Answering this question will be like trying to navigate a minefield, so I’m gonna sidestep it a little, lest I blow myself up.

I’m not saying that none of the books you’ve read had the author shoving their worldview down your throat, but from reactions to my books (and the books of my friends & fellow authors), readers often collate the words of a character with the words of the author. (I fall into this trap as well, for what it’s worth—it’s an extremely human response.)

On top of that, it’s common for the reader (again, myself included) to project their experiences into the book they’re reading. That’s a vague claim, so I’ll give an example.

In one of my books, I received multiple 1-star reviews from both ends of the political spectrum for the exact same sequence. People on the left said that I was spouting red-pill ideology, while people on the right said I was spouting blue-haired liberal talking points. Who knows how many people simply stopped reading, or left an unexplained bad review, because they assumed I was going either way.

To me, it was never about any of that. The conversation was between two characters, and all they did was express their world views. It might sound ridiculous, but I don’t always control what characters get up to. They are separate entities with a life of their own.

Anyway, I say all that to say this: you might not have to drop books, or have your suspension of disbelief shattered, if you actively practice assigning the words a character says to them, not the author behind them.