I would like to better learn the xara software and producing illustrations in general.

I know there are some very good xara tutorials and videos which I am happy to use.

But I also like to learn from a good structured book. So most good books seem to be written for Adobe Illustrator.

Therefore my question: Is it possible and recommendable to use e.g. an Adobe Illustrator book from the bookstore and easily transform this knowledge to using Xara instead of Adobe Illustrator? (Is the usage of the tools in both of the programs similar enough?)

Bonus question 1: If yes, can anybody recommend a good book to better learn producing illustrations?

Bonus question 2: What do you think is a good strategy for a beginner to learn producing high quality illustrations?

[I don't know which is the best category to post such a question. Sorry if I post in the wrong category.]