diff --git a/server/package.json b/server/package.json
index 4fcbb98..f08aa5f 100644
--- a/server/package.json
+++ b/server/package.json
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
   "scripts": {
     "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1",
     "dev": "tsx watch --env-file=.env src/index.ts",
-    "import:mock": "tsx --env-file=.env src/scripts/importMockBooks.ts",
     "build": "tsc",
     "start": "node dist/index.js",
     "format": "prettier --write .",
diff --git a/server/src/models/Book.ts b/server/src/models/Book.ts
index 307b112..737dab0 100644
--- a/server/src/models/Book.ts
+++ b/server/src/models/Book.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,11 @@ const bookSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
     default: null,
   },
 
+  googleCategories: {
+    type: [String],
+    default: [],
+  },
+  
   genres: {
     type: [String],
     default: [],
diff --git a/server/src/scripts/importBooks.ts b/server/src/scripts/importBooks.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..78aff0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/scripts/importBooks.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+
+import mongoose from "mongoose";
+import { connectDatabase } from "../database/database.js";
+import { Book } from "../models/Book.js";
+import { isValidBook } from "../utils/validateBook.js";
+import { transformBook } from "../utils/transformBook.js";
+import { fetchGoogleBooks } from "../utils/fetchGoogleBooks.js";
+
+const SUBJECTS = [
+  "fantasy",
+  "science_fiction",
+  "mystery",
+  "history",
+  "biography",
+];
+
+const BOOKS_PER_SUBJECT = 20;
+
+async function importBooks() {
+  let fetched = 0;
+  let invalid = 0;
+  let inserted = 0;
+  let updated = 0;
+
+  try {
+    const apiKey = process.env.GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY;
+
+    if (!apiKey) {
+      throw new Error("Missing GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY");
+    }
+
+    await connectDatabase();
+
+    for (const subject of SUBJECTS) {
+      console.log(`\nFetching books: ${subject}`);
+
+      const url = new URL(
+        "https://www.googleapis.com/books/v1/volumes"
+      );
+
+      url.searchParams.set("q", subject.replaceAll("_", " "));
+      url.searchParams.set("maxResults", String(BOOKS_PER_SUBJECT));
+      url.searchParams.set("startIndex", "0");
+      url.searchParams.set("key", apiKey);
+
+      const data = await fetchGoogleBooks(url);
+
+      console.log("Query:", url.searchParams.get("q"));
+      console.log("Total matching results:", data.totalItems);
+      console.log("Items returned:", data.items?.length ?? 0);
+
+      const books = data.items ?? [];
+
+      for (const book of books) {
+        fetched++;
+
+        if (!isValidBook(book)) {
+          invalid++;
+          continue;
+        }
+
+        const transformedBook = transformBook(book);
+
+        const result = await Book.updateOne(
+          { googleBooksId: transformedBook.googleBooksId },
+          { $set: transformedBook },
+          { upsert: true }
+        );
+
+        if (result.upsertedCount > 0) {
+          inserted++;
+        } else if (result.matchedCount > 0) {
+          updated++;
+        }
+      }
+
+      console.log(`Processed ${books.length} results`);
+    }
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error("Import stopped:", error);
+  } finally {
+    console.log("\n--- Import Summary ---");
+    console.log(`Fetched: ${fetched}`);
+    console.log(`Invalid/skipped: ${invalid}`);
+    console.log(`New books inserted: ${inserted}`);
+    console.log(`Existing books matched: ${updated}`);
+    console.log(`Total processed: ${fetched}`);
+
+    await mongoose.disconnect();
+  }
+}
+
+importBooks();
diff --git a/server/src/scripts/importMockBooks.ts b/server/src/scripts/importMockBooks.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index e0ce859..0000000
--- a/server/src/scripts/importMockBooks.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,21 +0,0 @@
-import fs from "node:fs";
-import { connectDatabase } from "../database/database.js";
-import { Book } from "../models/Book.js";
-
-async function importMockBooks() {
-  await connectDatabase();
-
-  const file = fs.readFileSync("./test-data/books.json", "utf-8");
-  const books = JSON.parse(file);
-
-  // Clear existing books before importing mock data
-  await Book.deleteMany({});
-
-  await Book.insertMany(books);
-
-  console.log(`Imported ${books.length} books`);
-
-  process.exit(0);
-}
-
-importMockBooks();
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/server/src/scripts/testBookImport.ts b/server/src/scripts/testBookImport.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7d2ee80
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/scripts/testBookImport.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import mongoose from "mongoose";
+import { connectDatabase } from "../database/database.js";
+import { Book } from "../models/Book.js";
+import { isValidBook } from "../utils/validateBook.js";
+import { transformBook } from "../utils/transformBook.js";
+
+async function testImport() {
+  try {
+    await connectDatabase();
+
+    const apiKey = process.env.GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY;
+
+    if (!apiKey) {
+      throw new Error("Missing GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY");
+    }
+
+    const url = new URL("https://www.googleapis.com/books/v1/volumes");
+
+    url.searchParams.set("q", "harry potter");
+    url.searchParams.set("maxResults", "2");
+    url.searchParams.set("key", apiKey);
+
+    const response = await fetch(url);
+
+    if (!response.ok) {
+      throw new Error(`Google API error: ${response.status}`);
+    }
+
