To be honest there's no telling what anyone means by beneficial, but the argument can (and has) been made that any fiction, especially character driven pieces,

To be honest there's no telling what anyone means by beneficial, but the argument can (and has) been made that any fiction, especially character driven pieces, are good for building neurological processes; as the imaginative processes when reading this type of book not only "creates" worlds inside one's head, but also engages other, disparate portions of the brain, not typically used when reading text books. This type of reading, in turn, helps the user (in theory) more easily digest and retain information from text books. Almost like working out for the brain..... I'll try and find the study, when I get a chance and come back and put the link in. Sorry I don't have ready access to it at the moment, was just doing a quick read through at work =)