Books have the ability to condense and transfer information efficiently. While some things can’t be learned from reading, reading gives you the benefit of other peoples' experience. Even if it’s lossy, building familiarity can turn something that felt opaque and scary into something you feel prepared to encounter.
See also:
- Reading is the transformation of a linked list of ideas into a tree which explains why it can be lossy when not done well
- Flesch Reading Ease Test show that you probably need to get past an 8th grade reading level in order to unlock the power of books