Has this ever happened to you? The library hold you’ve waited months for finally comes in. It’s the book recommended by every club and BookToker. It’s won awards and been heralded as The Next Big Thing. Excitedly, you dig in… and find yourself thinking: “Huh?” “What is everyone else seeing that I’m not?” and finally: “What is wrong with me?”

The answer is: Nothing. Nothing is wrong. There are lots of reasons a book isn’t hitting for you, and you don’t need to feel guilty about any of them.

Wrong time, wrong place, wrong mood
Sometimes you pick up a great book at the wrong time. Maybe you’re on vacation and in the mood for light escapism, rather than a think piece about generational grief. Or maybe you’ve been on a reading bender and have finally hit your saturation point with a particular author or genre (World War II spies, anyone?). Or maybe the last book you read was so life-changing that whatever you read next was always going to feel like a let down.

It’s not you, it’s me
It’s a fact: not every book is for every person. Perhaps the author’s style or voice is a barrier. I once had to DNF a book that was written as one run-on sentence because the lack of punctuation made me physically uncomfortable. Or the story is so far outside your “zone” that you absolutely cannot find anything relatable as an entry point. Conversely, maybe the story hits too close to home and is triggering. Or are you overloaded in another part of your life and this book simply isn’t what you need right now.

To DNF or not to DNF, that is the question. Some tips to help you decide:

Change up the format and try the audiobook (or vice versa).
Read reviews to see what others thought about the book. Perhaps you’ll feel encouraged to keep going; perhaps you’ll feel vindicated in giving up.
Tip: 3 star reviews tend to be the most balanced in terms of pros/cons.
Skip ahead and read the end. No judgement here.

Okay, I DNF’d and now I’m in a slump. Now what?

Try another title from the author, or within the genre.
Re-read an old favorite, a book you know well and love. Think of it as literary parsley, a reading palate cleanser. Mine is The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher.
Take a break and do something else. It’s okay.

We read to expand our knowledge of the world around us, to gain empathy and context for circumstances outside our own. But it doesn’t mean that every book will be a winner for you. Give yourself permission not to finish a book that truly is the wrong fit.

I hope you find a book that resonates and restores you this month.