What to do when a book lets you down

The disappointment is real.

This post is adapted from one I wrote several years ago on a blog tied to my podcast. That blog is no longer active. It’s as relevant now as it was then!

For the last seven years, I’ve been rereading books for my podcast. Many of those books were once special to me. In other cases, they’re new reads for me, but I’ve heard friends and loved ones sing their praises. The stories we read as kids and teenagers are hard to forget—for better or worse.

When I launched SSR, I was actually most interested in chatting about books that don’t seem to hold up to our contemporary scrutiny. So, yeah, that was kind of the point!

How I built a podcast from nothing by making it up as I went along

Even outside my podcasting life, I’ve been disappointed by many books—and if you’re also a reader, I know you’ve been there, too.

In some ways, those disappointments are even bigger, since I’ve prioritized those books over so many others available in the world right now and dedicated some of my all-too-limited free time to picking them up.

Here are a few of the many reasons I can think of that we, as bookworms, feel let down after opening a new title:

• The book was getting a lot of positive buzz and good reviews online but doesn’t hold up

• The book was written by a favorite author, but this one doesn’t compare to the others you’ve loved

• The cover or synopsis of the book feels misleading

• The book doesn’t align with your values, opinions, etc.

• You decided to try the book after watching its adaptation… and you find that the movie or TV show was actually better

• You’re in the wrong time or place for a book to fulfill the expectations you had for it

• You have so little time to read and relax that you have really high standards—which is totally allowed!

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Currently Reading: Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

I’m just 50 pages in but I’m already pretty sure this one isn’t going to let me down. It has shades of Little Women (my favorite classic!) and is written in such a fresh, expert way. I might already be willing to put money on this as a new fave. More to come!

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Whether you’re feeling bummed after reading a book for leisure, academic purposes, or otherwise, I’m right there with you with that frustration. But as someone who’s “had” to read a lot of books that really let me down (mostly for the podcast), I think I have a unique perspective—hopefully one that will turn even your biggest bookish disappointments into something valuable.

Here are some of my best suggestions for processing literary letdowns, based on a years-long journey through old books that often don’t hold up:

See what you can learn about the context.

While I’m hesitant to “excuse” many of the problematic elements I see in the books we read for the podcast — racism, sexism, hateful language, homophobia, and the list goes on — I have found that the research I do for each episode helps me get a better grasp on my true feelings about said books. Gaining a better understanding of the author’s background, the time period in which the book was written, and the feedback the book has received over time certainly doesn’t cancel out these problematic elements, but it does help round out the picture more comprehensively.

One great example of this is Little Women. When I did a close reading of this book for Episode 40 of the pod, my initial reaction was that it wasn’t as progressive as I’d once thought it was. As a lifelong superfan of the book, I have to say that I found that a little upsetting! I reminded myself that it was published in 1868 and fell down the rabbit hole of research. I learned that Louisa May Alcott was extremely progressive! In her day, she may even have been considered radical! This provided some helpful context.

Context doesn’t always make your feelings about a book more positive. In preparing for our discussion about Island of the Blue Dolphins on Episode 45, I realized just how problematic it was for a White man to write a novel about the experience of a young indigenous girl. This information allowed me to double down on my negative feelings about the book and to feel more prepared to defend those feelings.