Review: Quiet. The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain

This is a non-fiction book about character traits, especially introversion and extroversion. Being an introvert myself I have wanted to read this book for a while, in order to really appreciate what I can bring to the table. I stopped thinking I needed to change and be more extroverted a good while ago, but at the same time it’s nice to hear someone else say it. 

Cain goes through various results from experiments and studies that detail the difference between introverts and extroverts and how each will react and behave in given situations. She also correlates these traits to other traits, and showcases the strengths and weaknesses of both types. 

I really liked this book. A lot of the basics was stuff I was sort of thinking myself. Like, introverts do not need to change and we can bring something valuable to the table. But like I said, it’s nice to hear someone else say it, and really put the right words on it. It was fun reading about the studies and their results and recognizing myself in them, and I appreciated the basic premise of the book, which is that introverts are valuable because of their traits. There was just one small thing I felt like didn’t really gel with the rest of the book. In the section where she talks about children, I felt like she said introverted kids should change to be more extroverted. Maybe I read it wrong but I felt like there was a good chunk in there all about ways to make your child more outgoing….which I thought was the opposite of the basic tenet of the book. I could recognize a number of the situations she talked about from my own childhood, and I felt like the rest of the book had validated my feelings as a child and then this section took that validation away, saying that actually I should have been more outgoing as a child. Of course, if you have an introverted child you should do your best to make sure that child isn't a complete hermit. I know I did usually want to play, just perhaps not in the way it was set up for us at school or with forced playdates. I just felt like there were a few of the suggestions for you to do that would go completely against the grain of my personality as a child. But again, maybe I read it wrong, because there is also a section in there on ways you can really support your child’s decisions about their social life. 

I gave this book 4 stars, because a lot of it was stuff I had sort of thought myself and because of that little section about raising your children.