It happened to me for the first time this playthrough, that the traps set off before I had a chance to enter. But when you highlight stuff with ALT, you can see the book and still grab it.
I have problems giving this book to Gale to feed him. I can tell him, I have a magic artifact and when he ask to give it to him, I only can say that I want to hold on to it. Is that a bug or do I have to read the book before giving it to Gale?