Bose,
I suspect because there is so much to wade through, it is understandable that many cannot see the wood for the trees. The PPL exam requirement to demonstrate 75% knowledge of just a subset of the essentials a potential issue.
My regulatory capability came from the Thom book, I don't actually recall how I learnt about web resources and LASORS. Thinking about it now, an hour's sit down with an instructor on a rainy day would have gone a long way to clearing up the muddle that I now know I was in during my PPL and beyond!