Hi aghhicgmat,

Most GMAT books offer "technical math" solutions to Quant questions and 1 type of approach for Verbal questions, so it's good that you realized that these explanations are not necessarily the fastest (nor the most strategic). One of the problems with a "book heavy" study approach is that a book can only offer so much information; it's limited by its size. Adding more books to the process won't necessarily solve the problem.

Since it sounds like you're still in the early phases of your studies, there's nothing wrong with continuing to work in the way that you are working. Depending on your score goals, there will likely be a point at which you'll need to consider purchasing a Course of some kind (live class or self-study), so that you can take advantage of the consistent, professional guidance that a Course provides.

This Forum is a great resource to learn some of the things that you're looking for - other tactics, insights, etc. for BOTH the Quant and Verbal sections. If you're curious about how others would tackle a question that you're working on, then post it here.

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich