Midway through a book, I thought, “I don’t like this book.”

Instead of discarding it, I paused to consider: What don’t I like?

Was the content lacking? Was it the style? Was it the way the text was set on the page? The typeface?

Turns out, I didn’t appreciate the writing style. It was too conversational for me. Too many asides.

However, the content was good. I could still learn a lot from the book (which was my intention).

Do we ignore a professor’s genius because we don’t like her glasses? Or a brilliant lecturer because of the way he gestures when speaking? Or a blogger for overusing commas, dashes, and ellipses?

Of course not.

Look past the surface. Ignore the immaterial. Look for what can be learned.