THIS is going to be awkward. I’ve spent weeks, in fact, debating whether and how to say this in print. But it’s something that’s irked me for years. And while occupying this chair these last months, it’s a feeling that’s only strengthened: The fact is, I find the quality of too many business books, well, underwhelming. There. I said it.

Let me be the first to say that there are many exceptions — “Greed and Glory on Wall Street,” “Liar’s Poker” and “Den of Thieves” come to mind. Many fine authors are making an effort to tell great business stories. But of the sprawling mass of books that spill across my desk, far too many just aren’t very good.

The problems are as varied as the books themselves; enumerating them could take an entire page of this newspaper. Some are too technical, some not technical enough. Some topics are hopeless: I’m not sure anyone can shape the Greek debt crisis into a narrative an American would read.

Some authors aren’t able to gain access to the business people they chronicle, and thus produce books that feel incomplete. Some don’t know how to tell a story. Some don’t even try. Some books just plain put me to sleep.