This suggestion is in 2 parts:

• Add advancements to give some sense of progress along the way, and also guide the player through the progression tree as he looks at the advancements (for example Crushing Block, any core, the multiblock machines and so on... (don't overdo it like EIO though please))
• Gate patchouli book entries with them, this allows a smoother learning experience as it hides the chapters that you can't make use of yet, which makes it a lot less overwhelming and makes it easier to see where you're supposed to go next

Patchouli has a global config to disable advancement locking. I don't know if you can toggle for individual books, but there's that.

If you go this route, could you add a creative only version of the book that does not rely on achievements? The triumph mod is sometimes used to create a quest system (see darkosto packs for examples). When this happens, the pack author usually takes out other achievements which would make a guide book that unlocks by them useless.