hotel-reviews.md): Finds a hotel on Google Hotels by name and city and returns its guest reviews in the chosen order, its Google rating and review count, and topic ratings averaged from the returned reviews that rate each topic.
- [All Google methods](https://fous.com/methods/google.com.md)