On PC EU common racial styles cost 200-300 gold, rare ones 10.000 -20.000. Imperial motif is the rarest and still coszs around 100.000 gold. Then there are special styles like dwemer, glass and xyvkin. Those come in pages, not books. You have to learn them by chapters. Each page is for a specific item like dwemer axes, glass helmets and so on.
Dwemer pages can be found in dwemer ruins in urns. Xivkyn pages in imperial city vaults, but you need the DLC and 60 trophies to open them. Glass fragments come in crafting writs rewards. 10 fragments can be used to make a random page with a special resin that costs 10.000. It's quite a grind, and the needed style materials are another grind.

Dwemer need frames, made from 10 scraps found in dwemer loot.
Xivkyn needs special charcoal, found in IC or by deconstructing.
Glass needs malachit, created with 10 shards you find in random chests.

And with new Orsinium DLC comes new styles. Mercenaries (or was that Akaviri?)need millions alliance points
And laurels found in pledges rewards.

So styles are a massive grind. Or you can just buy them in clown store for hard cash...

I haven't found styles grindy at all (save for glass and Xy.) During my first month I was able to get all the basic racials (came in at unlimited), and after a couple of months had money or the more rare ones (Ancient Elf, Imperial, etc.) At this point the only non-glass / Xy one I'm missing is Barbaric, which no one ever seems to be selling in open trade calls. (Not worth it to me to scower all the vendors for it.)

If you look around you may just find those with extra. (I've got probably nearly a full extra set of basic ones in my bank.) You may find friends you have made who are crafters have some saved up in their banks for friends.