Yes, the right books do. They enlighten us

Today I am reading more Tolstoy (found it beautiful) for literature; On health I read The Obesity Code by Jason Fung (very useful) On Education I am still reading Mortimer Adlers' How to read books (it is a whole course on reading/studying any topic) And on present events, am reading Superhubs by Sandra Navidi

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested". - Francis Bacon. With that being said, there are definitely many other things in modern times that enlighten us for a better life. For example 'Watching Videos' may be enlightening sometimes. But it only happens when that happens to be based on some values.

For me first enlightening or the orange pill came from a video, so I advocate it.

To make it clear, I don't oppose reading valuable, I mean some thought provoking, books.