A character-driven novel is not a book where nothing happens. That’s the lazy misunderstanding. Things happen. They just happen because of who the people are, not because the author keeps dropping pianos from the ceiling to wake everybody up.

The introvert reader is selectively social, which is different. They have done the math. People are fine in certain quantities, under controlled conditions, with clear exits and no surprise speeches. Books, on the other hand, behave.

The internet likes to treat the TBR pile as either a joke or a confession. Look at me, I bought another book. I’m so bad. No, you’re not. You’re a reader. This is what readers do. They acquire books the way other people acquire opinions: constantly, without a plan, and with absolute confidence it will all work out somehow.