I was really just trying to show the point without saying "reading books will make you smarter/successful", but more to say that you may find it harder to be successful if you don't read.
p = "reading books"
q = "success"
p => q is equivalent to ~q => ~p
It may well be that reading doesn't make you successful, but not-reading makes you not-successful.
It's like playing the lottery doesn't make you win, but not-playing makes you not-win.