lauriejgs - I would just assume that the gift was sent with good intentions.
My observation is that relatives often don’t really get it in terms of books to give to students. I can still recall getting a gift book that was something like “Best-Loved Poems of the American People” from a relative who knew that I was interested in poetry. I still have it, but I never opened it. I think it’s possible the OP’s relative simply heard that this was a good book about “college.”