I don't know if i can recommend any books, but I agree with your teacher. I read fear and loathing in las vegas years before I saw the movie and all I can say is reading it was way better. It lets you imagine what is being described, rather than it being showed to you. I imagined way cooler things than the movie showed

In the same way that a book describes scary scenes, it leaves it up to you to imagine what is being explained. A ten second 'scary' scene in a movie could easily take a page or two of detailed writing to fully describe in a book, and for me that leads to a greater reaction. Instead of seeing a mangled body for a few seconds in a movie, you're left imagining it for how ever long it takes you to read.

I hope that made sense haha.