+    const data = await response.json();
+
+    for (const book of data.items ?? []) {
+      if (!isValidBook(book)) {
+        console.log(`Skipped: ${book.volumeInfo?.title}`);
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      const transformedBook = transformBook(book);
+
+      await Book.updateOne(
+        { googleBooksId: transformedBook.googleBooksId },
+        { $set: transformedBook },
+        { upsert: true }
+      );
+
+      console.log(`Saved: ${transformedBook.title}`);
+      break; // Only save one valid book for testing
+    }
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error("Import failed:", error);
+  } finally {
+    await mongoose.disconnect();
+  }
+}
+
+testImport();
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/server/src/scripts/testGoogleBooks.ts b/server/src/scripts/testGoogleBooks.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..878d596
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/scripts/testGoogleBooks.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import { isValidBook } from "../utils/validateBook.js";
+import { transformBook } from "../utils/transformBook.js";
+import { fetchGoogleBooks } from "../utils/fetchGoogleBooks.js";
+
+const apiKey = process.env.GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY;
+
+if (!apiKey) {
+  throw new Error("Missing GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY in .env");
+}
+
+const url = new URL("https://www.googleapis.com/books/v1/volumes");
+
+url.searchParams.set("q", "harry potter");
+url.searchParams.set("maxResults", "5");
+url.searchParams.set("startIndex", "5");
+url.searchParams.set("key", apiKey);
+
+const data = await fetchGoogleBooks(url);
+
+for (const book of data.items ?? []) {
+  if (!isValidBook(book)) {
+    console.log(`Skipped invalid book: ${book.volumeInfo?.title ?? "Unknown"}`);
+    continue;
+  }
+
+  const transformedBook = transformBook(book);
+
+  console.log(JSON.stringify(transformedBook, null, 2));
+}
diff --git a/server/src/utils/fetchGoogleBooks.ts b/server/src/utils/fetchGoogleBooks.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29405de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/utils/fetchGoogleBooks.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+const MAX_RETRIES = 3;
+
+export async function fetchGoogleBooks(url: URL) {
+  for (let attempt = 0; attempt <= MAX_RETRIES; attempt++) {
+    const response = await fetch(url);
+
+    if (response.ok) {
+      return await response.json();
+    }
+
+    const errorBody = await response.text();
+
+    // Retry temporary server errors and rate limits
+    const retryable =
+      response.status === 429 ||
+      response.status === 500 ||
+      response.status === 502 ||
+      response.status === 503 ||
+      response.status === 504;
+
+    if (!retryable || attempt === MAX_RETRIES) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `Google Books API error ${response.status}: ${errorBody}`
+      );
+    }
+
+    // Stop if Google explicitly reports an exhausted daily quota
+    if (
+      response.status === 429 &&
+      errorBody.includes("defaultPerDayPerProject")
+    ) {
+      throw new Error("Google Books daily quota exhausted.");
+    }
+
+    const delay = 2000 * 2 ** attempt;
+
+    console.log(
+      `Google API returned ${response.status}. Retrying in ${delay / 1000}s...`
+    );
+
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, delay));
+  }
+
+  throw new Error("Google Books request failed.");
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/server/src/utils/genreMapping.ts b/server/src/utils/genreMapping.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60557fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/utils/genreMapping.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+export const GENRES = [
+  "Fantasy",
+  "Science Fiction",
+  "Romance",
+  "Mystery & Crime",
+  "Horror",
+  "Adventure",
+  "Historical Fiction",
+  "Contemporary Fiction",
+  "Young Adult",
+  "Children's Books",
+  "Biography & Memoir",
+  "History",
+  "Science & Technology",
+  "Self-Help & Psychology",
+  "Other Nonfiction",
+] as const;
+
+// to be completed later
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/server/src/utils/transformBook.ts b/server/src/utils/transformBook.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..086d958
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/utils/transformBook.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+export function transformBook(book: any) {
+  const info = book.volumeInfo;
+
+  return {
+    googleBooksId: book.id,
+    title: info.title,
+    subtitle: info.subtitle ?? "",
+    authors: info.authors ?? [],
+    publishedYear: info.publishedDate
+      ? Number(info.publishedDate.slice(0, 4)) || null
+      : null,
+    googleCategories: info.categories ?? [],
+    genres: info.categories ?? [],
+    description: info.description ?? "",
+    coverURL: info.imageLinks?.thumbnail ?? "",
+    pageCount: info.pageCount ?? null,
+    language: info.language ?? "",
+  };
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/server/src/utils/validateBook.ts b/server/src/utils/validateBook.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c534c62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/utils/validateBook.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+export function isValidBook(book: any): boolean {
+  const info = book.volumeInfo;
+
+  return Boolean(
+    typeof book.id === "string" &&
+    book.id.trim() &&
+    typeof info?.title === "string" &&
+    info.title.trim() &&
+    Array.isArray(info.authors) &&
+    info.authors.some(
+      (author: unknown) =>
+        typeof author === "string" && author.trim().length > 0
+    )
+  );
+}
\ No newline at end of file