Happy April!

In an attempt to get me blogging (even as I frantically hit three deadlines this month, the most frightening being the completion of book three by April 30), I borrowed a 30-Day Book Meme from online. Since April has 30 days . . . Aren't I clever? ;)

Day 1: The Best Book You've Read This Year

QUIET by Susan Cain

The sub-title is instructive: "The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking." The frontspiece of this non-fiction book is A Manifesto for Introverts by Mahatma Gandhi. Among his wisdom: "There's a word for people who are in their heads too much: thinkers" and "Love is essential; gregariousness is optional."

As a dyed-in-genes introvert, I was especially struck by the insight into why a group of people I've met since moving to Boston less than two years ago cannot seem to believe that I'm an introvert. In a chapter on acting like extroverts, Cain says: "introverts are capable of acting like extroverts for the sake of work they consider important, people they love, or anything they value highly." Ah-ha! See, I'm not an extrovert pretending to inwardly shy--I'm an introvert extending myself for the sake of people I love. (That also makes me feel better about the collapse I experience after every outwardly social event I attend.)

Whether you yourself are an introvert, love someone who is, or simply wish to understand the psychological workings of yourself and/or others, this is an outstanding book.