Have you ever spent time in a bookstore looking for a gift for someone else and “accidentally” walked out with an extra book that you then just had to keep for yourself? That is pretty much how I got Quiet Girl in a Noisy World: An Introverts Story by Debbie Tung. You know what’s funny about those sort of purchases? I have yet to regret one…I’m pretty sure that means something.
When I showed a friend of mine that I got this book she said, “Oh yeah I love her online!” Leave it to a certified Book Riot writing, book blog having reader to only realize someone is internet famous after buying their print book that they got to write probably because they got popular on the internet. You know what? I like my way better anyway. First time I see her art and writing I get to see a whole book of it and there are no comment sections on the book…I know, I checked.
Quiet Girl in a Noisy World is a collection of stories about Debbie Tung’s life as an introverted artist, book lover, tea drinker. I relate strongly to many of those things so I found this to be an excellent read. She shows us how she has navigated life as an introvert succinctly and with humor. I am by no means an artist but I do know that her art added to the vignettes texture and feeling that made the experience of reading them pretty delightful.
It was interesting, also to read a book that elaborated on the experience of being well and truly and introvert. To a certain extent I’m pretty sure that introversion and extroversion have been warped and utilized to an unjustified extent since people started talking about what they’d be classified as. The idea that some people gain energy from being by people and others are sapped of it feels kind of obvious, and too black and white. Most people are a little bit of both, and a lot of people claim to be the one that fits whatever social interaction that has them talking about it in the first place. As a firm believer that I fall in the middle depending on my mood and who exactly I’m talking to, it was informative to step in the shoes of someone that by all accounts truly does identify as an introvert. I think most people will identify with the feelings of guilt when they can’t meet social expectations and it’s important that we all realize that sometimes people are too tired to be around other people. It’s almost never personal.
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