The only thing you have to keep in mind when you read these kind of books is that they are teaching you the C++ language and really don't cover programming
This is so true. Any book that claims to teach you a particular programming language isn't really teaching you how to program. Its teaching you the syntax of that particular programming language along with some convenient examples. Maybe in a lot of cases this distinction doesn't really matter, but when you start working on larger and more complex projects or collaborating with other programmers, you'll start noticing that there is an entire set of terminology and problem solving techniques used which are far more generalized than just a particular language's syntax.
The gang of four's design pattern book is great example of such a book but there are many others. Once you're comfortable with the syntax of your chosen language, I would suggest reading the gang of four's design pattern book. It will really help you with managing complexity, which is an absolutely critical skill if you want to move beyond textbook examples and onto writing non-trivial code.