[nick_urban]

The idea that you can get 80% online what you can get from books is somewhat true for "fluff" books such as many business books and self-improvement books.

Serious books, however, are incomparable more valuable than either fluff books or internet reading. They require a bigger investment, but they can give you whole new ways of seeing. That only comes through a substantial investment and effort to see with a new perspective.

Try some books that have stood the test of time, such as those published by Everyman's Library or Modern Library. Often insight comes not so much from keeping up with the bleeding edge, as from about understanding enduring truths about life and the world.