Most of the people reading my blog are pretty well-read, be it fiction or nonfiction.  What I’ve noticed over the years is that most people who are big readers are introverts.  This could be for a number of reasons I don’t feel qualified to talk about, so I’m going to talk about my own introvert experiences.

I’m not the necessarily shy and socially awkward type of introvert that movies and television seem to portray.  I’ve learned to fake it because it’s not possible to behave like an introvert in my line of work.  I do enjoy the occasional night out, but stuff like that exhausts me.  Four or five hours out is pretty much my limit and that’s on a good day.  On an average day I can’t tolerate much more than two hours.  (This is on top of a full day’s work, mind you.)

So most Friday nights you’ll find me sitting at home watching TV or reading.  It’s not because I don’t have friends/a social life but rather because for the most part I prefer my own company.  Social stuff drains me and frankly I find most people to be boring and/or annoying.  (This is likely the side effect of living in a tiny community where I’ve known everywhere for my whole life.  Outside of my own community I do love talking to people and hearing their stories.)

Because I don’t really like to go out, I read a lot.  At the same time, I make time for reading because I really do enjoy it.  Is there a correlation between being bookish and introverted?  My anecdata says yes, but I’d like an admittedly slightly biased survey here on my blog.

What I want to know is this: Are you an introvert?  Can you describe your experience(s) as an introvert for any readers here who are extroverts?  If you are an introvert, do you find that you read more than your extroverted friends/colleagues/family?