I agree: programming is easier for me to learn via tutorials and reading examples and existing code.
The textbooks I still keep on my shelf are deeper than programming and are books I still didn’t reach the end of during university (abstract algebra, algorithms, compilers, statistical methods).
I find that when I make them available within eyesight, I will occasionally take them down and look in them for answers; I would not have asked myself those questions with the books not being present.
I've typically not been a "book learner" when it comes to programming, but Master Class Assembly Language[1] really helped me understand assembly programming when I picked it up at age 17 or so. For me that's been the only programming language book that's been really helpful. Not sure how it holds up today though.
The other programming book that I really learned something from was Physically Based Rendering, the fourth edition recently featured here[2]. It had, for me, a really good mix of math and how to actually implement the math, and I found the literate programming style made it very easy to follow[3].
I spent many, many years struggling with this, buying and not getting anywhere with books. I could eat up articles and blog posts like nothing, but not books. Then I found audio books and now go through one every few weeks. Everyone has their own way that works for them and not being into books is completely fine.
I should have known this earlier, when I stopped buying textbooks in undergrad.